Topic starter
15/08/2008 11:36 am
The M/V MISSISSIPPI V, flagship of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is currently on a low water inspection trip for the Mississippi River Commission. Earlier this week the huge towboat visited Red Wing, Minnesota; Davenport, Iowa and Hannibal, Missouri. According to the USACE news release, remaining visits are as follows:
August 15 - 9:00 AM - Alton, IL (Mel Price Lock and Dam)
August 18 - 9:00 AM - New Madrid, MO (City Front)
August 19 - 9:00 AM - Memphis, TN (Mud Island)
August 20 - 9:00 AM - Greenville, MS (City Front)
August 22 - 9:00 AM - Houma, LA (Cenac Towing Dock)
Meetings are open to the public and tours of the boat are sometimes offered. The M/V/ MISSISSIPPI, built in 1993, is 241 feet long and 58 feet wide. She carries a crew of 36. The hearing room, where the Mississippi River Commission meetings are held, can seat 115 people. The boat has 22 staterooms to accommodate guests.
The MISSISSIPPI is the fifth vessel to bear the name. Her immediate predecessor, MISSISSIPPI IV, is now "high and dry" at Vicksburg, to become part of the new Lower Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Center, now under construction. The Str. MISSISSIPPI III, decommissioned in 1961, is the restaurant boat BECKY THATCHER, currently for sale at Marietta, Ohio. The roof bell on the MISSISSIPPI V has been carried on all of the MISSISSIPPI steam and diesel boats, dating back to 1882.
If you have the opportunity to tour the MISSISSIPPI, by all means go, for the boat is state-of-the-art and absolutely awesome!
15/08/2008 5:07 pm
Hi Keith,
As far as I know, that steely eyed river man, Capt John Dugger ran that boat.
Paul
15/08/2008 5:13 pm
Paul,
I believe he was her first Master. I do know he retired from her. That is how the AQ got him!
~Travis~
Topic starter
15/08/2008 5:27 pm
Yes! Capt. Dugger, who started on the river when he was 16, was master of the boat when she came out in 1993 until September, 2000. Capt. Thomas George has just been selected as the new master of the M/V MISSISSIPPI V. A native of Yazoo City, Mississippi, he succeeds Capt. Tim Milum, who passed away in August, 2007.
Capt. David Cook was master of the Str. MISSISSIPPI III from the 1940's until her decommissioning in 1961. He then assumed command of MISSISSIPPI IV until his untimely death shortly after, at which time Capt. Jack Russell became master.
The river rolls on and the tradition continues...
Topic starter
19/08/2008 12:07 pm
Here's a photo, colored by Dave Thomson, of Capt. David M. Cook at the wheel of the Str. MISSISSIPPI III, taken in 1954. The pilotwheel, removed from the boat (now the BECKY THATCHER) at the time of her sinking in 1984, is now on display at the River Museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.