''Day Peckinpaugh'' is a historic

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

motorship berthed at the

Matton Shipyard Matton Shipyard is a historic shipyard and canal boat service yard located on Van Schaick Island at Cohoes in Albany County, New York. It consists of eight extant buildings, various surviving features, and archaeological remains dating to the peri ...

on Peebles Island, Cohoes in

Albany County, New York Albany County ( ) is a county in the state of New York, United States. Its northern border is formed by the Mohawk River, at its confluence with the Hudson River, which is to the east. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 3 ...

, United States.

Early years

''Day Peckinpaugh'' was built in 1921 by the McDougall-Duluth Shipyard in

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, the first boat specially designed and built for

New York State Barge Canal New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, the successor to the famed

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

. The ship was originally named ''ILI101'' after the ship's first owner, the Interwaterways Lines Inc of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The ship was the first specifically designed to ply the open waters of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

as well as the narrow locks and shallow waterways of the barge canal. ''Day Peckinpaugh'' is also the last surviving ship from a fleet of more than 100 of her type that once carried freight from the upper

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

to the port of New York City. At a length of and width of , she is among the largest boats to operate on New York's canal system where the maximum area available for vessels in a lock is long by wide. With a hold and a carrying capacity of , ''Day Peckinpaugh'' was well suited as a

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econom ...

in which she hauled wheat, flax seed, rye, sugar, and in the early years

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...

First renaming

''ILI101'' was rechristened ''Richard J. Barnes'' in 1922 to honor the man who originally commissioned the ship.

World War II service

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, ''Richard J. Barnes'' was drafted into the US Merchant Marine to carry coal and refuel cargo ships along the east coast of the United States. During her Merchant Marine service ''Richard J. Barnes'' was attacked by a German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

which fired a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

at her; the torpedo was thought to have passed under the ship due to her shallow seven foot draft.

Second renaming

In 1958, the ship was sold to

Erie Navigation Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

and retrofitted to carry sand and gravel. The ship was again renamed, becoming ''Day Peckinpaugh'', in honor of the man of the same name, brother of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

player and manager,

Roger Peckinpaugh Roger Thorpe Peckinpaugh (February 5, 1891 – November 17, 1977) was an American professional baseball player shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1910 through 1927, during which he played for the Cleveland Naps ...

Later service

The ship was converted to a self-unloading dry

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

hauler in 1961 and used to carry cement from Oswego to

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the Central New York, central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Ro ...

until her retirement in 1994. ''Day Peckinpaugh'' was the last self-propelled regularly scheduled commercial hauler on the barge canal.

Restoration

In 2005 ''Day Peckinpaugh'' was saved from the

scrap yard Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

by a partnership of museums and canal preservation societies, and is undergoing extensive cleaning, painting, restoration and testing of her engines. More than $3 million has been pledged to restore and convert ''Day Peckinpaugh'' into a floating classroom and museum that will highlight the history and heritage of the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. In late 2011 the New York State Department of Education received a $191,000 grant to outfit ''Day Peckinpaugh'' to serve as a multi-regional educational facility. The restoration was scheduled for completion in 2012. The ‘‘Day Peckinpaugh’’ is the largest artifact in the New York State Museum collection.

Attempted sinking

On March 8, 2010 Guy J. Pucci, a 35-year-old ex-state employee was arrested after almost completely sinking the ship while she was docked at Lock 2 of the Barge Canal undergoing restoration. Pucci went aboard the vessel and opened valves to flood the ship in an attempt to scuttle her. State Police said that ''Day Peckinpaugh'' was close to being submerged as police and ship employees worked to pump the water from the ship's engine rooms. The ship sustained extensive damage due to the flooding, and repairs were estimated to be in excess of $10,000. Pucci had worked aboard ''Day Peckinpaugh'' since July 2009, but his position as a maintenance assistant had been terminated February 25, 2010. On September 15, 2010, Pucci was sentenced to time served and five years' probation, including drug treatment court, after pleading guilty to a felony third-degree criminal mischief charge.

Current status

The ship was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005. ''See also:'' At the time of its listing, it was located at Lockport in Niagara County, New York, but its home base between trips and for maintenance is in Cohoes. ''Day Peckinpaugh'' and the 1901 tugboat '' Urger'', as still-functioning vessels, have become movable ambassadors of the New York State Barge Canal System. As of 2018 it was considered a possible candidate for sinking as a reef due to maintenance costs.

Gallery

File:Day Peckinpaugh Docked Nov 05.jpg, ''Day Peckinpaugh'' docked at Waterford, New York (November 2005) File:Day Peckinpaugh Closeup Nov 05.jpg, ''Day Peckinpaugh'' closeup at

Waterford, New York Waterford is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 8,423 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is derived from its principal village, also called Waterford. The town is located in the southeast corner of Sara ...

(November 2005)

References

Jon Crispin's Day Peckinpaugh page

Tugster's 100 anniversary blog entry for Day Peckinpaugh
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Other websites

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Albany County, New York Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) 1921 ships Erie Canal parks, trails, and historic sites National Register of Historic Places in Albany County, New York Museum ships in New York (state)