ADMIRAL to be SCRAPPED SOON

str. ADMIRAL

Here's what she looked like in her beginning, as construction started above the Eads Bridge, almost the same spot where she is being stripped in preparation for scrapping up near Alton. It is sad, but at least her misery is not being prolonged by gradual unauthorized stripping and delay after delay while her current owner tries to find someone to offer an unreal amount for a vessel in her condition. Back in the late 70s, when she was still in her original configuration and capable of being put back in business, there was a Save the ADMIRAL campaign, to which many of us proudly contributed. My souvenir ticket for that is displayed upstairs, and that is what is left of that campaign - intentions were good, but it wasn't to be. But I think the most important way to preserve steamboats running is to patronize them while they are running, not after they are laid up. We've got the BELLE on the Ohio, the NATCHEZ on the lower Miss, and Mat and Matt's two steamers up in New York to visit, promote, and realistically support now. Scrape up some coins to ride them, ere we regret their demise!

The sad news about the ADMIRAL mirrors what will probably befall her older sister, the PRESIDENT, once that story plays out to its final conclusion also. For memories of a much happier day, here are some views snapped on August 24, 1969, when the big silver boat was still in her prime (and under steam). Picture 1 shows a billboard on Market St., near Union Station, as the photographer walked from the train to the boat landing to make the morning trip. Picture 2 shows Capt. Bill Carroll on the wing bridge taking the boat out from her Washington Ave. landing that day. Picture 3 is the port pitman, "Wimpy" after the boat got underway. Both pitmans fortunately are preserved at the St. Louis Museum of Transport.

And three other views taken later that afternoon after the boat's return, show the interior of the pilothouse, the steam calliope from the CAPITOL up on the roof, and the boat's whistle from the JS. Golden memories from golden days!

Thanks so much Dave for sharing your excellent photos and memories of a trip on the ADMIRAL in 1969. I well remember the sounds of the CAPITOL calliope and J.S. DeLUXE whistle echoing off the buildings and bridges on the St. Louis riverfront. Seems like eons ago!

Attached herewith is a 1965 brochure for the ADMIRAL, advertising daytime cruises departing at 10:30 and returning at 3:30 -- a five hour excursion for $2.00! Also included is one of my favorite images of the ADMIRAL, taken in 1970 by my friend Art Grossman, showing the boat getting underway on a cruise, with the GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT and Str. BECKY THATCHER at the levee in the background.

Thanks so much, Dave, for sharing your excellent photos and memories of a 1969 cruise on the ADMIRAL. I well recall how the CAPITOL calliope and J.S. DeLUXE whistle echoed from the buildings and bridges on the St. Louis riverfront. Seems like eons ago!

Herewith is a 1965 brochure which advertises the five hour daytime cruises on the ADMIRAL with the fare being $1.25. Also included is one of my favorite photos of the ADMIRAL, taken in 1979 by my friend Art Grossman. The ADMIRAL is just getting underway and heading downstream past the Gateway Arch. At the levee in the background are the SHOWBOAT GOLDENROD and Str. BECKY THATCHER. Great memories of fun days on the Mississippi!

Thanks so much, Dave, for sharing your excellent photos from a 1969 cruise aboard the ADMIRAL. I well remember how the CAPITOL calliope and J.S. DeLUXE whistle echoed from the buildings and bridges on the St. Louis riverfront. Seems like eons ago!

Herewith is a 1965 brochure advertising excursions on the ADMIRAL. It's something to recall that you could ride the boat for a five hour trip for a fare of $1.25! Also attached is one of my favorite images of the ADMIRAL, taken by my friend Art Grossmann in 1970, as the boat is getting underway and heading downstream past the Gateway Arch, with the GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT and Str. BECKY THATCHER (with the MISSISSIPPI BELLE alongside) in the background at the St. Louis levee. Happy memories of fun days on the Mississippi!

Thanks so much, Dave, for sharing your excellent photos from a cruise on the ADMIRAL in 1969. I well recall how the CAPITOL calliope and J.S. DeLUXE whistle echoed from the buildings and bridges on the St. Louis riverfront. Seems like eons ago!

Popeye and Wimpy

Your pictures sure do bring back great ADMIRAL memories. My first trip was back in 1956, and while we didn't spend time on the Main Deck attractions, I was thrilled to watch Popeye and Wimpy in action. 4 decades later, when Keith and I visited the Museum of Transport, there to greet us were good old Popeye and Wimpy! Considering how bulky they are, we are lucky someone decided to preserve and display them. I never did get into the ADMIRAL's pilothouse, I'm surprised how scantly it appears to be appointed. Was there a lazy bench?

