SS Mary Victoria Greenhow facts for kids
| History | |
|---|---|
| Canada | |
| Namesake | Mary Victoria Greenhow |
| Builder |
|
| Launched | 21 April 1886 |
| General characteristics | |
| Length | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Beam | 5 ft (1.5 m) |
| Installed power | 2 hp (1.5 kW) |
| Capacity | 5 passengers |
The SS Mary Victoria Greenhow (also called MVG) was a very important steamboat. She was the first steamboat ever on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Captain Thomas Shorts and Thomas Greenhow built her. Even though she had some problems, she started a long line of steamships in the Okanagan area.
Building the First Steamboat
Captain Shorts had already started a boat service on the lake in 1883. He used his rowboat named Ruth Shorts. Three years later, he decided to try using steam power.
He convinced a rancher named Thomas Ellis that it would be cheaper. It was cheaper to move goods by water than by land from Hope, British Columbia. With money help from cattle rancher Thomas Greenhow, Shorts could build his steamboat.
The Mary Victoria Greenhow was the first boat with an engine on the lake. Shorts launched her on April 21, 1886. This happened at the shipyard in Okanagan Landing. She was 32 feet long and 5 feet wide. The boat could carry five people and five tons of goods. She had a two-horsepower engine. Her boiler used kerosene and came from Rochester, New York. The boat was named after Mary Victoria Greenhow, who was the only daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Greenhow.
Her First Trip
The Mary Victoria Greenhow was a bit clumsy to steer. On her very first trip, Captain Shorts ran out of fuel halfway! He had to borrow kerosene from people living along the lake. As he went, he left many cabins dark. This was because there was no oil left for their lamps.
On his way back, Shorts was borrowing more kerosene. He was at Okanagan Mission with the Lequime brothers. While he was there, the Mary Victoria Greenhow was damaged by fire. Shorts managed to get her back to Okanagan Landing. He tried to change her to burn wood instead of kerosene, but it did not work.
A New Ship Takes Over
Captain Shorts ordered a new boiler for the Mary Victoria Greenhow. He hoped to fix her. But in the meantime, he and a carpenter named John Hamilton started building a new ship.
By July 1887, the new boiler arrived. But they had already built the SS Jubilee. Shorts decided to put the new boiler in his new ship instead. He also moved the engine from the Mary Victoria Greenhow to the Jubilee. The Jubilee was launched in September.
That same engine later powered several other ships. These included the City of Vernon, Mud Hen, SS Wanderer, and Violet. But the Mary Victoria Greenhow was the only one officially recorded. So, technically, all these ships used the same "registered" engine. The engine was later used for a shingle mill and wood-cutting in Trinity Valley starting in 1906. In November 1957, Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Worth donated it to the Vernon Museum and Archives. Their family had owned it for many years.
