The Triple Expansion Steam Engine of the Christoper Columbus -
Blue Book of American Shipping - 1896
The Whaleback Steamer
Christopher Columbus
This page is devoted to the only passenger whaleback steamer ever built, the Christopher Columbus. The page's primary purpose is to hold my collection of Christopher Columbus images. The collection has grown quite large and now includes over 70 unique images of the vessel and over 100 pictures. Most of them are postcards that I acquired on ebay, but a number are shown courtesy of private and public collections. I try to include information on each picture as best I can. It is generally possible to tell which decade a photo was taken in, as the vessel's appearance changed throughout the course of her career. The Christopher Columbus holds the distinction of having transported more people than any other vessel on the Great Lakes and at the time of her launch, she was the largest vessel on the Great Lakes. She was unveiled at the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair and transported massive numbers of people between Lake Michigan ports prior to her scrapping at Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1936. Because of the large volume of passengers she carried, she was one of the most widely photographed vessels of her era. The following is the essential history of the vessel. I apologise for the load time on the images. I shrunk all the images down to 400 pixels, but I decided not to thumbnail them in the interest of time. I have included a number of different tints and treatments of single images. It is surprising how early 20th century postcard artists could dress up a photo to make it look quite different from the original. Please direct any inquiries to Brendon Baillod, brendon@baillod.com
Click Here to view the image collection
| Build Data Name: Christopher Columbus Registry Number US: 126952 Hull Framed: 9/13/1892 Launched: 12/3/1892 Left Yard: 5/13/1893 Year Engine Built: 1893 Builder: American Steel Barge Co., 1893 United States, Wisconsin, West Superior Engine Builder: Samuel F. Hodge & Co., 1893 United States, Michigan, Detroit Boiler Builder: Cleveland Shipbuilding Company, 1893, Clevland, Ohio Hull Number: 128 |
Type of Vessel: Day excursion whaleback Built of Steel Length 362 ft. Beam 42 ft. Depth 24 ft. Gross Tonnage 1511.05 gt. Net Tonnage 945.95 nt. 9 bulkheads Had a top deck added in winter, 1899-1900. |
|
Ownership History |
Power
Plant Engine Type: Triple expansion Piston #1 26 in. Piston #2 42 in. Piston #4 70 in. Stroke 42 in. Six steel return tubular boilers, 11 ft.D x 12 ft. L Wheel: 4 blades, 14 ft. diameter, 19 ft. Pitch |
|
The Triple Expansion Steam Engine of the Christoper Columbus - Blue Book of American Shipping - 1896 |
|
The age of Christopher Columbus images can be discerned by a few known changes
in her appearance:
1. When first built, she was painted completely white, including
her stack and had only two decks.
2. After 1894, The CC's smokestack was painted red.
3. In the winter of 1899/1900 she was rebuilt with a third deck added and her
hull was painted black..
4. Between about 1906, when she was sold to her second owner, and 1909, portions
of her stack and superstructure were painted yellow.
5. While serving as a Goodrich vessel (1910 - 1933), her stack was painted red
and most of her superstructure was white.
6. After about 1917, the CC's name was painted on the side of her bow. Prior,
it had been painted much farther back.
Click Here to view the image collection