Nobska (steamship)
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Nobska gov.jpg |Ship caption=The Nobska, possibly headed out of Nantucket harbor after just rounding Brant Point. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name=SS Nobska |Ship owner= The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority |Ship operator= The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Bath Iron Works, Maine |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=24 March 1925 |Ship completed=1925 |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service=1925 |Ship out of service=1973 |Ship identification= |Ship fate=Scrapped in 2006 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tonnage=1,085 gross register tons |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|210|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|3|in|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship sail plan= |Ship power=Steam (coal) |Ship propulsion=Single screw |Ship speed=14 knots (26 km/h/16 mph) |Ship capacity=1,200 |Ship crew= |Ship notes= {{Infobox NRHP | name = NOBSKA (steamship) | embed = yes | nrhp_type = | image = | caption = | location = Inner harbor, Baltimore, Maryland | locmapin = United States Baltimore#Maryland#USA | built = {{Start date|1925}} | builder = Bath Ironworks | architecture = Sponson design | added = May 2, 1974 | area = {{convert|0|acre}} | refnum = 74002216{{NRISref|version=2010a}} }} }} |
The Nobska was a steamship that plied the waters of Nantucket Sound as part of The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority's fleet between 1925 and 1973 as a ferry. She was eventually scrapped in 2006 despite efforts to save her. She was America's last East Coast coastal steamer,[http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/06/02/farewell_nobska.php Hickey, J. (2006, June 2). Final farewell to historic Steamer Nobska. Vineyard Gazette.] had been on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland,[http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-96/12-01-96/m05lo180.htm Stewardson, J. (1996, December 1). Students power Nobska. SouthCoast Today.] and had been considered one of America's 10 most endangered maritime resources by the National Maritime Alliance and National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Construction and service
Built in 1925 at the Bath Iron Works in Maine,[http://shipbuilder.tripod.com/Nobska/ Coastal Steamer Nobska][http://www.danamorris.net/steamship/ssnobska.html Morris, D. (n.d.). Working aboard the Steamship Nobska and the Islander Ferry, 1971.][http://www.nobska.org/info/a2.htm NESF. (2001). Technical data.] the Nobska was named after Nobska Point, Woods Hole, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.[http://www.nobska.org/hist/a1.htm NESF. (2001). Nobska's History.]{{cite web|url=https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-N.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Nobska (steamship)|date=n.d.|accessdate=2016-03-01 |author=Mindy Arbo|publisher=Maryland Historical Trust}}
Two hundred and ten feet long, she had a four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine and could make 14 knots. She ran many different routes for the Steamship Authority over her decades of service for southeastern Massachusetts, mainly for the Cape and Islands but also including New Bedford.
Although launched as the Nobska, from 1928 to 1956 she was named the Nantucket.[http://www.nobska.org/ NESF Home Page.] Since she was renamed Nobska in 1956, two other Steamship Authority vessels have had that name: the later Naushon, and the current Nantucket itself.
She was considered elegant and, at the time of her launch, modern, "the queen of the Sounds." In 2006 one reporter wrote that "She embodied style, grace and modern technology, and was an immediate hit with the Islanders she served," and that she was "beloved" by many during her years of service. In her later years she was "the grand lady of the ferry service."[http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/04-96/04-25-96/01e11331.htm Stewardson, J. (1996, April 25). First step: Old ferry is Boston-bound for repairs to hull, refitting. SouthCoast Today.]
One story often told from her service years was when, in February 1961, Nantucket island was iced in and no ferries were able to make the trip. The Nobska, with its sharp bow, was sent to break through the ice and did so, although she was then iced in over the weekend. Other stories can be found at [http://www.nobska.org/hist/a1.htm the NESF site].
End of service
The Nobska ended her service in 1973, taking her last trip for the Steamship Authority on September 18 of that year,[https://web.archive.org/web/20120216091557/http://www.nobska.org/bgnd/a1.htm NESF. (2003). Background.] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
She was sold off in 1975, and was converted to a floating restaurant in Baltimore,[https://web.archive.org/web/20120216124951/https://seahistory.org/assets/HSLS-108.pdf Sea History 108 (Autumn, 2004).] which did not work out.
