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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USED Towboat Coal Bluff

Sternwheel Towboat:
  • Built in 1877 as Coal Bluff No.2, at Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Launched in 1877
  • Purchased in 1881 by the US Army Corp of Engineers Rock Island District
  • Christened, commissioned and and put in service in 1893 as USED Towboat Coal Bluff (No.2 was dropped from her name)
  • USED Coal Bluff operated on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers
  • Retired from US Army service, circa 1930
  • Sold at public auction, in August 1930 to CAPT. Phillips for $1,325
  • Sold to Kingston Gravel Co. in the spring of 1935, renamed Calvin B. Beach
  • Final Disposition, in early March, 1939, She got in the trees at Ravenswood Bend while pawing up the Ohio Point, knocked a stack down, set the boat on fire and went down in a blaze of glory along the West Virginia shore above Pleasant View Light..
    Specifications:
    Displacement unknown
    Length 124'
    Beam 21'
    Hull Depth unknown
    Draft 4'
    Speed unknown
    Crew unknown
    Fuel Oil Capacity unknown
    Potable Water unknown
    Propulsion
    two reciprocating steam engines, 15's-5' stroke
    boiler
    sternwheel
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Coal Bluff
    303028701    		 176k USED Towboat Coal Bluff tied up to a riverbank, date and location unknown
    University of Wisconsin-Madison Historical Steamboat Collection    		 John Spivey
    Coal Bluff
    303028702    		 1117k USED Towboat Coal Bluff tied up to a riverbank, date and location unknown
    University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Historical Steamboat Collection    		 John Spivey
    Coal Bluff
    303028703    		 90k USED Towboat Coal Bluff towing coal out of the Kanawha River, 1891-1900
    University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Historical Steamboat Collection    		 Tommy Trampp
    Coal Bluff
    303028704    		 183k USED Towboat Coal Bluff in dry dock being repaired, 19 May 1922
    University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Historical Steamboat Collection    		 Tommy Trampp
    Coal Bluff
    303028705    		 386k
    There is no history available for USED Towboat Coal Bluff at NavSource
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 22 September 2023