Yes, behind the railing you see in the foreground of the picture. I rode the ADMIRAL only twice that I can remember: that August day in 1969 on my way home from Chattanooga where I left the DQ after my first summer season aboard and once again as guest of Capt. Jim Blum in the pilothouse on a moonlite trip sometime in the 70s. On that second trip, I was allowed to try my hand at the ADMIRAL's calliope (which by then was air-powered), only to find the tracker action so stiff and the keyboard and console placed so high above the deck that it was a real struggle for me to reach UP to depress the keys! I actually had to pull down on the keys from below to get them to play. After I coaxed a few squeaks and snorts out of the thing in a feeble attempt to play "Peg o' My Heart," I gave up. I made one other earlier visit to the roof to photograph the calliope and whistle in July 1972 with Greg Menke, who was DQ mate at the time. Neither of us attempted to play anything, since we were unaccompanied up there, the boat wasn't boarding passengers, and truth be told, I don't believe anyone on the boat even knew we were up there. Greg and I had walked over from the DQ and were still in uniform. We just made ourselves at home looking around the PH and up on the roof. Looking back at it, we're probably lucky the Streckfus people didn't sic that big German shepherd guard dog on the two of us!

ADMIRAL trips

I don't know how many trips I took overall, but I know they kept getting shorter. That first trip in 1956 was a family trip, the only time my parents ever took us on an overnight vacation (probably why I like to travel so much now). The boat went out at 10AM and returned at 4:30 PM. My second trip was with our church youth group in 1961. Mechanical problems with our bus caused us to miss the Cardinals game the night before, and we were running late to the boat. But we phoned and they waited a few minutes for us. It seems like the last trip I took went out at 11 and returned at 3. One of the things I remember best is how COLD the ballroom was, even with a lot of passengers. Most trips I spent my time up on the roof or on the fourth deck observation areas. Before I rode the PRESIDENT for the first time in 1974, my father warned me that it would be very similar to the ADMIRAL, only on a smaller scale - how true. Another lasting ADMIRAL image is that sketch in the souvenir book illustrating her length by standing her on end next to the Bell Telephone Building, I think it was.

Thanks very much, Dave, for sharing your excellent photos from a memorable cruise on the ADMIRAL in 1969. I well recall how the CAPITOL calliope and J.S. DeLUXE whistle echoed from the buildings on the St. Louis riverfront. Seems like eons ago!

Attached herewith is a 1965 brochure advertising excursions on the ADMIRAL. A five hour cruise fare was just $1.25. Also here is one of my favorite images of the ADMIRAL, taken by my friend, Art Grossmann, in 1970. The big steamer has just begun her daytime excursion, heading downstream past the Gateway Arch with the GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT and Str. BECKY THATCHER, moored at the levee in the background.

I found an interesting image of the stripped down hulk of the railroad ferry ALBATROSS, just after she was purchased by Streckfus to become the ADMIRAL. This was taken from the Eads Bridge at St. Louis. The double deck wharfboat was long used by Streckfus for storage and Capt. Doc Hawley said it was a veritable treasure trove of "steamboat stuff" like bells, nameboards, pilotwheels, calliopes, whistles, calliopes, etc., from the old Streckfus excursion boats that had been dismantled. Doc got to visit the barge the first year he worked on the Str. AVALON. Shortly thereafter the barge was destroyed by fire. Look closely and you'll note many crew members at work aboard the ALBATROSS hull.

Heading upstream is the Corps of Engineers towboat PENNIMAN, originally the Str. MAMIE S. BARRETT, built at the Howard Shipyard in 1921 and currently high and dry on the bank at Deer Park, Louisiana. At the extreme far left of the image is the Eagle Boat Store, long a waterfront business on Wharf Street, operated by Capts. Buck and Henry Leyhe. The building later was a bar called The Old St. Louis Levee House, operated by the late Frank C. Pierson, who also owned the GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT and BECKY THATCHER. The building was destroyed by fire in 1972.

The second image shows the ADMIRAL passing the GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT (prior to being placed on a steel barge in 1947) as she prepares to land at the Streckfus wharfboat at the foot of Washington Avenue.

With the scrapping of the Str. ADMIRAL imminent, there might be renewed interest in the book, ROLLIN' ON THE RIVER - THE STORY OF THE ADMIRAL in ST. LOUIS. Type the title into the search box on EBAY. The price is $19.95 and the shipping is free. It's a dandy book with great photographs of a fabled boat now headed for oblivion.