Sprague (Towboat, 1902-1948)
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BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel
BOAT TYPE: Towboat
BUILT: 1902 at Dubuque, Iowa by Iowa Iron Works
FINAL DISPOSITION: Decommissioned at Memphis in March 1948
OWNERS: Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company (Combine); Aluminum Ore Company (1917); Standard Oil Company (1935)
OFFICERS & CREW: Captain James G. Beazell (master, 1903, 1913); Captain Walter Carroll (master); Captain William Crow; Captain Oliver A. Douds (master, 1904); Henry Nye (pilot, 1904, 1907); John Pierce (pilot, 1904); William Van Horn (chief engineer, 1904); Captain Calvin Blazier (pilot, 1907); Captain Howard Brown (master, 1917); Robert Boles (pilot); Elmer Owrey (pilot); Les Walston (pilot); Henry Lindenburn (pilot); Edgar "Jocko" Meek (mate); Captain George S. Knabb (master, 1935); Elmer C. Good (pilot, 1926); Charles R. Pace (chief engineer, 1926, 1942); R. Couch West (relief chief, 1926); Adolph P. Brown (assistant engineer, 1926); L.C. Lively (assistant engineer, 1926); E.E. "Tiger" Elliott (mate, 1926); Captain Canton P. Seitz (master, 1920s); Philip Thomas (1920s); Charles Hamilton (1920s); Peter Gray (1920s); Elmer Good (1920s); Captain Eugene Hampton (pilot, 1920s; master, 1942); Fred Shearer (chief engineer); Norris G. Storey (pilot, 1942; master); Clarence Castile (assistan
RIVERS: Mississippi River; Ohio River
OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - T2327; Original construction cost: $192,000. The largest steam sternwheel towboat ever built for inland river service. Named for Peter Sprague (and sometimes called that), a Pennsylvania boat builder who superintended the design of the Sprague. She was launched on December 5, 1901. She was too long for the Keokuk Lock and in June 1902 she was towed to St. Louis and her paddlewheel placed on her there. The boiler deck cabin had eight staterooms for officers on each side of the 20-foot-wide cabin. Behind these staterooms were separate sleeping quarters and messrooms for the deckhands and firemen. Open-air bunks were behind the crew's sleeping quarters and were used in warm weather. Cold storage boxes were built to hold 30 to 40 days of supplies. She also had a large kitchen, bakery and laundry. The pilothouse contained the largest pilotwheel ever built: 13 1/2 feet in diameter. On September 2, 1902 the Sprague ran her trial trips in the St. Louis harbor and then
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- Sprague (Towboat, 1902-1948). Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/P2JWJDKYK4USU8T. (Accessed April 19, 2024.)
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- Sprague (Towboat, 1902-1948). Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/P2JWJDKYK4USU8T
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- Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America <https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/P2JWJDKYK4USU8T>.