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Niagara
Steamship - Once One Of The Toughest Tugboats
Niagara Steamship was once one of the
toughest tugboats on the Great Lakes. Lather, it
was blowing steam for tourists in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Over
100-year-old S.S. Pumper was the strong, silent star of 'Niagara
Steamship', and one of the town's popular attractions. Docked at Navy
Hall during the summer, the boat was North America's only wood-fired
steam vessel, providing visitors with a different way to see the town.
 Built in Buffalo in 1903, when sail boats,
the rugged sip was
originally called the S.S. Planet. Just six years after it hit the
water, the boat was seized by the Canadian Coast guard for illegally
smuggling booze during prohibition. It was docked in Port Dover, where
it was eventually sold and renamed 'Racey' because of its speed and
power. Four years later, it was sold again and its thick steel hull was
used to break ice for fishing fleets.
'Racey' also tested some revange. It towed the S.S. Vigilant - the
Coast Guard boat that captured her years earlier - to the scrapyard.
With bigger and faster boats crowding the Niagara River, 'Racey' was
drydocked in 1941 and was left to rot. Nearly 50 years lather, she was
taken out of mothballs by Ottawa businessman Doug Pettit, and refitted
to classic standards. An original 1895 Doty Steam Engine and a
1941 Scotch marine boiler was placed in the hull, and in 1989 it hit
the waters near Port Dover for passanger tours. Few years lather,
Pettit grabbed his chance to operate in Niagara -on-the-Lake. Renamed
the S.S. Pumper, the boat was licensed to carry 100 people. This
powerful boat was no longer the fastest boat on the Niagara River, but
it had plenty of muscle. And besides the crackling of wood in the
engine, this beautiful boat was barely making a sound, it was
completely silent.
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