''Adirondack'', a steel-hulled side-wheel river passenger steamship displacing , was built by J. Eaglis and Sons, at

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway and East ...

, New York, in 1896, for the Hudson Navigation Company, the "People's Line". Her keel was laid 8 June 1895, and she was launched within five months, probably October 1895, with her fitting out completed in time for the summer 1896 season.

Design

''Adirondack'' had a hull constructed almost entirely out of wood with a single expansion low pressure beam engine. She was built out of wood to give her more flexibility in pushing over the shoals of the upper

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

that she would spend her life traversing between New York and Albany. In a day when most ships were using multi-expansion engines the owners went with the cheaper, and simpler, single expansion engine because she would only be used for part of the year making a one-way, ten hour trip, between New York-to-Albany/Albany-to-New York a day, they felt the fuel efficiency and cost of the more complicated engines would not pay for themselves in the long run. ''Adirondack'' was

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

and a width at the

paddle wheel A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened end (the ''blade'') used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered watercraft by p ...

guards of . The depth of hull was and a draft of . She was gross measurement and had a freight capacity of . The

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was wide by deep. The frames, which were of oak,

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

and red cedar, were 12 inches thick and are spaced center to center. They varied in depth from on the floor to at the sides. There are 11 keelsons of

yellow pine In ecology and forestry, yellow pine refers to a number of conifer species that tend to grow in similar plant communities and yield similar strong wood. In the Western United States, yellow pine refers to Jeffrey pine or ponderosa pine. In the S ...

, measuring 12 inches by 20 inches, and they were bolted to the frames at each intersection by four bolts. The entire hull was strengthened by diagonal straps of by iron, which was riveted to the frames at each intersection. The hull was also stiffened by two deep suspension

trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

or "hog frames," the top chord of which was wide by deep. There were three

watertight Waterproofing is the process of making an object, person or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resists the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet env ...

bulkheads, which reach to the main deck. She had four W. & A. Fletcher Company,

steam boiler file:Dampfkessel für eine Stationärdampfmaschine im Textilmuseum Bocholt.jpg, An industrial boiler, originally used for supplying steam to a stationary steam engine A boiler or steam generator is a device used to create steam by applying heat ...

s, of only , running a W. & A. Fletcher Company, single expansion engine that produced . The engine turned two side wheels at an average of 26 revolutions per minute. Each wheel had 12 curved steel buckets that were wide by long that dipped approximately into the water.

Service history

She was chartered by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

for

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

service, delivered on 25 September 1917 she became USS ''Adirondack'' (ID 1270), and was officially requisitioned on 16 October 1917. For more than two years, she was employed as a floating barracks attached to the

Receiving Ship A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. 'Hulk' may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or a ship whose propulsion system is no longer maintained or has been r ...

at the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

, in a noncommissioned status. No longer required after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

. ''Adirondack'' resumed her pre-war operations, serving as a passenger steamer with the Hudson Navigation Co. She was finally abandoned due to age and deterioration during the fiscal year which ended on 30 June 1924.

Notes

;Citations

Bibliography

Books * Online resources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adirondack (Id-1270) Steamships of the United States Navy Ships built in Brooklyn 1895 ships