Wards Island

Wards Island and sister Tenkenas at Wards Island during their brief stint as ferries
Type:
artificial reef, ferry, USA
Built:
1929 - Electric Boat Company, Groton CT USA
Specs:
( 101 x 32 ft )
Sunk:
Friday August 10, 2018 - Hempstead Artificial Reef
Depth:
GPS:
40°30.994' -73°32.955'
As built - a double-ended ferry
Twin sister Tenkenas

Wards Island and her sister Tenkenas were built to serve Wards Island, which at the time was a mental hospital. In 1937, bridges were completed connecting the island with the rest of New York City, and the almost-new ferries were no longer needed. Wards Island was cut down to a barge and equipped with a crane for use on New York's canal system. Tenkenas apparently received a similar conversion but must have gone to the breakers a long time ago, as there are no records.

I wonder why they weren't just put to use elsewhere? New York is a city of islands, and back then there were ferries running everywhere. Maybe they were too small to be economical. I suspect they were a somehow flawed design - Electric Boat's expertise is submarines, not ferry boats.

As a crane barge, somewhere upstate
the crane is offset to one side, to clear the engine
employed as a buoy tender
the beginning of scrapping

I see no evidence that the old ferry retained any self-propulsion after conversion. The props and rudders are merely there to fill the holes. On the other hand, the way the bow rudder is welded in place and ventilated is a clue that the vessel may have been able to drive itself in one direction, at least until the engine wore out. A big clumsy vessel like this in tight inland waters would be much better handled by one or two tenders, and every picture shows one in attendance.

down the river to the sea
on a barge out to the reef, with a huge hydro-electric turbine
the crane arm and deck house have been replaced

This is a better fate for the old boat than being cut up for scrap and sold to China.


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H10224/86-88 -- OPR-C121-WH-86-88; SIDE-SCAN SONAR AND DIVER INVESTIGATION OF CONTACT SHOWING DEFINITE WRECK CHARACTERISTICS; DIVERS FOUND A DETERIORATED WOODEN VESSEL WITH ROTTED WOODEN DECK PLANKING WHICH WAS MOSTLY SILTED OVER BY SAND; ONLY LARGE DECK TIMBERS REMAIN; NO MACHINERY FOUND; RIBS WERE OBSERVED RISING UP OFF THE BOTTOM ALONG THE EASTERN SIDE OF WRECK; DIVER GAUGE LEAST DEPTH TAKEN ON TOWING BITS AT THE NORTHERN END OF WRECK; LARGE DECK TIMBERS WERE SEEN ON WESTERN SIDE OF WRECK; 50 FT SW OF MAIN WRECKAGE, DIVERS FOUND WHAT APPEARS TO BE A PORTION OF THE SAME WRECK, RUNNING NW-SE, WOODEN RAIL-LIKE TIMBERS STICKING UP OFF THE BOTTOM 6-8 INCHES; ALSO APPEARS TO BE DETERIORATED; ON SECOND DIVE, A PILE WAS DISCOVERED ABOUT HALFWAY DOWN THE WRECK AND A PNEUMATIC DEPTH GAUGE LEAST DEPTH OF 46 FT WAS TAKEN ON IT; BEAM MEASURED 40 FT; LENGTH WAS 120 FT. (ENTERED MSD 4/91)

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