SS ''Charles L. Wheeler Jr.'' was a 2,205-ton cargo ship, ordered by the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting ...

as the ''Point Judith'' and delivered in July 1918 by the Albina Engine and Machine Works of

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Renamed ''Charles L. Wheeler Jr.'' in 1929, the ship was scrapped in 1948.

Career

On 17 December 1933, ''Charles L. Wheeler Jr.'' ran aground on Sand Island in Oregon′s

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

. She was refloated on 30 December 1933. In 1938, the world's largest single-lift lock was opened at the

Bonneville Dam Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Ore ...

on the Columbia River. As part of the opening ceremonies of the lock,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Arthur Riggs, a veteran upper Columbia

river pilot A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who has specific knowledge of an often dangerous or congested waterway, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots know local details s ...

, took ''Charles L. Wheeler Jr.'' – which was operated by McCormick Steamship Company and loaded with sugar, building materials, beer, hardware, automobiles, and general freight – upstream from Portland, transited the Bonneville Locks and continued on to the historic upper river steamboat port of The Dalles, Oregon.Charles L. Wheeler Jr (freighter). . 2010-06-03. URL:http://www.cimorelli.com/cgi-bin/magellanscripts/ship_dates_volume.asp?ShipName=Charles+L.+Wheeler+Jr+%28freighter%29. Accessed: 2010-06-03. (Archived by WebCite at) She was the first ship to transit the lock at Bonneville Dam and the first ocean-going merchant ship to transit the Columbia River all the way to The Dalles, located upstream from the Pacific Ocean.Wolfe, Reese, Charlie Wheeler - The Man at the Helm, The Rotarian, Jul 1943 Once unloaded at the Port of the Dalles, the ship was then loaded with lumber, wheat, flour, and other local products for the return voyage. Residents of The Dalles had hoped the trip would bring increased business to their port, but the trip was a one-time event, and the Columbia River is dominated by

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

traffic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles L. Wheeler Jr., SS Merchant ships of the United States Columbia River Gorge Columbia River History of Oregon The Dalles, Oregon History of Portland, Oregon History of San Francisco Ships of the United States Army Ships built in Portland, Oregon 1918 ships Maritime incidents in 1933 Maritime incidents in 1941