Steamer "New World", 1848 - 1864

Editor's Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article written by George W. Murdock, for the Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman newspaper in the 1930s. Murdock, a veteran marine engineer, wrote a regular column. Articles transcribed by HRMM volunteer Adam Kaplan. 

Steamer "New World" underway. Donald C. Ringwald Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum

                                                   No. 52- New World
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The “New World” was constructed in 1847 by William H. Brown of New York. When she first appeared she was 371 feet long with a tonnage rating of 1,418. In 1855 she was widened from 37 feet to 43 feet by John Englis of Greenpoint and her rating increased to 1,676 tons. She had a vertical beam engine, constructed by T.F. Secor & Company of New York, with a cylinder diameter of 76 inches and a 15 foot stroke, cutting off at eight feet and averaging 17 revolutions per minute.
               
The “New World” was one of the most celebrated of the American river steamboats and was literally a wonder of her day because of her great size. She was originally built for service as a dayboat between Albany and New York and on this route she gained a reputation for speed. On several occasions her speed approximated 20 miles per hour. In 1854 the “New World” made the run from Albany to New York in six hours and 21 minutes. In the year 1855 she was rebuilt for service as a night boat, becoming the first of the great inland steamers to have a double tier of staterooms above the main deck.

The “New World” was always considered an unlucky vessel. From the day of her launching- August 4, 1848, when she moved 30 feet down the ways and stuck, requiring the services of several tugboats to get her into the water, the “New World” began a career which was continually marred by accidents.

 On June 20, 1853, while off Chambers street, New York, one of the “New World’s” boilers exploded, killing 11 persons. At another time she was almost destroyed by fire off the City of Hudson.

One of the most unfortunate accidents which marred the record of the “New World” occurred on October 26, 1859 of Fort Washington while enroute to Albany. In this accident the “New World” went to the bottom of the river, but the circumstances which caused her distress were rather peculiar.

A schooner was crossing the bow of the “New World” and the pilot rang the bell to stop the engine. The engineer happened to be in one of the firerooms across the gangway when the signal was given and he hurried to comply with the request. In his haste, he stopped the engine too suddenly, with the result that the strain put on the gallows frame holding up the walking beam, caused it to snap off about five feet from the top, allowing the beam to drop. This broke the connecting rod about two feet from the upper end. The connecting rod continued to work with every revolution of the paddle wheel crank as the boat continued to move at a good rate of speed. The flying end of the severed connecting rod generally wrecked the bulkheads and decks forward and finally worked its way into the hold and knocked a hole in the bottom of the vessel. In half an hour the “New World” was at the bottom of the river. Her passengers were rescued by the sloop and the steamboat “Ohio.”

The “New World” was raised and repaired and returned to service on the night line. After a career of 16 years she was laid aside, her engine was placed in the new steamboat “St. John,” and her hull with all of her upper works intact, was taken to Fortress Monroe for use as a hospital during the Civil War.
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Advertising lithograph for then nightboat steamer "New World". Donald C. Ringwald Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum

Author

George W. Murdock, (b. 1853-d. 1940) was a veteran marine engineer who served on the steamboats "Utica", "Sunnyside", "City of Troy", and "Mary Powell". He also helped dismantle engines in scrapped steamboats in the winter months and later in his career worked as an engineer at the brickyards in Port Ewen. In 1883 he moved to Brooklyn, NY and operated several private yachts. He ended his career working in power houses in the outer boroughs of New York City. His mother Catherine Murdock was the keeper of the Rondout Lighthouse for 50 years.