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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Arabia |
Owner | Captain William Terrill and William Boyd |
Operator | William Terrill |
Route | Ohio River, Mississippi River, and the Missouri River |
Way number | ed |
Laid down | 1853 |
Out of service | September 5, 1856 |
Identification | In 1897, there was an 'expedition' to the buried ship to recover a large amount of whiskey reported to be onboard. The caisson used during this excavation was left in place and recovered during the 1988 excavation. |
Fate | Sank after hitting tree snag. |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | River excursion paddle steamer |
Tonnage | 222 grt |
Length | 171 ft (52 m) |
Beam | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
Installed power | 1 25,000 boiler |
Propulsion | 2 28 ft (8.5 m) paddlewheels |
Speed | 5 mph (8.0 km/h) |
Crew | Approximately 30 |
The Arabia is a side wheeler steamboat that sank in the Missouri River, on September 5, 1856, when it was gored upon a submerged tree snag. It was rediscovered in 1988 by a team of local researchers in what became Kansas City, Kansas. Its recovered artifacts are housed in the Arabia Steamboat Museum.