&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Olympian_at_dock_in_Alaska_ca_1887.png) Olympian at a dock in the Inside Passage circa 1890
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Olympian |
| Owner | &sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:OR%26N_House_Flag.svg){kind=small} Oregon Rwy & Nav. Co. |
| Operator | Pacific Coast Steamship Co. (summer 1887 only) |
| Route | Puget Sound, Columbia River, Inside Passage |
| Builder | Harlan and Hollingsworth |
| Cost | $260,000 |
| Launched | Aug 21, 1883 |
| Maiden voyage | Dec 6, 1883 |
| In service | 1884 |
| Out of service | 1891 |
| Identification | US #155055 |
| Fate | Grounded under tow, 1906 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | inland steamship |
| Tonnage | 1419.60 GRT; 1083.20 RT |
| Length | 261 ft (80 m) between perpendiculars; 270 ft (82 m) overall |
| Beam | 40 ft (12 m) exclusive of guards |
| Draft | 8.2 ft (2.5 m) when light |
| Depth | 12.5 ft (3.8 m) depth of hold |
| Ice class | Capable of breaking some ice. |
| Installed power | Walking beam steam engine; single cylinder 70 in (180 cm) in diameter; piston stroke of 12.5 ft (3.8 m); 2100 indicated horsepower |
| Propulsion | side-wheels |
| Sail plan | Auxiliary schooner rig |
| Speed | Max: 21 miles per hour (34 km/h) (when new). |
| Capacity | 250 passengers in first class staterooms; known to have carried 900 passengers on a day excursion. |
| Crew | Fifty (50) |
Olympian was a large side-wheel inland steamship that operated in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Olympian operated from early 1884 to late 1891 on the Columbia River, Puget Sound, and the Inside Passage of British Columbia and Alaska.
Built for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, then controlled by Henry Villard, Olympian and its near twin Alaskan were known as “Henry Villard's White Elephants.”[1] In 1895 they were said to have been the “most expensive and at the same time the most useless steamers yet appearing in the Northwest.”[2]
Olympian was tried on several routes but was unable to make a profit on any of them. The steamer was tied up for good in 1892, and remained so until 1906, when it was sold to New York interests. The buyers intended to tow Olympian around South America to New York, rehabilitate it, and run it on Long Island Sound.
Zealandia towed Olympian as far as Possession Bay on the east side of the Straits of Magellan, where Olympian broke loose and washed ashore. Olympian was never removed from the beach, where some remains of the steamer could still be seen in 1980.
This Olympian should not be confused with Olympian (ex Telegraph) a wooden sternwheeler which also served on Puget Sound and on the Columbia River.
- ^ Newell, Gordon R., ed. (1966). "Ch. 11: Maritime Events of 1906". H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA: Superior Pub. Co. p. 128. ISBN 0-87564-220-9. LCCN 66025424.
- ^ Wright, Edgar W., ed. (1895). "Ch. 15: British Columbia Transportation Companies, Unparalleled Number of Disasters". Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, OR: Lewis and Dryden Printing Co. p. 316. LCCN 28001147.