Looking ENE from middle level of Belvedere connector near foot of 4th Street
Louisville, Kentucky
Ohio River mile 604
August 31, 1997
On August 24, 1997, the excursion steamer "Belle of Louisville" partially sank at her moorings. The proximate cause of the sinking was flooding of the hull via a city water line left connected to a fitting that led into the boat's hull, causing water to fill the engine room at a rate of 60 gallons per minute. A former seasonal crew member, Brennan James Callan, was later convicted of sabotage, though he always maintained his innocence.
The bow sank onto the mud ledge near the wharf while the stern, weighed down by all that water in the engine room, slid off into deeper water. After determining that the hull was intact, the boat was pumped out. To provide stability, the Corps of Engineers derrick boat "Brown" (left) supported the stern during the pump-out. I count at least 9 portable pumps, including two on a barge and one not in operation.
Sternwheel steamboat "Belle of Louisville" (Length 192 feet - Width 41 feet - capacity 998 passengers).
Built 1914 by James Rees & Sons Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and rebuilt in 1968 by Jeffboat, Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Engines 16's - 6 1/2 foot stroke.
Three return flue boilers (built by Nooter Corp., St. Louis, Missouri, and placed in 1968), each 28 feet long by 56 inches outside diameter, with 13 six inch flues. Burns fuel oil.
Originally named "Idlewild" and owned by the West Memphis Packet Co., the boat operated at times as a packet, excursion boat and ferry.
In 1928, the boat was sold to New St. Louis and Calhoun Packet Corp., Hardin, Illinois.
In 1947, the boat was sold to J. Herod Gorsage, Peoria, Illinois, and in 1948 she was renamed "Avalon".
In 1950, the boat was sold to Steamer Avalon, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio.
In 1962, the boat was sold at auction for $34,000 to Jefferson County, Kentucky, under the leadership of County Judge Marlow Cook, and renamed "Belle of Louisville".
As of 2024, the boat is still running public and private cruises from the wharf.
One of the Belle's captains, Mike Fitzgerald, can be seen in a maroon shirt near the edge of the wharf. He worked his way up from deckhand, and in 2024 celebrated his 50th year with the Belle.
The derrick boat "Brown" was put into service in 1976 and can lift 135 tons. Basically a non-self-propelled deck barge with a rotating crane, the "Brown" is anchored in position with through-deck steel shafts called "spuds" (at left, with tops painted yellow) that are lowered to the river bottom. It was named after Edgar W. Brown, the Corps derrick boat operator who died in an accident at Kentucky River Lock 3.
[From "The Falls City Engineers" (revised edition) by Leland R. Johnson, p. 172]
As an aside, the Corps of Engineers has a derrick boat which can lift 350 tons, the "Henry M. Shreve". And here are some photos of older derrick boats.
Scanned from a 6x9 cm Kodak E100SW transparency
