Number 302 • summer 2017 PowerT HE M AGAZINE OF E NGINE -P OWERED V ESSELS FRO M T HEShips S T EA M SHI P H IS T ORICAL S OCIE T Y OF A M ERICA ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Messageries Maritimes’ three musketeers 8 Sailing British India An American Classic: to the Persian steamer Gulf 16 Post-war American WILFRED Freighters 28 End of an Era 50 SYKES 36 Thanks to All Who Continue to Support SSHSA July 2016-July 2017 Fleet Admiral – $50,000+ Admiral – $25,000+ Maritime Heritage Grant Program The Dibner Charitable The Family of Helen & Henry Posner, Jr. Trust of Massachusetts The Estate of Mr. Donald Stoltenberg Ambassador – $10,000+ Benefactor ($5,000+) Mr. Thomas C. Ragan Mr. Richard Rabbett Leader ($1,000+) Mr. Douglas Bryan Mr. Don Leavitt Mr. and Mrs. James Shuttleworth CAPT John Cox Mr. H.F. Lenfest Mr. Donn Spear Amica Companies Foundation Mr. Barry Eager Mr. Ralph McCrea Mr. Andy Tyska Mr. Charles Andrews J. Aron Charitable Foundation CAPT and Mrs. James McNamara Mr. Joseph White Mr. Jason Arabian Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Kolb CAPT and Mrs. Roland Parent Mr. Peregrine White Mr. James Berwind Mr. Nicholas Langhart CAPT Dave Pickering Exxon Mobil Foundation CAPT Leif Lindstrom Peabody Essex Museum Sponsor ($250+) Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ferguson Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Lockhart Mr. Henry Posner III Mr. Ronald Amos Mr. Henry Fuller Jr. Mr. Jeff MacKlin Mr. Dwight Quella Mr. Daniel Blanchard Mr. Walter Giger Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Madden Council of American Maritime Museums Mrs. Kathleen Brekenfeld Mr. Roger Gill Dr. Laurence Miller Mr. Paul Rudolph Mr. Odd Brevik Mr. and Mrs. John Harsh Mrs. Harry Morgan Mr. Todd Schaumloffel Mr. David Butler Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hughes Morgan Stanley Community Affairs Schneider Electric North Mr. Leonard Caiger Mrs. Anne Ilacqua Mr. and Mrs. Robert Mullen American Foundation Mr. Steve Caminis Interstate Navigation Mr. William Muller Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Schulte Mr. Gabriel Caprio Mr. Neil Jones New England Institute of Technology Mr. Theodore Scull Cunard Line Mr. Tom Jordens Mr. Carl R. Nold Mr. George Shuster Mr. Thomas Diedrich CAPT Philip Kantz Mr. Brian Norden Mr. Thomas Smith Mr. Thomas Donoghue Mr. John Kennedy Mr. Harry Olsen Mr. Edward Spinney Mr. Steven Draper Mr. Kevin Kernan Mr. Paul O'Pecko CAPT Eric Takakjian Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Dyer Mr. Murray Kilgour Mr. Ronald Oswald CAPT and Mrs. Terry Tilton Mr. Donald Eberle Mr. Stephen Lash Ms. Mary Payne Mr. Eric Wiberg CAPT J.A. Ellis Ms. Susan Linda Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Payton The Wolfsonian Mr. David Clarendon Mr. Alan Gordon Mr. Kenneth Meaney Ms. Kinda Priestley Contributor ($100+) CDR Andrew Coggins Jr. CAPT Kenneth Graham Mr. Jeffrey Miller Prof. Lester Bartson Mr. Gregory Abbott Mr. Nicholas Cooper Mr. Robert Gray III Mr. Wayne Miller Providence Steamboat Company Mr. Alan Abramson Ms. Carol Cooper Mr. Doug Hart Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Morgan Mr. Clarence Rahn Mr. Robert Alspach Mr. William Cosgrove CAPT Brian Hope Mr. John Morgan Mr. Allan Reed Mr. and Mrs. Eduardo Arini Mr. Tom Creigh Mr. Samuel James Jr. Mr. Brian Morgan Mr. Robert Savarese Dr. John Arnold Mr. Patrick Dacey Mr. Bruce Kendrick Mr. Lawrence