The ''Island Queen'' was a series of two
American sidewheeler
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were ...
steamboats built in 1896 and 1925 respectively. Both vessels were
passenger carriers cruising along the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...
and
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
rivers as both an
excursion boat and
tramp steamer
A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes call ...
. The first ''Island Queen'' burned in 1922 in a fire which destroyed several other vessels. The second ''Island Queen'' was destroyed in 1947 when her chief engineer, using a welding torch, accidentally cut into her fuel tank. ''Island Queen'' was reduced to her steel frame, and was scrapped by a local company.
First ''Island Queen''
The first ''Island Queen'' was a sidewheel
excursion wooden
hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
steamboat built in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1896. She was owned by
Coney Island Company and used to
ferry passengers between Cincinnati and
Coney Island amusement park. She was christened May 16, 1896 by the daughter of Lee H Brooks, Coney Island Company's chairman.
In off-seasons when the park was closed she operated as a tramp steamer on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, going as far downstream as
New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,[New Orleans]
hurricane deck collapsed, injuring 27 children and paralyzing one. That same year on November 4, ''Island Queen'' was severely burned and decommissioned after a fire engulfed several steamboats in Cincinnati harbor.
Second ''Island Queen''
The second ''Island Queen'' was built in parts beginning in 1923. Midland Barge Company of Midland, Pennsylvania built her steel hull, designed as a matched pair with the
''Cincinnati'' for the Louisville & Cincinnati Packet Company and John W. Hubbard. After taking delivery on the hull and naming it ''Louisville'', the owner instead resold it to the Coney Island Company.
Coney Island Company finished the boat in Cincinnati on April 18, 1925.
[Way (1994), p. 228.] The new ''Island Queen'' measured 285-feet long and could carry 4,000 people. The 1000-ton sidewheeler was powered by oil-burning steam engines with six boilers. It was fully completed and christened in Cincinnati by the Coney Island Company on April 18, 1925.
Like her predecessor, ''Island Queen'' was used for excursions to Coney Island amusement park and tramping between New Orleans, and as far upstream as
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...
.
Coney Island Company hired musicians to entertain the passengers.
Sidney Desvigne, a coronet player from