Athlon (steamboat) facts for kids

Athlon
Quick facts for kids History
United States
Name	Athlon
Builder	J.H. Johnston
Launched	1900
In service	1900-1921
Fate	Sunk after grounding, 1921
Notes	Converted to oil fuel 1906
General characteristics
Class and type	express passenger (inland)
Tonnage	157 gross tons; 104 net tons
Length	112.4 ft (34.3 m)
Beam	19.7 ft (6.0 m)
Draft	7 ft (2.1 m)
Propulsion	Compound engine as built, re-engined 1907 with triple expansion, 66" propeller, with 96" pitch
Notes	all-wooden construction, steam-powered

The Athlon was a steamboat that carried passengers on Puget Sound in the early 1900s. It was part of what was known as the "Mosquito Fleet," a group of many small steamboats that provided transportation around the Puget Sound area.

Building the Athlon

The Athlon was built in Portland, Oregon, in 1900 by a company called J.H. Johnston. A group of companies, including Jacob Kamm's Vancouver Transportation Co., the Shaver Transportation Company, and the Kellogg Transportation Company, worked together to build the ship.

They spent $4,950 to build the Athlon. Their main goal was to compete with Captain Neusome, who owned a boat called the Iralda and operated on the lower Columbia River. Captain Neusome had refused to agree on standard prices for steamboat trips. Once the Athlon was ready, Neusome changed his mind and made a deal with the group. Because of this, the Athlon was sold to H.B. Kennedy, who then brought it to Puget Sound.

Life on Puget Sound

Once on Puget Sound, H.B. Kennedy started using the Athlon on a busy route between Seattle and Port Orchard (where the Navy Yard was located). This put the Athlon in direct competition with the Inland Flyer, a boat owned by Joshua Green.

In February 1901, William Mitchell became the Athlon's first captain on Puget Sound. He had started his career as a cabin boy and worked his way up. Later, in 1933, Mitchell became the manager of the Kitsap Transportation Company, which was one of the last companies still competing with the much larger Puget Sound Navigation Company.

By July 1901, H.B. Kennedy and Joshua Green decided to stop competing so fiercely. They made a deal to set the prices for trips on their route. Over time, Kennedy's company and Joshua Green's Puget Sound Navigation Company became closer and eventually joined together. By 1903, H.B. Kennedy still owned the Athlon, but Puget Sound Navigation was operating it. This partnership helped them push out other boats that tried to compete, like the Manette and later the Arrow. Even though the Arrow was much faster than the Athlon, beating it by 30 minutes on a race from Seattle to Bremerton, the combined companies were too strong.

Safety on Steamboats

In January 1904, a steamboat called the Clallam sank while traveling to Victoria, British Columbia. About 50 passengers were lost. The Clallam did not have distress rockets, which could have helped signal for help before radios were common.

After this accident, steamship inspectors became much stricter. They gave many steamboats, including the Athlon, large fines of $500 or more. These fines were for not having important safety equipment like fog horns, signal flares, fire axes, or proper life-saving gear. A $500 fine was a lot of money back then, almost 10% of what it cost to build the Athlon!

Changing to Oil Fuel

In 1907, the Athlon's original engine was replaced with a newer, more powerful one called a triple expansion steam engine. Around the same time, the ship was changed to run on oil instead of wood or coal. Oil companies were trying to convince steamboat operators to switch to oil.

H.D. Collier, a marine engineer, worked for Standard Oil in the Puget Sound area. When he asked Joshua Green to consider using oil, Green said, "Harry, that stuff blows up!" To show that oil was safe, Collier set up an oil burner under the Athlon's boiler and then dropped a lit match into the oil tank. When nothing exploded, Green was convinced, and Collier made the sale. H.D. Collier later became the president and chairman of Standard Oil of California.

A Demonstration About Safety Rules

Starting in the late 1890s, the government became more concerned about working conditions and safety on steamboats. After the famous RMS Titanic sank in 1912 with many lives lost because there weren't enough lifeboats, the pressure for new safety laws grew even stronger.

In 1913, a version of what would become the Seaman's Act (a law to improve safety for sailors and passengers) passed Congress. The owners of the Athlon, who were important business people, did not like this new law. They used the Athlon to show what they thought were some silly parts of the new rules.

They figured that based on how many passengers the Athlon was allowed to carry, it would need 19 lifeboats. But the Athlon was only 112 feet (34 m) long! They could only fit 8 lifeboats on the ship's decks. So, they put the other eleven lifeboats on a separate floating platform (called a scow) that was tied next to the Athlon. By doing this and other things, steamboat owners across the country were able to delay the final approval of the Seaman's Act until 1915.

New Owners: The Moe Brothers

The Moe Brothers were competing with the Kitsap County Transportation Company for control of the route between Seattle and Poulsbo, Washington. In 1914, the Moe Brothers, with help from people on Bainbridge Island, Washington and around Liberty Bay, bought the Athlon. They put it on the Seattle-Poulsbo route, where it operated for the next six years.

The Grand Trunk Pier Fire

On July 30, 1914, the Athlon and a larger ship called the Admiral Farragut were docked in Seattle at the Grand Trunk Pacific dock. This pier was right next to Colman Dock. Around 3:00 in the afternoon, the engineer on the Athlon saw a fire on the pier. Both the Athlon and the Farragut quickly untied their ropes and moved away from the burning pier.

The fire spread very fast because the pier was only four years old and had been treated with creosote, a flammable material. Fire boats and firefighters on land tried to put out the flames, but they were not successful. Sadly, four firefighters died in the blaze.

The Final Journey

On August 1, 1921, the Athlon was traveling into Port Ludlow, Washington in a very thick fog. It hit the Ludlow Rocks at the entrance to the harbor. The ship struck the rocks at high tide. When the tide went out, it was possible to walk all around the boat. All nine people on board made it to safety, but the ship was completely destroyed. Its owners, the Poulsbo Transportation Co., were able to save some of its machinery.

Images for kids

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  The steamboat Athlon