Topic starter
08/10/2006 6:30 pm
The Nightmare II is the ex. dredge Willam S. Mitchell. Not the Wakerobin. The old Nightmare was on the Wakerobin but sank last year and was scrapped.
10/10/2006 7:13 pm
USACE Sidewheel Dredges
The appearance of the "William S Mitchell" (in Photo of the Week) reminds me of a question I've been meaning to pose here.....
I have long understood that the Corps of Engineers built four boats to this design. I served as volunteer tinkerer on the "Captain Meriwether Lewis" in the late '80s, and did same on the "Mitchell" during her Kansas City stay in the early '90s. I have visited the "William M Black" in Dubuque. The fourth boat is, I believe, the "William Clark", but I have never been able to locate her or anything else about her. Does anyone know the location and/or status of the "Clark"?
10/10/2006 11:54 pm
Bill: your posting prompts an observation and a question. When steaming past the BB Digs in Newport in MISSIE, I saw what appeared to be a rusty barge. Upon closer observation, I could see a model bow (pointed down stream) and what appear to be bent up fantails. Could this be the hull of the WAKE? If not, what is it??
Topic starter
11/10/2006 12:12 am
Tom: That is the Wake Robin's hull, now 100% foamed. The Wake Robin engines are on display at the Chilo Lock #34 musuem.
Topic starter
11/10/2006 12:22 am
Keith: The Capt. William Clark was one of the four sister boats built at Pt. Pleasant,WV by the Marietta Mfg. Co. in 1931 and 1932. The Capt. William Clark and the Capt. Meriwether Lewis were assigned to the Kansas City Dist. and the Black and Mitchell went to the Memphis Dist. Marietta Mfg. followed up this four boat order with two bigger propeller dredges, the Jadwin and the Burgess, in 1933 and 1934. The Clark was retired in 1969, still in the Kansas City Dist. After that she just fell of the charts. I'd be interested too if any other persons know her status. The Pt. Pleasant River musuem has a lot of photos of all these boats, under construction, launching and finished.
11/10/2006 1:28 am
Thanks, Bill. I knew about the engines going to Chilo (but forgot), but don't know that I ever heard what happened to the hull. Glad to hear that there is something useful left of her. Again, my thanks.
12/10/2006 6:40 pm
Captain Judd: thanks much. I hope news of the "Clark" turns up somewhere.....