Alpha (sternwheeler)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sternwheeler Alpha, moored.jpg
The sternwheeler Alpha in 1878
History
NameAlpha
LaunchedJuly 5, 1873
FateRan aground April 1885
General characteristics
Draft1 ft (0.30 m)

Alpha was a wooden steamship that operated on the rivers of Manitoba, Canada.[1] She was launched on July 5, 1873.[1][2] Her builder and first owner was .[3] His ownership was complicated by his British citizenship, since the Alpha would routinely have to cross the US-Canadian boundary while traveling from to Fort Garry, Manitoba. So, she was sold to the .

She had a reputation as being one of the fastest vessels in Manitoba, and one capable of proceeding during periods of shallow water, as her draft was just one foot (0.30 m).[1]

Her accommodation was very cramped.[4]

Running aground did not always end the career of prairie steamboats, but it did end the career of Alpha, when she ran aground on the Assiniboine River in April 1885.[1][2]

Her grounding was due to human error.[3] Her captain took a risk, during flood time. He risked taking a short-cut, by deviating from the river's channel and proceeding across an isythmus that he knew was dry land, during low water.

The wreck was left high and dry, when the flood passed.[3] Locals cannibalized some of the ship's fitting and sound lumber. Silt from subsequent floods buried the wreck site, so the exact site was lost.

The wreck was re-exposed, in 1958, when that year's flood cut a new channel through the wreck-site.[3] Her rudder is now housed in a maritime museum in Selkirk, Manitoba.[1][2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "The S.S. Alpha and the River Routes". . Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  2. ^ a b c "Historic Sites of Manitoba: SS Alpha Shipwreck (RM of Victoria)". Government of Manitoba. 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  3. ^ a b c d Ted Barris (26 September 2015). Fire Canoe: Prairie Steamboat Days Revisited. Dundurn Press 2015. ISBN 9781459732100. Retrieved 2020-08-22.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Martha McCarthy (1987). "Steamboats on the Rivers and Lakes of Manitoba 1859-96" (PDF). Manitoba Archives. p. 36. Retrieved 2020-11-30. Aboard the Alpha, 15 men slept in a little cabin only 3.6m (12 ft.) square.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)


Stub icon

This article about a specific civilian ship or boat is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Retrieved from ""