Robert F. Brandt (Towboat, 1936-1950)

Date

• October 26, 1937

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel
• BOAT TYPE: Towboat
• BUILT: Point Pleasant, West Virginia by Marietta Manufacturing Company, 1929, under the name Walter A. Windsor; American Barge Line bought her and renamed her Robert F. Brandt in January, 1936
• FORMERLY: Walter A. Windsor
• FINAL DISPOSITION: Dismantled at Jeffersonville, Indiana, 1950
• OWNERS: American Barge Line
• OFFICERS & CREW: Captain George Hibstenberg (master for American Barge Line in early 1936); Elmer Broadway (pilot, June 1936); Captain Roy L. Hughes (master, 1936); Captain Allen Wood (master for a long time); June, 1945: Captain Linsey Miller (master), Phil Brown (pilot), Alvin Wright (chief engineer), Fred M. Hoyt (clerk); 1948: Captain Russell Riley (master), Harold B. Wright (pilot), James C. Thacker (chief engineer), Paul Inglehart (second engineer); Everett Grimm (mate)
• RIVERS: Ohio River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - T2172; Originally the towboat Walter A. Windsor, built as a stock boat in 1929, with machinery from the packet S. S. Brown. American Barge Line bought her in late 1935 and renamed her in January, 1936. Captain George Hibstenberg was her master the first season ABL ran her and died while phoning at Lock 52, Ohio River, June 1936. Captain Roy Hughes was her next master, followed by Captain Allen Wood, who was her master for a long time. While upbound with a tow in July 1939, she broke her shaft in the Cincinnati bridges. The USE towboat Kentucky and the packet Tom Greene rescued her. An oil burner for several years, she was converted back to coal. She ran with a red pilot house for a long time in 1948, under Captain Russell
• PHOTO DESCRIPTION: Aerial view at the Mead Johnson Terminal, Evansville, Indiana, on the right bank of the Ohio River, mile 188