Steamer on Ice
A creative captain helped this Maine paddle wheeler beat a winter gale.
By Joshua F. Moore
Those who champion the benefits of fiberglass or steel ships over wooden ones would have had a tough time arguing with Captain William Roix of the steamship Katahdin, pride of the Bangor-to-Boston run, shown here after surviving a winter gale back in 1886. Though the 241-foot vessel sustained some damage to its bulwarks and name-boards, at far left, shortly after it passed Cape Ann, otherwise the proud steamer fared remarkably well during its ten-hour battle with Mother Nature. Its only shortcoming turned out to be a lack of fuel, an obstacle Roix's crew handled ingeniously by feeding the Katahdin's cargo, furniture, and even non-structural bits of the ship itself into the hungry boilers.