The Nobska sat derelict for over a decade
[http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/04-96/04-08-96/2nobska.htm Stewardson, J. (1996, April 8). Nobska keel work is set in Boston. SouthCoast Today.] until Friends of the Nobska, a group created to save the ship, was able to purchase her in 1988.
=Friends of the Nobska=
The Friends of the Nobska, organized in 1975 and later renamed the New England Steamship Foundation (NESF),[https://web.archive.org/web/20120216091606/http://www.nobska.org/info/a1.htm NESF. (2001). General Information.] was a non-profit group specifically created to save the Nobska. However the NESF experienced fundraising problems, legal battles, a scandal involving fundraising, and bankruptcy.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120928182815/https://www.military.com/forums/0,15240,95859,00.html Hutington. T. (2006, May 1). Boston's Naval Treasures. Military.com]
=Scrapping=
In 2006, the Nobska had sat for ten years in a dry dock at the historic Charlestown Navy Yard, but the slip was needed for work on other historical vessels such as the USS Constitution and the {{USS|Cassin Young|DD-793}}. The Nobska needed to be removed, intact or in pieces.[http://www.fbodaily.com/archive/2004/08-August/25-Aug-2004/FBO-00649741.htm FBO Daily Issue of August 25, 2004 FBO #1003, Solicitation Notice, Remove Steamship "NOBSKA" from Dry Dock 1, Boston National Histrorical (sic) Park, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts.] The Friends of the Nobska were unable to raise the funds to finish the necessary work, and the Nobska was ordered scrapped by the National Park Service.[http://www.ack.net/stagedreading061306.html Nobska steam whistle installed on Eagle. (n.d.). Inquirer and Mirror.][http://www.nobska.org/news/f1.htm NESF. (2006). Nobska Scrapped.] She had been the last surviving American coastal steamer.
=Whistle and engine survive=
Some of the ship had been removed for restoration, such as the massive engine and the ship's steam whistle.
In 2006 the Steamship Authority installed the Nobska's whistle on their modern vessel the Eagle (built in 1987),[http://www.nantucketindependent.com/news/2006/1101/other_news/011.html Lancaster, M. (2006, November 1). Curmudgeon objects to Nobska's whistle. Nantucket Independent.] although it is now air-powered instead of steam-powered, and put [http://www.steamshipauthority.com/ssa/nobskawhistlemov.html a recording of the whistle on their website].
In 2024 the steam engine and other Nobska artifacts were moved to the [http://newsm.org New England Wireless and Steam Museum] in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The NEWSM plans to restore the steam engine so that it can be demonstrated running under steam. File:The Nobska Steam Engine at the New England Wireless and Steam Museum.jpg
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Nantucket Sound steamboats}}
- Photos: [http://www.danamorris.net/steamship/ssnobska.html Morris, D. (n.d.). Working aboard the Steamship Nobska and the Islander Ferry, 1971.]
- Postcards: [http://www.nobska.org/card/a1.htm Postcards. NESF.] Other photos are also scattered about the NESF site.
- Photo of engine: [http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-96/12-01-96/m05lo180.htm Stewardson, J. (1996, December 1). Students power Nobska. SouthCoast Today.]
- [http://www.steamshipauthority.com/ Steamship Authority home page.]
- [http://www.nobska.org New England Steamship Foundation home page.]
- [http://www.newsm.org The New England Wireless and Steam Museum]
- [http://www.nobska.org/info/a2.htm Nobska Technical Data. NESF.]
- [http://www.nobska.org/hist/a1.htm Nobska's History. NESF.]
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nobska (Steamship)}}
Category:Ferries of Massachusetts
Category:Maritime history of the United States
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore
Category:Ships built in Bath, Maine
Category:Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Category:Steamboats of Nantucket Sound
Category:Transportation in Barnstable County, Massachusetts