The Nobska was a steamship that plied the waters of Nantucket sound

Nantucket Sound

Nantucket Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is long and wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on the west. Between Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard it is connected to the...

 as part of The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority's fleet between 1925 and 1973 as a ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

. She was eventually scrapped in 2006 despite efforts to save her. She was America's last coastal steamer, had been on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, and had been considered one of America's 10 most endangered maritime resources by the National Maritime Alliance and National Trust for Historic Preservation

National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...

.

Construction and service

Built in 1925 at the Bath Iron Works

Bath Iron Works

Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...

 in Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, the Nobska was named after Nobska Point

Nobska Light

Nobska Light, or Nobsque Light, also known as Nobska Point Light is a lighthouse located at the division between Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound in Woods Hole on the southwestern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts....

, Woods Hole, on Cape Cod

Cape Cod

Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...

 in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.

Two hundred and ten feet long, she had a four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine and could make 14 knots. She ran many different routes for the Steamship Authority over her decades of service for southeastern Massachusetts, mainly for the Cape and Islands but also including New Bedford

New Bedford

-Places:*New Bedford, Illinois*New Bedford, Massachusetts, the most populous New Bedford**New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park*New Bedford, New Jersey *New Bedford, Ohio*New Bedford, Pennsylvania...

.

Although launched as the Nobska, from 1928 to 1956 she was named the Nantucket. Since she was renamed Nobska in 1956, two other Steamship Authority vessels have had that name: the later Naushon

SS Nantucket (1957)

The SS Nantucket was the last steam-powered ferry in regular operation on the East Coast of the United States. It was owned and operated by the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority between 1957 and 1987.- Details :The Nantucket had one vehicle deck plus three passenger...

, and the current Nantucket

MV Nantucket

The M/V Nantucket is a 230' long ferry owned and operated by The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority. It was built in 1974 by Belinger Shipyards in Jacksonville, Florida. It serves the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. It was named after a 19th-century...

 itself.

She was considered elegant and, at the time of her launch, modern, "the queen of the Sounds

Nantucket Sound

Nantucket Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is long and wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on the west. Between Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard it is connected to the...

." In 2006 one reporter wrote that "She embodied style, grace and modern technology, and was an immediate hit with the Islanders she served," and that she was "beloved" by many during her years of service. In her later years she was "the grand lady of the ferry service."

One story often told from her service years was when, in February 1961, Nantucket island was iced in and no ferries were able to make the trip. The Nobska, with its sharp bow, was sent to break through the ice and did so, although she was then iced in over the weekend. Other stories can be found at the NESF site.

End of service

The Nobska ended her service in 1973, taking her last trip for the Steamship Authority on September 18 of that year, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1974.
She was sold off in 1975, and was converted to a floating restaurant in Baltimore, which did not work out.
The Nobska sat derelict for over a decade
until Friends of the Nobska, a group create to save the ship, was able to purchase her in 1988.

Friends of the Nobska

The Friends of the Nobska, organized in 1975 and later renamed the New England Steamship Foundation (NESF), was a non-profit group specifically created to save the Nobska. However the NESF experienced fundraising problems, legal battles, a scandal involving fundraising, and bankruptcy.

Scrapping

In 2006, the Nobska had sat for ten years in a dry dock at the historic Charlestown Navy Yard, but the slip was needed for work on other historical vessels such as the USS Constitution

USS Constitution

USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...

 and the . The Nobska needed to be removed, intact or in pieces. The Friends of the Nobska were unable to raise the funds to finish the necessary work, and the Nobska was scrapped. She had been the last surviving American coastal steamer.

Whistle and engine survive

Some of the ship had been removed for restoration, such as the massive engine and the ship's steam whistle. In 2006 the Steamship Authority, although they did not act to save their former treasure, installed the Nobska's whistle on their modern vessel the Eagle (built in 1987), although it is now air-powered instead of steam-powered, and put a recording of the whistle on their website for all to hear.

External links

• Photos: Morris, D. (n.d.). Working aboard the Steamship Nobska and the Islander Ferry, 1971.
• Postcards: Postcards. NESF. Other photos are also scattered about the NESF site.
• Photo of engine: Stewardson, J. (1996, December 1). Students power Nobska. SouthCoast Today.
• Steamship Authority home page.
• New England Steamship Foundation home page.
• Nobska Technical Data. NESF.
• Nobska's History. NESF.