Bear (snagboat)

Bear was a wooden-hulled, stern-wheel steamship that served as a snagboat for the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

The snagboat Bear which operated on the Sacramento River
United States Army Corps of EngineersUnited States
NameBear
NamesakeBear River
Owner U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Awarded1919
BuilderSchultz & Schultz, San Francisco, California
Completed1921
Commissioned1921
ReclassifiedBarracks ship, 1926
HomeportSacramento
Fateunknown
General characteristics
Typesnagboat
Tonnage242 GRT[1]
Length157 ft 9 in (48.08 m) o/a[1]
Beam35 ft 8 in (10.87 m)[1]
Draught4 ft 6 in (1.37 m)[1]

History

Bear was a stern-wheeled, shallow draft steamship ordered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers) to serve as a snagboat on the Sacramento, the Mokelumne, and the San Joaquin Rivers. Her namesake was the Bear River, a tributary of the Mokelumne River. She was designed to replace the first snagboat on the Sacramento River, Seizer (240 GRT) operating since 1881.[2] In 1919, a contract was awarded to Schultz & Schultz of San Francisco who won with a bid of $117,000.[3] She was completed in 1921.[1] She was damaged on the Sacramento River after striking an obstacle in 1926 and sank in 4 feet of water.[4][5] As the more powerful snagboat Yuba (410 GRT) had been completed in 1925, it was decided to not retain her in her former role. Her equipment was sold, and she was ultimately refloated and repaired at a cost of $15,059 to serve as a quarter boat.[6][7]

References
  1. List of Merchant Vessels of the United States - Vessels Owned by The United States and Employed in the Engineers Corps, United States Army. Department of Commerce, U.S. Buraeu of Navigation. 1923. p. 550.
  2. "Sacramento River: Snag-Boat: "Seizer"". History & Happenings. 12 December 2012.
  3. "Trade Notes". Western Machinery and Steel World. Vol. 10. August 1919. p. 380. Contract for the snagboat 'Bear' has been awarded by the U.S. Engineer Office to Schultz & Schultz of San Francisco for $117,000
  4. "Sacramento River: Snag-Boat: "Bear"". History & Happenings. 7 May 2020.
  5. "United States Engineers' Snagboat, "Bear" sank in 4 ft. of water on the Sacramento River". Center for Sacramento History. 1926.
  6. "San Francisco Business". San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Vol. 12–13. 21 April 1926. The U.S. Engineer Office, 24 San Francisco District invite bids on the purchase of the U.S. sternwheel "Bear" or the machinery thereof, located at the Sacramento Weir, near Sacramento, California
  7. Report of the Chief of Engineers - US Army (Part 1). United States Government Printing Office. 1927. p. 1621. The former U.S. snagboat Bear was repaired, remodeled, and equipped for use as a quarter boat at an expenditure of $15,059.11.
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