Showboat Pilothouse

Steering was done from the showboat pilothouse. There were sheaves and the tiller line from the showboat's pilotwheel ran back to the rudders on the towboat. I know it seems unusual and complicated, but it worked!

Perhaps Capt. Alan Bates or somebody with far more technical knowledge than I have (which ain't much!) can explain further.

I don't know any technical stuff at all, but I do know that Cap Reynolds sat in his chair in the Majestic pilothouse, part of the time with his feet on the wheel.

I also remember a very windy day when we had to back down the river because the wind was blowing the Majestic around and making her hard to control. But he was controlling her from that pilot house on the Majestic!

Sternwheelers have some peculiarities in common. One is that they do their best work when backing. This is because the rudders are forward of the paddlewheel and directly in the wheel wash where they are most effective. Anyone who has handled a sternwheeler knows this. A sternwheeler prefers to keep its hindquarters to the wind, like a cow. When pilots are caught out in a stiff wind they do not try to round to (make a U-turn) because the boat will refuse to turn her head into the gale. Instead, they back into that wind and gain enough turning momentum to force the head around. In a storm prudent pilots deliberately back into the wind.
As an example, we got into a storm on the Belle of Louisville one night. The pilot backed into it. The wind was so strong it blew a couple of park benches overboard, but the Belle held on. She slowly lost ground, but outlasted the storm.
One reason showboats traveled during the night and early morning was that USUALLY, but certainly not ALWAYS, the wind calms around ten PM and resumes work at ten in the morning. That gave the pilot about twelve hours of peace and quiet.

Thanks Alan. Very interesting. And yes, that windy day was a rare time when we were moving later than the usual very early morning.

I was permitted to climb up to the pilothouse of the MAJESTIC about 10 years ago. Although her pilotwheel is no longer extant, I have seen photos of Capt. T.J. Reynolds at the wheel and it was not a large one. The GOLDENROD had a BIG pilotwheel, probably 8 feet in diameter, maybe larger, visible in many photographs. When the showboat burned on June 2, 1962, the pilothouse fell down through the theatre and into the hull. I have a section of the salvaged but very charred pilotwheel which formerly was displayed in the Midship Museum aboard the Str. BECKY THATCHER at St. Louis. A sheave from the GOLDENROD's steering set up was also on display, but I have no idea where it went after Ruth's museum on the BECKY was dismantled and the artifacts dispersed. The big pilotwheel of the steam towboat WENONAH, which pushed the GOLDENROD in her final years of traveling, has long been displayed in the "lobby" of the showboat. The very dilapidated WENONAH (formerly the LITTLE CLYDE) was stripped, towed over to the East St. Louis side of the river and burned in 1951. Her roof bell was also on the GOLDENROD (displayed for a time in the Becky's museum) but Capt. Menke gave the whistle to the Missouri Historical Society for the River Room, which is no longer in existence and the river relics in storage.

Rudders

[QUOTE=Alan Bates;6084]Sternwheelers have some peculiarities in common. One is that they do their best work when backing. This is because the rudders are forward of the paddlewheel and directly in the wheel wash where they are most effective. Anyone who has handled a sternwheeler knows this. ]

Alan: That is a really interesting piece of information. When I took my trip on the DQ in March, I was wondering how the rudders were set up. I kept trying to look behind the paddlewheel as we were moving to see something back there that moved the rudders. Never did figure that out. (And somehow, never bothered to ask anyone)

I'm well aware of prop (wheel) wash. I grew up handling "screw propellor" boats in San Diego. The rudder is mounted just behind the prop to take advantage of the prop wash. Single screw boats don't back worth a darn. In fact, because of the torque from the prop, they will back to the left. I worked at a fuel dock, and it was always funny watching the novices try to back to the right when they left the dock. You need to give it LEFT full rudder, give the throttle a goose in AHEAD to kick the stern away from the dock, then shift into reverse. You'd be amazed how many long-time boat owners didn't know that, and would back all the way to the end of the dock with the paint getting rubbed off on the port side of the boat!

