S.S. Eastern Shore

The Steamboat S.S. Eastern Shore, a steamer out of Baltimore.

Eastern Shore

Eastern Shore was built in 1883 by Harlan and Hollingsworth Co. of Wilmington, Delaware.  She was originally an iron hulled sidewheel steamer, powered by a single cylinder vertical beam engine, but was converted to diesel in 1937.  Her normal full load speed was about 11 miles per hour.  She had 30 staterooms including 8 inside rooms and was licensed to carry 150 First Class passengers and 75 Second Class passengers.  She was operated by the Eastern Shore Steamboat Company which operated her on a schedule to Crisfield, MD, Pocomoke River, and various creeks on the lower Eastern Shore of Virginia to Cape Charles.  In 1932, Eastern Shore was purchased by the Baltimore, Crisfield and Onancock Line, and kept to her route under the new management.  She remained on this same route virtually her entire career, mostly due to the fact that she could carry 3,500 barrels of potatoes stacked three high, a major crop for the lower Eastern Shore.

In 1937, she was converted to diesel, reportedly without the consent of the Philadelphia bank which still held the mortgage on her.  In 1940 she was sold to the Norfolk, Baltimore and Carolina Line for freight service between Baltimore and Norfolk.  The Navy used her in the Hampton Roads area during World War II.  After the war, she was too old for further service, and was partially scrapped in 1948.  On 26 April, 1949 Eastern Shore burned at Great Bridge, VA.

Ship	Built	GRT	Length	Beam	Comments
Eastern Shore	1883	791	176'	35'	Sidewheel steamer. Single vertical beam engine (38" x 108"), 800 IHP. Converted to diesel 1937. Partially scrapped 1948. Burned April 26, 1949 at Great Bridge, VA.

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Created by A. Davis Whittaker, Jr.
Last updated on 21 February 2005.