Urania (steamboat)
Encyclopedia
The steamboat Urania was a vessel that operated on Lake Washington
Lake Washington
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...
in the first part of the 20th Century. Built of wood, the vessel burned and sank in 1914. In 2002, the wreck was found and photographed by divers.
Construction
Urania was built in 1907 on Lake Washington, for Captain John Anderson, to join his fleet of steamboats on Lake Washington, operating under the name of the Anderson Steamboat Company. She was 85 feet (25.9 m) long. “UraniaUrania
Urania was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus. She is usually depicted with a globe in her left hand. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars...
” was the Greek name for the muse of astronomy and astrology Captain Anderson named his vessels after classical gods, starting with Xanthus and Cyrene. Urania was similar to but slightly smaller than another Anderson vessel, Fortuna
Fortuna (steamboat)
The steamboat Fortuna was a vessel that operated on Lake Washington in the first part of the 20th Century.-Construction:Fortuna was built in 1904 at a shipyard on the west side of Lake Washington two blocks south of Leschi Park. She was 106.9 feet in length overall, and rated at 81 tons...
, built in 1906. Captains Wells Green and C.R. Hall were two of Urania’s masters.
Partial conversion to auto transport
In 1913, Urania was reconstructed to allow four automobiles to be carried sideways across her foredeck. The reconstruction required removal of a portion of her upper deck.Loss by fire
On February 12, 1914, Urania burned near Houghton, and became a total loss. Her steam engine was salvaged and she was scuttled in the lake west of the Houghton shipyard in about 150 feet of water. A leading authority states that Urania was transferred to Puget Sound in 1917; if so, this cannot be the same Urania as the vessel described in the SCRET report, as the webpage shows the burned Urania before scuttling.Discovery of wreck
In 2002, divers of the Submerged Cultural Resources Exploration Team (“SCRET”) found the wreck of Urania, noting that she lies upright on the bottom, her hull substantially intact, but her upper works completely destroyed of course by the fire.See also
- Steamboats of Lake WashingtonSteamboats of Lake WashingtonLake Washington steamboats and ferries operated from about 1875 to 1951, transporting passengers and vehicles, and moving freight and towing barges and log rafts across Lake Washington, is a large lake immediately to the east of Seattle, Washington...
- Puget Sound Mosquito FleetPuget Sound Mosquito FleetThe Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet was a large number of private transportation companies running smaller passenger and freight boats on Puget Sound and nearby waterways and rivers. This large group of steamers and sternwheelers plied the waters of Puget Sound, stopping at every waterfront dock...
- Fortuna (steamboat) -- similar vesselFortuna (steamboat)The steamboat Fortuna was a vessel that operated on Lake Washington in the first part of the 20th Century.-Construction:Fortuna was built in 1904 at a shipyard on the west side of Lake Washington two blocks south of Leschi Park. She was 106.9 feet in length overall, and rated at 81 tons...