''Elizabeth M'' was a

towboat A pusher, pusher craft, pusher boat, pusher tug, or towboat, is a boat designed for pushing barges or car floats. In the United States, the industries that use these vessels refer to them as towboats. These vessels are characterized by a squar ...

that sank in the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

on January 9, 2005. The sinking of the vessel resulted in the death of four of the seven crew when the ''Elizabeth M'' accidentally went over the

Montgomery Locks and Dam Montgomery Locks and Dam is a lock and dam on the Ohio River, located 32 miles downstream of Pittsburgh. There are two locks, one for commercial barge traffic that's 600 feet long by 110 feet wide, and the recreational auxiliary lock is 360 feet ...

near the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

suburb of

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It was originally named the B.F. Fairless, in honor of

Benjamin Franklin Fairless Benjamin Franklin Fairless (May 3, 1890 — January 1, 1962) was an American steel company executive. He was president of a wide range of steel companies during a turbulent and formative period in the American steel industry. His roles included P ...

, when it was launched by the

Dravo Corporation Dravo Corporation was a shipbuilding company with shipyards in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded by Frank and Ralph Dravo in Pittsburgh in 1891. The corporation went public in 1936 and in 1998 it was bought out by Carmeuse for $1 ...

in 1951.

Tragedy

The Braddock bound ''Elizabeth M'' was pushing four

barges Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by Pusher (boat) ...

through the

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

when the strong current of the river pushed the tug and its load over the

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

. High water was partly blamed for the incident. Two of the six crew managed to escape the sinking ship, but four perished, and the last was found weeks later inside the sunken vessel when the ship was raised from the bottom of the river. The sinking of the ''Elizabeth M'' is one of the most recent maritime disasters on the Ohio.
'' Daily Shipping Newsletter'', 2005-01-12. Accessed 2008-02-09.

References

Towboats Shipwrecks of the Ohio River 2005 in Pennsylvania Maritime incidents in 2005 {{shipwreck-stub