Telephone (sternwheeler)
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Telephone |
| Owner: | U.B. Scott |
| Route: | Willamette; San Francisco Bay |
| Cost: | $15,000 |
| Launched: | November 6, 1884 |
| Maiden voyage: | March 1, 1885 |
| Identification: | Original (1885) US registry #145400; following first rebuild (1887): 145477; after second rebuild (1903): 200263 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Inland passenger/freight, later, ferry |
| Tonnage: | In 1885: 385 gross; 334 registered; in 1888; tonnaged increased later. |
| Length: | As built (1885): 172 ft (52 m) (exclusive of fantail); (1888): 200 ft (61 m); 1903: 201.5 ft (61 m) |
| Beam: | 28 ft (9 m) (exclusive of guards) |
| Depth: | 7.2 ft (2 m) depth of hold |
| Installed power: | Twin horizontally mounted high-pressure single-cylinder steam engines. |
| Propulsion: | Stern-wheel |
| Speed: | 22 miles per hour (maximum) |
| Capacity: | 793 passengers (1905) |
Telephone was a sternwheel-driven steamboat built in 1884 by Captain Uriah Bonsor “U.B.” Scott for service on the Columbia River. Reputedly the fastest steamboat in the world in its time, Telephone served on the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay. Telephone was rebuilt at least twice. The first time was after a file in 1887 which nearly destroyed the vessel. The reconstructed and much larger second vessel was sometimes referred to as Telephone No. 2. The third vessel, Telephone No. 3, built in 1903 and usin components from the second steamer was larger but little used during its time on the Columbia river.
Newspaper reports of the plans to construct the steamer which eventually was named Telephone appeared in July 1884. U.B. Scott and his partners intended to build the fast boat on the Columbia river which could make the 110 mile distance from Portland, Oregon to Astoria in five hours. The boat was expected to be complete by December 1, 1884. It was expected to cost $35,000.
Telephone No. 1 was built in East Portland, Oregon for Captain Uriah Bonser Scott (1827-1913) and his partners. The contract for construction of the vessel was signed on July 18, 1884. Scott was a steamboat owner and captain on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers during, before and after the American Civil War who had come to Oregon in 1873.
The steamer was launched on October 30, 1884. The vessel’s trial trip occurred in February 1885.
Telephone No. 1 was 172 feet long measured over the hull, exclusive of the extension over the stern, called the “fantail” which mounted the sternwheel.Telephone had a width, called "beam", which measured across the hull, and exclusive of the long wide protective timbers along the sides of the hull, called the "guards", of 28 feet, with a depth of hold of 7.2 feet. The steamer drew 3.5 feet of water. The planned draft was 3.5 feet.
The total size of Telephone No. 1, measured in tons, a unit of volume and not weight, was 386.27 gross and 333.97 registered tons.
The machinery for Telephone No. 1 was built at Willamette Iron Works in Portland. The engines generated 500 indicated horsepower. The official steamboat identification number was 145400.
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Wikipedia