SS ADMIRAL dismantling

Admiral videos - from it's final departure

Don't know if anyone has seen these stories, but thought I'd share it in case you haven't. Interesting stories. This one This one. And this one.

These videos were on KSDK TV last month when she moved.

Remnants of the Admiral landing

Here's a shot of the Admiral's landing as it sits at Jeffboat. It arrived last week.

The big blue whale

I just can't see that monstrosity cluttering up the Jeffersonville waterfront - the barge they now have seems to be proportionately correct for that venue.

Yesterday's Madison newspaper said the CVB had rejected the idea of acquiring Jeffersonville's current cityfront barge at scrap value (stated as being $125K-$150K). It apparently needs too much repair work to make it seaworthy.

Video of Admiral in its prime days?

I wish someone somewhere could share some video of the Admiral sailing under its own power (An extra star for sailing under steam!). I have looked everywhere and there is nothing. Hard to believe that this wonderful vessel has passed from existence with no video left behind.

Anyone????

They do exist

Well, there's got to be something somewhere. I was watching a short on TCM, which just happened to be about St. Louis, and I'm pretty sure they showed the Admiral. The short could not have been made any later than the 50's, so she would have been under steam. There has to be more.

Those old shorts are amusing. I just saw one about Natchez last week. It could set civil rights back 100 years. It could have been filmed 150 years ago if they had had motion pictures then.

Go to youtube and search riverboat admiral and you'll find a video titled Scenes from St. Louis Riverfront 1969. It's poor quality, only lasts a few seconds, and doesn't show the boat moving but moored at the dock. You also get a brief glimpse of the Goldenrod and the Becky Thatcher.

St. Louis Levee Scenes

Thanks, Mike, for the information about the link on YouTube. I enjoyed viewing it and also the one entitled FLOATING RESTAURANTS THAT SINK #2, which had a number of great photos of the BECKY THATCHER (formerly the Str. MISSISSIPPI) during her St. Louis days, at Marietta and of her sad and senseless demise at Pittsburgh last year.

My mentor and patron saint of steamboating, Miss Ruth Ferris, who was curator of the Midship Steamboat Museum aboard the BECKY THATCHER, told me that a pleasant routine of hers was to step out the museum door on the main deck and wave to the captain (usually Capt. Bill Streckfus or Capt. Bill Carroll) as the ADMIRAL steamed close to the BECKY on her approach to the Streckfus wharfboat to conclude her daily excursion. Ruth often took movies of river traffic from the BECKY and it's probable that there's something of the ADMIRAL in the Ruth Ferris Collection of River Life and Lore at the St. Louis Mercantile Library.

Besides the Pott Waterways Library of the St. Louis Mercantile Library, the Missouri Historical Society and St. Louis television stations all have extensive archives of film footage. Given the fact that the boat operated at St. Louis for 40 years, I'm sure that there is film of the ADMIRAL (underway) available in these places, not to mention that there likely are numerous people who rode the boat that took home movies of the big silver boat. I'll bet a published letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch seeking ADMIRAL film would turn up something, somehow, somewhere! Meanwhile, the Post-Dispatch has published a book entitled Rollin' on the River, loaded with photos and memorabilia of the S.S. ADMIRAL. The book is available from the newspaper website and on Ebay for $19.95 plus shipping.

Thanks again Mike!