Nokomis (Towboat, 1899-1927)

Date

• 1917

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel
• BOAT TYPE: Towboat
• BUILT: Dubuque, Iowa, 1899
• FINAL DISPOSITION: Sank at New Orleans in February, 1927
• OWNERS: Mississippi River Commission; U. S. Engineering Department (1905); Federal Barge Line (1918); Emmett "Skeet" Williams (circa 1927)
• OFFICERS & CREW: Captain Gus Heiner (master, 1918); John E. Warren (pilot, 1918); Captain Frank Hyatt (for FBL); Captain Al Smith (for FBL)
• RIVERS: Mississippi River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - T1927; High pressure boat, with Gillett & Eaton engines, she got compound engines in 1916. Built for the Mississippi River Commission, and operating out of Dubuque, Iowa, she transferred to USE, St. Louis in 1905, and later to Federal Barge Line. Captain Gus Heiner was master and John E. Warren pilot with Elmer Owrey as his partner, when she took their first tow from St. Louis, September 28, 1918. Soon after her purchase by Emmett Williams and others, she sank at the SP docks in New Orleans in February, 1927
• PHOTO DESCRIPTION: At St. Paul, Minnesota, with six barges in tow