Well, Jim,
the main rudders on the Delta Queen are forward of the paddlewheel and under the stern rake. The rudders you saw aft of the wheel are the "monkey" rudders. The quadrants on the monkey rudder tiller posts are cable-connected to the tiller arms of the main rudders. Those cables may be in pipes that conceal them - I'm not sure.
Modern towboats have main rudders aft of the props and "flanking" rudders forward of them. Heavy tows and sharp bends require pilots to set the engines backing and allow the current to "flank" the tow around the point, hence the term flanking rudders. These rudders are independently controlled and skilled pilots can make a light towboat walk sidewise by setting flanking rudders one way, main rudders the other and coming ahead on one side and backing on the other.
The Delta Queen's transom extends into the water. When backing the wheel wash tends to pile up against the transom, which makes her very tricky to handle. She will actually go to starboard with the rudders hard down to port if they back too strong, but pilots can't depend on it. In stopping the boat the pilots are obliged to back slow. If they back strong the water will pile up and drive her ahead even faster. Once they learn the boat's quirky habits pilots, masters and engineers overcome these problems, usually with hair standing on end.
Ask Shipyard Sam.

Flanking Boats

You got that right, which brings to mind a couple of Cap'n Louden-ism that won't be repeated here.

A sternwheeler without monkey, or steering rudders, is often referred to as a "flanking boat" as backing is the primary ingredient in flanking, or backing up, a tow around a sharp bend. Rudders ahead of the wheel only get their steering ability once a boat is making way while coming ahead in a forward direction.

The DELTA QUEEN became a flanking boat when we left the rudders sticking in the bank below Cannelton L&D, away-back-when. Until a pilot gets the knack of maneuvering a flanking boat in tight places by coming astern instead of steering ahead, handling one is about as awkward as Mr. Baker's example of the single screw boats trying to leave a fuel dock. By the way, many of the Crounse towboats are single-screw, but according to one of their crackerjack pilots, these boats have a flanking rudder forward of the wheel as well as a steering rudder behind the screw.

The P. A. DENNY was a classic flanker before she got a set of steering rudders aft of the wheel, and the Skinny Denny handled in the style of a flanking boat and was extremely tricky to maneuver until the method was perfected; more so in a strong wind.

Again Captain Harry witticisms reappear that could sum up the pilot’s dilemma in two short sentences, but all I will say is one involves a ten-penny nail, and the other, chewing tobacco.

Flanking in Algiers Bend in NOLA

When at her wharf at Toulouse St., the NATCHEZ has a wonderful view of the flanking manuevers in Algiers Bend. This is the deepest part of the Mississippi, about 180 ft., and is one of the sharpest bends. And of course many of the towboats in NOLA are pushing 30-35 barges. It is an awesome sight to watch the skilled pilots go down through there. Of course, in order to keep our schedule, we have to make sure we get out from the dock or up around the Point upbound before one of these flanking manuevers, because they can close up the river for 15-20 minutes.

You are right, Judy, it is really an amazing thing to watch, whether at Algiers Point or anywhere else. You and I both have always been fascinated with the mechanics of piloting and operation of a boat, something I am not sure everyone who takes steamboat cruises is interested in.

Many pilots, especially when first starting out, are afraid to try flanking, or backing up. I assume that this just because they don't know how to do it. Of course, the boat has to have the power to make it work, especially for someone who doesn't do it often. But once one knows what to do and what to watch for, it takes all the strain out of going around a very sharp bend downbound. Once a flank is started, I can stand up and get a cup of coffee, and just watch the river do all the work. Of course, the key is knowing when to drive out when it is time -- otherwise, you can "over flank", and that ain't pretty either! These maneuvers are where piloting, versus steering a boat for a little while, come in.

Speaking of boats flanking and having the river blocked for a period of time, that exact situation was the main contribution to the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN's collision and sinking several years ago at Bringier Point.

Yes, I've always been interested in the navigation end, and I'm sure that comes from Capts. Karnath and Ware on my first DQ trip, and in later years Capt. Bill Foley, who taught me so much of our local river. We were so fortunate to be allowed in the pilothouse back then and to have such willing people impart their knowledge to us. I never did steer the DQ, but I have been between the sticks of the NATCHEZ on many occasions. This makes one appreciate the ability of you licensed personnel all the more. One other thing about the flanking - am I dreaming this, or don't some boats have something hanging over the guards(flanking buoys) to indicate the progress and direction of the boat?

No, you're not dreaming. Those ARE flanking buoys, and they hang off the stern of the tow on the outboard sides. This allows the pilot to see if he still has headway THROUGH THE WATER, or sternway, whatever. A common misconception is that you must be able to completely stop the tow (speed over ground) in order to flank...not so. You only have to be at current speed or slightly less, IF you get shaped up correctly to begin with. The river does all the rest of the work.