Moss Mr. Kenneth Schaller Mr. David Bailey Jr. Mr. David Davila Mr. Robert Kessler Rev. Bart Muller Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Schoenwald Mr. Harold Baker Mr. Christopher DeCamps Mr. Alan Konzelman Mr. Richard Muller Rev. Harry Shipps Mr. David Bavlitschko Ms. Marjorie Dovman Mr. Earl Krantz Dr. and Mrs. William Murphy Mr. Britton Smith Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Beaulieu Ms. Astrid Drew Mr. Thomas Lavin Ms. Nori Muster CAPT Cesare Sorio Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Bellafiore Mr. Michael Dugan Dr. Peter Leahy National Grid Mr. Jerry Stewart Mr. Steven Bienenfeld Mr. Andrew Edmonds Mr. Clayton Leroue Mr. Mark Nemergut Mr. Tom Stone Mr. Philip Blauvelt Mr. and Mrs. William Edwards Mr. Keith Lewis Mr. William Nyberg Mr. David Sylvestre Mr. Mark Bradley Ms. Kathy Farnsworth Mr. Bruce Lockhart Mr. Samuel Ohmacht Mr. Craig Thompson Mr. John Brandner Jr. Dr. Jerry Fingerut Mr. Don Luetje Mr. James Onions Mr. Stephen Weaver Mr. Ford Brockman CAPT George Fisher Mr. Holger Lukas Mr. Hollis Paige Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Weinbaum Mr. James Brown Mr. Michael Fisher Mr. Frank Mallalieu Mr. Paul Paisley Mr. Richard Weiss Mr. Andrew Burger Mr. Alan Flood Mariners' House Mr. Peter Pare Mr. Hubert Wicki Mr. James Burke Mr. Raymond Fredette Dr. Gilbert McArdle Mr. Miles Peterle Ms. Jean Wort Prof. A.G.M. Campbell Mr. Daniel Gallagher Mr. Jack McBride Mr. Richard Placey Mr. Erwin Zimmermann CAPT Robertson Dinsmore Mr. Gregory Gettle Mr. Daniel McCoy Mr. David Powers Jr. Mr. Robert Zinman CAPT Phillip Bush II Ms. Lulu Gmoser CAPT Earl Maxfield Jr. Mr. Gregory Stavros Friend (Up to $100) Ms. Vivian and Janet Butler Mr. John Goschke Mr. Walter McLaughlin Mr. Joseph Sturges Dr. George Abbot Ms. Alissa Cafferky Mr. Norman Grant Mr. Richard Mushet Mr. and Mrs. William Tatewosian Mr. George Adams Mr. Thomas Cannuli Mr. Carol Hackmann National Maritime Historical Society Mr. Samuel Taylor Mr. Eugene Allen Caterpllar Foundation Ms. Patricia Hartle Mr. Raisuke Numata Mr. G. Thomas Tranter Mr. Roger Angelo Charter Oak Credit Union Mr. John Hastings Ms. Catherine Covell Orloff Mr. John Trtek Mr. Albert Antrobus Mr. Arthur Clarke III Mr. David Hill Mr. Frederic Phinney Mr. Richard Vanaria LCDR. Peter Baci Mr. Alan Cullen Mr. Robert Hlavaty Mr. A. Pierce Bounds Mr. John Vournakis Mr. John Baesch Mr. James Curtin Mr. Stanley Hodges Mr. Gary Raffaele CAPT John Wellington Mr. William Baxter Mr. Terry Curtis Mr. Donald Hunt Mr. Arnold Rathmann Mr. Robert White Jr. Mr. Thomas Berlin Mr. Douglas Davis IBM Corporation Matching Gifts Program Mr. Donald Raymond Mr. Parker Williamson Mr. Francis Birchard Mr. Douglas Dease Ms. June Ingram Mr. Colin Revill Mr. William Wooding Dr. Kip Bodi Mr. John Delach Mr. and Mrs. Les Isaacowitz Ms. Tonya Ricketts CAPT Lawrence Worters Mr. Edward Bohan Mr. Steve Donohue Ms. Kyle Ingrid Johnson Mrs. Irene Roberts Mr. Donald Yokum Mr. Charles Boie Mr. Arild Ellingsen Mr. Michael Joynt Mr. Brian Rogers Mr. Paul Yurko Mr. Rick Brown Mr. Henry Erwin Jr. Mr. Derek Kendall Mr. James Royle Mr. Darryl Zoeckler Mr. Vincent Budesa Mr. John Ferguson Mr. George Koch Mr. Edward Ryan Mr. Robert Burgess Dr. and Mrs. William Flayhart III Ms. Alice La Brie Mr. John Sauter Mr. Edwin Burt Mr. Thomas Fowler Mr. Hugh MacKay Ms. Kay Schloff CAPT Stephen Busch Mr. Glenn Frizzell Mr. Donald Martin CAPT W.D. Smith