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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USED Towboat Slackwater (I)(II)

Sternwheel Towboat:
  • Built in 1884 at the Philip Zenn, Boatyard, near McKeesport, PA. for the Monongahela Navigation Co.
  • Launched, in 1884
  • Purchased by U.S. Army Engineering Department at Pittsburgh, PA in 1897 when the Monongahela River locks and dams were taken over by the U.S.
  • Christened, commissioned and placed in service in 1903 as USED Towboat Slackwater (I)
  • Assigned to the US Army Engineers Pittsburgh District as a repair boat
  • Slackwater worked mostly on the Monongahela River
  • She received a new hull at Marietta, OH. in 1903, then measuring 120x26.3x4.3.
  • Slackwaters boilers exploded at Lock 4, Ohio River, Legionville, PA. in October 1906, killing four or five persons. The boat was demolished.
  • The upper works were rebuilt on the same hull resulting in the new Slackwater (II) which was little different in appearance.
  • Final Disposition, sank in the Monongahela River near Greensboro, PA. in ice, February 1926
    Specifications:
    Displacement unknown
    Length 116.6'
    Beam 25'
    Hull Depth unknown
    Draft 3.3'
    Speed unknown
    Crew unknown
    Propulsion
    steam engine(s)
    boiler(s)
    sternwheel
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Slackwater
    303030201    		 84k USED Slackwater underway, date and location unknown.
    University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Historical Steamboat Collection    		 John Spivey
    Slackwater
    303030202    		 71k USED Slackwater (II) underway with tow near Elizabeth, PA., Fall 1919.
    Photo by F. Way Jr., - Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library    		 John Spivey
    There is no history available for USED Towboat Slackwater (I) (II) at NavSource
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    Last Updated 23 February 2024