Backing a Sternwheeler

I much appreciated Alan Bates' comments on backing a sternwheeler into a wind.
I remembered his words of wisdom when we got caught in some 30 mph gusts while waiting for a tow below Lock 4 yesterday. Pleasure boats were pretty much drifting all over heck, but we just kept the Clyde. backing slow and she stayed steady as if she were tied. Still she is a handful in the wind, and I can only imagine how the big boats were to handle.

This rudder information leads me to another question. Could this have anything to do with the recent grounding of Empress of the North? Is she a "real" paddlewheeler with rudders such as others above have described, or is the paddlewheel just for show, with a more conventional ocean-going propulsion system?

We can probably assume that the people on watch were properly Coast Guard-certified, but if the Empress is a "real" paddlewheeler, were they experienced with the riverboat-type steering? I can see that with the nasty currents they get in Alaska, handling a boat up there could be a lot like in a big river. If they weren't experienced with that type of steering, they could easily get into trouble.

Hi, Jim. I found the info. on the EMPRESS OF THE NORTH on a site from Work Boat magazine. However, I do not know how to copy a web address link to a message here on a Microsoft/IBM computer! Sorry.

In answer to your question, after looking at this site which gives technical information, I would say the answer is "no". From what I can see on the site, the EMPRESS doesn't even have rudders - it states that steering is by Schoettel, which manufactures the Z-drives. She has 2- 2,000 h.p. Z-drives, and a 1,000 h.p. electric motor drives the wheel. She also has a powerful bow thruster. I would say that method(s) oif propulsion and steering had nothing to do with the recent accident. That boat should be highly maeuverable in any situation, given the listed equipment.

Hi Bob: Well, it sure looks like my guess was way off base. Oh, well. Thanks for the info.

Boy, would my granddad like to see some of this modern stuff. He retired from the merchant marine in 1937. He had an unlimited Master's ticket, and pilots licenses for several West Coast ports and Hawaii. Triple expansion reciprocating steam, fixed pitch prop, no thrusters, no GPS, no radar, no VHF radio. Tug boats for every port, in and out, stevedores taking a week to load or unload with the ship's booms and cargo nets. Things have changed just a little bit!

Vic Canfield and myself watched a Hines tow ,I believe, flank the bend on the Tennessee River right above the Savanah, TN. Highway bridge. It was a joy to watch how the pilot brought her right on down the river, and then had his/her tow all lined up to go under the bridge as sweet as you please.

I've also avoided having to empty a swamped or turned turtle canoe because my dad taught me how to flank a canoe years ago.

Tilting at the Wind

In driving the sternwheeler P. A. DENNY on the great Kanawha River for the 1990 season, I had some thrills now and then battling the wind to top around. The worse(best?) time was in front of the WV State Capitol with a load of school kids. It took me three times of backing hard downriver and straight into the wind before she would turn around. My next try would have been to repeat a turn I developed in 1984 aboard the sternwheeler LORENA on the Muskingum River's narrow channel: All Stop, Hard Right, and (just before beaching), Rudders 'Midship, All Astern, and (when the boat stopped) Hard Left, etc. The move worked because the bow was stationary momemtarily, allowing the stern to swing around. However, running up a gently sloping sandy beach (as on the Muskingum) is much safer than risking a crash into the rip-rap on the steep slopes of the canalized Kanawha. Here is a photo of the boat on a calm day in 2000. The picture is by Captain Frank Straub. (Notice what that riverman does on his day off: What else but take a picture of his command.)

The second photo shows the large area forward that the wind controls.

http://www.tallstacks.com/Riverboats/PADenny.html

Shipyard Sam, didn't you have a wind from Hell one day back in 1976 when it forced you to land the DENNY facing downstream? Were there some extraneous flagpoles exacerbating the difficulty?

Here is a bit of colorful language:
There is a wooden object at the Howard Museum. It is about two feet tall and shaped like a hexagon within an eight inch circle. The hexagon is shaped to a point at each end. The faces of the hexagon are alternately painted red and white. A rope is made into one end. It is/was a flanking buoy "back in the days". It was called an "ear bob" because it resembled a lady's ear lobe decoration.