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Construction and design

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Harvest moon, a wooden-hulled sidewheel steamboat, was built for the recently-established partnership of Spear, Lang & Delano of Boston.[1] She was launched at 11 am, Saturday November 22, 1862,[1][2] and completed in March the following year.[3][4]

Harvest Moon's model, by Portland naval architect Charles P. Thurston,[3][4] was designed to achieve a good balance between speed, cargo capacity and seagoing qualities.[3] The steamer was built of white oak and hackmatack, with galvanized iron fastenings.[5] She had a length of 193 feet (59 m), beam of 29 feet (8.8 m), draft of 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m), hold depth of 10 feet (3.0 m), and burthen tonnage of 546.[5] The ship had a single watertight compartment, and a hull strengthened by 11 feet (3.4 m) of heavily bolted wood forward and 3-by-0.5-inch (76 by 13 mm) diagonal iron bracing across her upright timbers throughout.[3]

Harvest Moon was powered by a single-cylinder vertical beam engine with 41-inch (100 cm) bore and 10-foot (3.0 m) stroke.[5] The engine originated from an oceangoing steamship wrecked in Chinese waters, rebuilt by the Portland Company.[4] Steam was supplied by a new 25-by-11-foot (7.6 by 3.4 m) cylindrical boiler, built by the same company,[3] with a working pressure of 30 psi (210 kPa)[4] and rated maximum pressure of 45 psi (310 kPa).[3]

The steamer had a passenger capacity of 300.[1] Passenger accommodations included bridal suites,[4] 36 staterooms on the saloon deck[4][3] and cabins below—150 berths in total,[6] her accommodations being described in the local press as "convenient and ample".[a] The ship's freight capacity is not recorded but was substantial.[3]

Service history

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Merchant service, March–October 1863

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Harvest Moon completed her trial trip—a short 90-minute voyage from the city of Portland around some local islands and return—between 11 am and 12:30 pm, Saturday March 21, 1863, with a number of invited guests aboard. During the trial, the steamer attained a speed of 14 mph (23 km/h) at just 20 psi (140 kPa) of steam—well below her normal operating pressure of 30 psi (210 kPa), indicating that she had the makings of a fast vessel. She also gave good indications of stability and maneuverability.

With Spear, Lang & Delano having recently chartered their steamboat Daniel Webster to the government for wartime service, Harvest Moon was needed as a replacement on the Portland–Bangor route. Because of ice on the Penobscot River, however, Harvest Moon was initially only able to travel as far as Winterport, where passengers could disembark to continue on to Bangor by train.

Harvest Moon embarked on her maiden voyage with about 100 passengers on Monday, March 23, departing Portland at 1 pm for Winterport. Intermediate stops for the steamer' on this voyage were Rockland, Camden, Belfast, Searsport and Bucksport; at Rockland, the vessel took aboard a band, which provided entertainment for the rest of the trip. On the return trip, Harvest Moon reportedly equaled the record previously set by Daniel Webster on the same passage.[b]

Following her maiden voyage, Harvest Moon was assigned to a regular scheduled service between Portland and Winterport, with way-landings as above, leaving Portland at 6 am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and returning from Winterport, with a departure time of 5 am, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, via the same way-landings.[8] In late May, the steamer made the return trip from Winterport, including all way-landings, in the remarkably short time of 10 hours 15 minutes,[9] cementing her reputation as an "exceptionally fast" vessel.

In addition to her regular schedule, Harvest Moon was also occasionally used for excursions.[10] On July 4, for example, she made three in the one day around Casco Bay, with start times respectively of 9:30 am, 2 pm and 7:30 pm.[10] The ticket price for each was 50 dents, and a band hired to provide entertainment.[10] To accommodate these excursions, Harvest Moon's usual Saturday trip to Winterport was moved to Sunday at 6 am.

refs

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  1. ^ According to the Eastern Argus.[3]
  2. ^ According to the Portland Daily Press.[7]
  1. ^ a b c "Launched". Boston Evening Transcript. 1862-11-24. p. 4.
  2. ^ "Launch of a Steamer". Portland Daily Press. Portland, ME. 1862-11-24. p. 3.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Local Intelligence". The Eastern Argus. Portland, ME. 1863-03-23. p. 2.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Matters About Town". Portland Daily Press. 1863-03-23. p. 3.
  5. ^ a b c Board of Underwriters (1864). "Steamers". American Lloyds' Registry of American and Foreign Shipping. New York: E. & G. W. Blunt. p. 624.
  6. ^ "Local and State News". Lewiston Daily Evening Journal. 1863-01-13. p. 3.
  7. ^ "Matters About Town". Portland Daily Press. 1863-03-26. p. 3.
  8. ^ "For the Penobscot River [advertisement]". Portland Daily Press. 1863-03-30. p. 2.
  9. ^ "New England News Items". The Springfield Daily Republican. Springfield, MA. 1863-06-01. p. 2.
  10. ^ a b c "New Advertisements". Portland Daily Press. 1863-07-03. p. 2.
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