n (At top) The hard-working crew of the ferry S.S. beauharnois. – Edward O. Clark Collection, SSHSA Archives. PowerTHE MAGAZINE OF THEShips STEAMSHIP HISTORIcaL SOCIETY OF AMERIca MANIFEST • N u m b e r 3 0 2 • s u m m e r 2 0 17 THIS QUARTERLY MAGAZINE has been continuously published by The Steamship Historical Society of America since first appearing as the steamboat bill of Facts in 1940. THE STEAMSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC., (SSHSA) was organized in 1935 as a means of bringing together those amateur and professional historians interested in the history and development of steam A Classic American Steamer navigation, past and present, and incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1950 as a tax-exempt by Mark Shumaker ...... 36 Wilfred Sykes education corporation. IN ADDITION TO POWERSHIps, THE PILOT HOUSE ...4 Lives of the Liners: sailing the SSHSA produces other books and Q&A WITH publications of marine interest, a to the east French style: STEAMBOAT BILL .....5 list of which is available online and Cambodge, Laos & Viet-Nam FULL STEAM AHEAD ..6 from the Warwick headquarters. by William H. Miller.............8 REGIONALS High Seas ...........54 SSHSA MEETINGS are normally british India: Mid-Atlantic . 58 held annually. Several local From bombay to Karachi New York . 60 chapters also meet regularly. Overseas . 62 to the Persian Gulf MEMBERSHIP in SSHSA includes by Terry Tilton................ 16 New England & Eastern Canada . 64. subscriptions to Powerships, the West Coast . 66 telegraph, and ahoy! Dues american Freighters of Great Lakes / Seaway . 69 are in various classes, beginning at the Post-War Years & Southeast & Gulf Ports . 71 $50.00 for Annual Members. their Operators Southwest Pacific . 74 FOR FURTHER DETAILS, write: Jim Shaw ................... 28 Western Rivers . 77 Steamship Historical TUGBOATS ..........80 Society of America, REVIEWS ...........83 2500 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02886 end of an era HEARD ON by Brian Morgan .............. 50 THE FANTAIL .......85 FROM THE Visit our website at COLLECTION .......86 www.sshsa.org ON THE COVER Wilfred sykes eases her way past iconic “Big Red” the Holland, MI, Harbor Lighthouse – and into port. Chris Winters captured this unique view from sykes’ self-unloader rig. ABOVE: Wilfred sykes in port at Marquette, MI. – Chris Winters photo. PowerShips (formerly titled Steamboat Bill) (ISSN 0039-0844)—founded in 1940 by Jay allen—is published quarterly as a cooperative effort by the steamship Historical society of america, Inc., 2500 Post road, Warwick, rI 02886, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the activities of marine historians in the field of self-propelled vessels. material for possible publication is always welcome and should be sent to the editor; Jim Pennypacker, 4 snead Ct., Palmyra, Va 22963. No remuneration can be made for such materials, and no responsibility for it is accepted, although every effort will be made for its safe handling. all contributions are subject to editing. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the society; the burden for accuracy rests with the contributors. Contributors represent that they are the sole author of their Work, that the Work is an original work of authorship which does not infringe on the copyright rights of others, and that the author has the unencumbered right to publish the material.