Original Steamboat Blue Prints

Hi, David, and welcome to the board. Someone with their Way's directory may be able to tell you; I do not have mine with me at this time. However, I can tell you that you may find NOTHING. Often plans were drawn for boats that were never built. Sometimes the name was changed before the boat went into operation. Do these boats appear to be Western Rivers type steamboats? If so, and if they were built, this is the place to find your info. If the answer is "no" to those questions, that does not definitely rule out an answer, but your chances begin to go downhill. Hope this is some help; maybe someone else can jump in with the info. you want.

It is plain from the forward body plan (front elevation of the hull) that these are not western rivers (Mississippi River and tributaries) boats. Mississippi Steamers did not have keels. In that era steamboat drawings were very sparsely drawn and showed no details. Many were built without drawings at all. For example, The Howard Shipyard & Dock Co. drawings of that era show the location of the boiler beam (forward end of the boilers) and its distance from the paddlewheel shaft. No other dimensions are given. Daybooks described the scantlings and their spacings. That was all! Period!!! Their drawings and daybooks are in the Lilly Library at Indiana, University, Bloomington, Indiana.
What you have are probably East Coast steamboats or Hudson River steamboats.

A fw more pics.

Thanks for the response. I believe that these may be ocean going side paddle wheelers, but I do not know. Here are some pics of the wave Queen. The Avenger may be a blockade runner, be cause she sports cannon on her decks.
Enjoy!

David, these are definitely ocean steamers.

I took a look in Lytle, there was an Avenger of 104 or 192 tons built in 1823 in New York City as a schooner the drawing suggests your boat had 3 masts. This Avenger became the Balize and was converted to steam in 1824. She was abandoned in 1827. The tons burden is too faint to read but is look like it was over 1000 tons so this little boat might not be your Avenger. After 1868 there are annual lists of US merchant vessels, bigger land Grant Collages or libraries with collects dealing with shipping may have the series and some have the reprints of the Loyds of London annuals which include a lot of USA ships. The University of Nebraska Lincoln has both but I am now 900 miles farther west.
Carl Jones

Carl Jones;17265 wrote: I took a look in Lytle, there was an Avenger of 104 or 192 tons built in 1823 in New York City as a schooner the drawing suggests your boat had 3 masts. This Avenger became the Balize and was converted to steam in 1824. She was abandoned in 1827. The tons burden is too faint to read but is look like it was over 1000 tons so this little boat might not be your Avenger. After 1868 there are annual lists of US merchant vessels, bigger land Grant Collages or libraries with collects dealing with shipping may have the series and some have the reprints of the Loyds of London annuals which include a lot of USA ships. The University of Nebraska Lincoln has both but I am now 900 miles farther west.
Carl Jones

Thanks for the reply, but my Avenger wieghed in at 1444 tons, and was 210 ft. between the "perpendiculars". Also she was a 2 masted sailing vessel, with paddles. The Wave Queen was a 3 masted sailing vessle, with paddles. There is a name of Pearce (as draughtsman) on the print of the Wave Queen. I wonder if this could be from Sir William Pearce of the Fairfield shipbuilding and Engineering Co. ? Dave

There was a noted naval architect named C. G. Pearce in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, who designed at least one western river steamboat, the Royal, of 1891.

Alan Bates;17316 wrote: There was a noted naval architect named C. G. Pearce in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, who designed at least one western river steamboat, the Royal, of 1891.

Yes, Alan. And the ROYAL was a very fast boat.