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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USED Snagboat E.A. Woodruff

Sidewheel Snagboat:
  • Built for the US Army Corps of Engineers, hull laid down in 1874 at Covington Iron Works, Covington, KY., and machinery installed by Hartupee Co., Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Launched in 1874
  • Delivered, commissioned and placed in service by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1874
  • USED Snagboat E.A. Woodruff operated on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
  • One of her early jobs was to remove the wreck of the sidewheel steamer Pat Cleburne in November 1876
  • Lengthened at the Cincinnati Marine Ways in 1885
  • Decommissioned and retired from Army service in 1925
  • Purchased, circa 1925 by Greene Line
  • Sold in 1927 to the Louisville and Cincinnati Packet Co. for use as a wharfboat at Louisville, KY.
  • Sold in 1940 to the Ohio River Co., and dismantled at Catlettsburg, KY.
    Specifications:
    Displacement unknown
    Length 226 (1885)
    Beam 48'
    Draft 7'6"
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Propulsion
    five double flue boilers
    two duplex steam engines, 9 by 14 inches and 8 by 13 inches with a 6-foot stroke and a 20-inch bore
    two 24 ft. sidewheels
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    E.S. Woodruff
    303201705    		 346k
    Namesake
    LT. Eugene A. Woodruff, (1866) Red River Hero
    US Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters    		 Tommy Trampp
    E.S. Woodruff
    303201702    		 91k USED Snagboat E.A. Woodruff, with the crew on deck, moored at Mariman's Bar, on the Mississippi River, 26 June 1889.
    University of Missouri, St. Louis Library, Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library    		 John Spivey
    E.S. Woodruff
    303201701    		 214k USED Snagboat E.A. Woodruff moored along the river bank, circa 1908, location unknown.
    Dave Thomson Collection at Steamboats.com    		 John Spivey
    E.S. Woodruff
    303201703    		 114k USED Snagboat E.A. Woodruff working snags in winter, date and location unknown
    University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Steamboat Collection    		 John Spivey
    E.S. Woodruff
    303201704    		 102k USED Snagboat E.A. Woodruff underway date and location unknown
    Photo from Fickr - Ohio County Public Library    		 John Spivey
    E.S. Woodruff
    303201706    		 264k USED Snagboat E.A. Woodruff pulling snags on the Ohio River, date and location unknown.
    Waterways Journal    		 Tommy Trampp
    There is no history available for USED Snagboat E.A. Woodruff at NavSource
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Waterways Journal, February 7, 2022 - "The E.A. Woodruff" by Keith Norrington
    The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. [volume], July 15, 1876- "Article occasionally ran in the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer listing the obstructions removed from the Ohio River by U.S. snagboat E. A.Woodruff" (Library of Congress)
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The US Army Ship Index Back To The US Army Snagboat, Drift/Debris Collector Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 5 July 2025