SS Admiral

SS "Admiral" was an excursion steamboat operating on the Mississippi River from the Port of St. Louis. The vessel had a 1930s streamlined, art deco style, in contrast to the "gingerbread" ornamentation of more traditional passenger and pleasure steamers, described by Mark Twain as "a wedding cake on a raft." At 374 feet long and 92 feet wide, the Admiral is longer than a city block, and the first all-steel inland steamer. At the time of its construction, the Admiral was the largest passenger vessel on U.S. inland waterways.

Origin

Throughout the 1920s, [http://www.steamboats.com/museum/jc.html Streckfuss Steamers] operated the [http://www.steamboats.com/museum/jc8.html J.S. Deluxe] , a palatial boat which cruised the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Paul, Minnesota. It brought exquisite service and fine musical entertainment to the area, introducing jazz to St. Louis. In 1933 they decided to construct a new flagship. The boat was designed by [http://groups.msn.com/RivermenRiverboats/maziekrebsinfo.msnw Maizie Krebs] for Captain Joe Streckfus and built for more than $1,000,000 by Steamers Service Company from 1938-1940. The young Krebs was a fashion illustrator for the St. Louis department store Famous-Barr, and neither she nor Streckfuss originally took the design seriously, but she would also design another vessel for Streckfuss, the [http://www.steamboats.com/museum/jc10.html S.S. President] , in 1934. The boat has a design [http://nutrias.org/~nopl/exhibits/ccmem/presiden.jpgvisibly similar] to that of the Admiral.The Admiral required two years to build and was constructed with five decks, two of which were air-conditioned (an unheard-of luxury) and three open. Her steel hull was divided into 74 compartments, as many as 11 of which could be flooded with the boat still remaining afloat. Originally a sidewheeler, the steam engines that drove the side wheels were nicknamed Popeye and "Wimpy" (J. Wellington Wimpy) and are now on display at the Museum of Transport in St. Louis. [http://www.steamboats.org/forum/showthread.php?t=735&page=3] In the winter of 1973 - 1974 she was converted to diesel-props, with a total of 2700 hp (three engines, one in each paddlebox and one at the stern). She had a capacity of 4400 passengers, and departed on her first excursion cruise from the St. Louis waterfront in June of 1940. For decades she was a familiar sight on the river.

Albatross

, turned out to see her pass the rapids (being too large for the canal) and clear the bridge. , making her an engineering marvel of the time. On February 5, 1921 the 1,100 ton ship left for St. Louis, which was considered a rare feat as the river was usually choked by ice at that time of the year.

Later History

S.S. Admiral Partners bought the boat and completed a $30 million-plus renovation (including removal of the engines). Since 1979 it has operated from moorings near Eads Bridge as the President Casinos [http://www.presidentcasino.com/stlouis/] . It boasts 1,230 slot machines, 59 gaming tables, 18 restrooms, and one restaurant. In the late 1980s, the boat was operated by Six Flags, which decided to shut the venture down due to high costs. On 27 June 2005, Bernell Dorrough reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Columbia Sussex Corp. wants to buy the President Casino on the Admiral for $57 million and replace it with a new vessel at the riverfront site. If the plan goes forward, it likely would mean the end for the ship, a metal-clad, Art Deco-style vessel that once operated as an excursion boat on the Mississippi River." ("Overheard Online: S.S. Admiral may meet its end").

Presently, the boat is the only remaining property of President Casinos. A rival firm has attempted to purchase it for $31.5 million, with the intention of closing it and thereby removing competititon, but other casinos may yet buy it for continued operation. However, it is also possible that the Admiral will end its century-long career as scrap.

Accident

About 7:50 pm on April 4, 1998, a tow of the M/V Anne Holly, comprising 12 loaded and 2 empty barges, which was traveling northbound on the Mississippi River through the St. Louis Harbor, struck the Missouri-side pier of the center span of the Eads Bridge. Eight barges broke away from the tow and drifted back through the Missouri span. Three of these barges drifted toward the Admiral. The drifting barges struck the Admiral, causing 8 of its 10 mooring lines to break. The Admiral then rotated clockwise downriver, away from the Missouri riverbank. The captain of the Anne Holly disengaged his vessel from the six remaining barges in the tow and placed the Anne Holly’s bow against the Admiral’s bow to hold it against the bank. About the time the Anne Holly began pushing against the Admiral, the Admiral’s next-to-last mooring line parted. The Anne Holly and the single mooring wire that remained attached to the Admiral’s stern anchor held the Admiral near the Missouri bank. No deaths resulted from the accident; 50 people were examined for minor injuries. Of those examined, 16 were sent to local hospitals for further treatment. Damages were estimated at $11 million.cite news|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4181/is_20050525/ai_n14642472|title=8th U.S. Circuit Court reverses ruling in runaway barge accident|last=Umbright|first=Emily|date=2005-05-25|publisher=The Daily Record|accessdate=2008-06-16]

References

External links

* [http://lahosken.san-francisco.ca.us/departures/stl02/3306_admiral.html Photo]
* [http://www.steamboats.org/forum/showthread.php?t=735&page=3 Discussion group posting, contains historic photos of the vessel under construction]