Mississippi Queen (steamboat)

For the song, see Mississippi Queen.

Mississippi Queen (center), with the Delta Queen along her starboard side, moored at the Tall Stacks Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio in October 2003. The Majestic appears on the right.
History
Name	Mississippi Queen
Owner	Majestic America Line
Operator	Majestic America Line
Port of registry	New Orleans
Yard number	2999
Laid down	1973
Completed	1975
In service	1976
Out of service	2008
Identification	Call sign: WBB5793 IMO number: 8643066 MMSI number: 366950750
Fate	Scrapped in 2011
General characteristics
Class and type	Steamboat
Length	116 meters (382 ft)

The Mississippi Queen was the second-largest paddle wheel driven river steamboat ever built, second only to the larger American Queen. The ship was the largest such steamboat when she was completed in 1976 by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company at Jeffboat in Indiana and was a seven-deck recreation of a classic Mississippi riverboat. Mississippi Queen was commissioned by a charter airline, Overseas National Airways (ONA), which owned the Delta Queen at the time.[1] Construction, which started in 1973, was overseen by the brother of the ONA CEO. However, by the time of the first voyage in 1976, the Delta Queen Steamboat Company had been sold to the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York.[2][3]

She was later owned by the Majestic America Line. The Mississippi Queen had 206 state rooms for a capacity of 412 guests and a crew of 157. It was 116 meters (382 ft) long, 21 meters (68 ft) wide,[4] and displaced 3,709 metric tonnes (3,364 tons).[5]

The Mississippi Queen was a genuine stern paddlewheeler with a wheel that measured 6.7 meters (22 ft) in diameter by 11 meters (36 ft) wide and weighed 77 metric tonnes (70 tons). The steamboat also featured a 44 whistle steam calliope, which was the largest on the Mississippi River system.

The Mississippi Queen was laid up in New Orleans at Perry Street Wharf after being gutted, initially for renovation. Instead, however, the steamboat was sold for scrap in May 2009. She was towed for the last time to Morgan City, Louisiana, in March 2011 to be cut down.

In popular culture

A steamboat called the Mississippi Queen was used in the 1982 episode "Cap'n Spanky's Showboat" in the animated television series The Little Rascals.

The song 'Evangeline' written by Robbie Robertson & performed by The Band and Emmylou Harris references the boat - "Evangeline, Evangeline, curses the soul of the Mississippi Queen"

See also

• Delta Queen
• American Queen

References

1. "Overseas National Airways, Disclaimer of Jurisdiction". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 52. Washington, DC: U.S. General Printing Office: 958–960. August–November 1969. hdl:2027/osu.32437011657869.
2. The Mississippi Queen Detroit Free Press, 18 April 1976
3. One more look at the Mississippi Queen, Cincinnati Post, 31 July 1976
4. "Official page". Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
5. "The Mississippi Queen". reviews. cruisemates.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2008-12-25.

External links

• Mississippi Queen Tribute Site