Benalmadena Puerto Marina, USS Willow Mississippi Steam Boat 2020, Costa Del Sol, Spain, Spania

Benalmadena Puerto Marina, USS Willow Mississippi Steam Boat 2020, Costa Del Sol, Spain, Spania
🎥Filmed: September 15, 2020 (⏰ 1200)
In 1924 the US Lighthouse Service commissioned the construction of a Mississippi steam boat. Dubuque Boat and Boiler Works won the contract and began construction at a cost of $372,000.
The boat was built in a shipyard downriver from St. Louis. She was 200 feet long and 64 feet wide, and drew 9 feet of water. When complete, she underwent trials on Lake Keokuk, Iowa. From there she proceeded to New Orleans. The boat was named the Willow and she joined the Lighthouse Service on 4 October 1927.
The Willow was assigned to the 15th Lighthouse District in Memphis and she aided navigation along the Mississippi between New Orleans and St. Louis, spending her winter months in New Orleans.
With her 9 foot draught, there are many places along the river where the Willow simply could not go. The US Army Corps of Engineers tried to maintain a 9 foot channel in the Mississippi, but the Willow’s movements were restricted, and she was accompanied by a 38 foot support vessel that could get to the places Willow could not. Despite this, she was widely referred to as ‘the pride of the Lighthouse Service’. She was such a beautiful boat that some mistakenly took her to be a private yacht, rather than a working government boat.
In 1939 the Lighthouse Service merged with the Coast Guard and Willow was designated a Coast Guard cutter, carrying on the same role along the Mississippi between New Orleans and St. Louis throughout World War Two.
On 15 December 1944 Willow collided with USS LST-841 and both ships were badly damaged. The cost of repairs and continued maintenance were considered to be too high, so the Willow was decommissioned on 1 March 1945.
After her decommissioning in 1945 her machinery was removed and she was turned over to the US Army Corps of Engineers who used her as a Quarters Boat. She served as a mess and berth for Corps of Engineers laborer's, including German prisoners of war.
In 1962 she was sold to a Paducah, Kentucky businessman who planned to transform her into a floating restaurant and hotel, but this plan did not materialize. She remained unused and tied up at Paducah until 1965, when she was sold to the WS Young Construction Company and towed to New Orleans.
In September 1965, while berthed at LaPlace, Louisiana, Hurricane Betsy beached Willow high on the levee. There she was abandoned to the hands of vandals until she was rescued by the US Marshall in New Orleans. She was sold at auction to a relative of the owners of Young Construction who then sold her, yet again, in 1970, to Belezian Industries. They bought her as an investment and moved her to Florida, hoping to repair her and quickly sell her on. One prospective buyer planned to operate her as a lobster factory in British Honduras. After $18,000 worth of work repairing 45 feet of her bow, this deal fell through.
In 1972 she was sold to a British company, Themes International.
In 1989 she was transported across the Atlantic on a semi-submersible to Southampton on the south coast of England. From there she was taken to Antwerp, Belgium, for refurbishment. While she was in Antwerp, Themes International went out of business, and she remained in Antwerp until 1995, when she was bought once again and transported back to Birkenhead in the UK.
From there, in 1996, she made the journey to her final - or latest - destination, Benalmádena in Mediterranean Spain. For two years she operated as a floating bar and restaurant under the name Mississippi Willow. Afternoon cruises were offered and she opened up as a restaurant each evening. It appears that she closed for business sometime around 1998 as the owners could not afford the rather considerable mooring costs of such a large vessel.
www.sdgs.usd.edu/Pubs/Scans/Wa...
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#Benalmadena #PuertoMarina #MississippiSteamBoat

[@CostaWalks]

If you like these videos please make sure you like, comment and subscribe as that really makes a big difference to my channel and it keeps you updated when new videos are released. SUBSCRIBE to my channel by simply clicking on the link kzbin.info THANKS

[@NewWalker]

The steam boat looks amazing and very historic !! Thanks for sharing 🤩👍

[@CostaWalks]

it was build in 1924

[@jdagreatecho]

I visit the boat every year it sinks deeper every time …

[@CostaWalks]

😒😒😒

[@Nestwig]

Oh no!! I’m so sad to see this boat sinking. I went to costa del sol in 2018 and really enjoyed seeing it 😭

[@CostaWalks]

Yes its very sad to see another part of history that will be lost.

[@Nestwig]

@@CostaWalks gutted ☹️ was hoping to go back to torremolinos and see it again this year but COVID stopped that. Probably be gone by the time I manage to get back but I’ll hold on to hope that somehow it could be saved. 🤞🏼🤞🏼