The SS Nantucket (renamed SS Naushon) was the last steam-powered ferry in regular operation on the East Coast of the United States. She was owned and operated by the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority between 1957 and 1987.
Details
Nantucket was originally designed with loading doors in the extreme bow and stern, so that cars and trucks could drive on at one end of the freight deck and off at the other. The bow doors proved unusable, however, and were welded shut early in the vessel's operational career. Thereafter, cars and trucks were loaded through the stern door, or through a door cut into the starboard (right) side of the vessel just behind the bow. Both methods complicated and slowed the loading process, and required Nantucket to always back into its slip. The vessel was thus more difficult to keep on schedule than subsequent ferries, which allowed vehicles to drive straight on and straight off.
The ship was described by Joseph Chase Allen as having "an impressive absence of beauty."
Nantucket had three decks above the freight deck, which were used for passenger accommodations. The Mezzanine Deck contained baggage-storage rooms and staterooms that passengers could book (at additional cost) in order to enjoy a greater degree of comfort and seclusion. Nantucket entered service as the Steamship Authority re-established service to New Bedford, and the staterooms were designed to appeal, particularly, to passengers on multi-hour trips from New Bedford to Nantucket. Never popular with passengers, the staterooms fell into disuse when service to New Bedford was discontinued. The Main Deck contained interior passenger seating (including large semi-circular booths upholstered in artificial red leather) and the snack bar. It also included open-air seating areas forward and aft of the vessel's superstructure. The Upper Deck, reached by an interior stairwell behind the pilothouse or by exterior stairs from the open, forward part of the Main Deck, consisted entirely of open-air seating. The vessel's lifeboats were also located on the Upper Deck.
Nantucket was renamed the SS Naushon in 1974, the year her original name was re-assigned to a new, state-of-the-art diesel-powered ferry which is still in use today. The steamer remained Naushon—a name held previously by two other Steamship Authority vessels, one in service from 1846 to 1848 and the other from 1929 until 1942—for its last 14 years of line service.
Incidents
During an emergency stop in Vineyard Haven Harbor on April 5, 1980, Naushon's anchor broke multiple undersea power cables for the island of Martha's Vineyard. Naushon had experienced a boiler feed-pump failure and had lost power while traveling from Nantucket to Woods Hole. In order to avoid drifting while repairs were made, the anchor was dropped. Owing to a combination of factors, including a rock that had jammed the anchor, strong currents, and the extra drag being exerted by a coast guard vessel which had moored to Naushon, the anchor did not hold. After digging a trench across the seafloor for about , the anchor apparently snagged the undersea cables. Once repairs were completed, Naushon prepared to resume its journey. At the exact moment the anchor was weighed, power ceased flowing through the cables. The cables were later discovered to have snapped. On August 10, 1981, while approaching Woods Hole in heavy fog, Naushon experienced a bow to bow collision with the truck ferry Auriga. Auriga, which was departing Wood's Hole, was carrying sixteen passengers and several vehicles, while Naushon was carrying 350 passengers plus vehicles. Sixteen people were injured in the incident, which occurred more than a mile offshore.
Casino years
After its ferry service with the Steamship Authority ended, Naushon became a gaming vessel. She served from December 1993 to October 1995 as Cotton Club riverboat casino docked in Greenville, Mississippi.