| Career (USA) | |
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| Name: | Alexander Hamilton |
| Ordered: | 1924 |
| Builder: | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Fate: | Sunk in 1977 |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 338 ft 6 in (103.17 m) |
| Beam: | 77 ft (23 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
| Installed power: | Two single-ended and two double-ended oil-fired Scotch boilers |
| Propulsion: | Incline triple expansion engine |
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Alexander Hamilton
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| Location: | Off NJ 36, Middletown Township, New Jersey |
| Area: | 0 acres (0 ha) |
| Built: | 1924 |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 77000887[1] |
| NJRHP #: | 1960[2] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | March 25, 1977 |
| Designated NJRHP: | October 22, 1976 |
Alexander Hamilton was a steamboat built for the Hudson River Day Line[3] in 1924. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 1977. The remains of the vessel are located adjacent to the Naval Weapons Station Earle pier in Middletown Township, New Jersey.
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The Hudson River Day Line used Alexander Hamilton to transport passengers along the Hudson River between New York City and Albany, New York.[4] In her later years the run was shortened to a turnaround in Poughkeepsie. The steamship was built by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in 1924.[5] The steamship operated from 1924 to 1971, first running with other Day Line Steamers, including the Peter Stuyvesant until the 1960s, when the company was purchased by the Circle Line, and became a one boat operation. She was over 300 feet in length and was built to handle more than 3,000 passengers. Her replacement was the passenger vessel Day-liner, which took over the run. Alexander Hamilton spent time at the South Street Seaport and Brooklyn Navy Yard before being moved to the Atlantic Highlands. In 1977, the Alexander Hamilton was moved to a temporary berth along the east side of the Navy pier in Middletown Township. During a storm, she caught fire and sank next to the pier on November 8, 1977.
The steamboat was a rare type of side-wheeler because of its engine system. Four Scotch marine boilers delivered steam to an incline triple expansion engine that turned a crankshaft attached to feathering paddle-wheels on the port and starboard sides. This system propelled the boat during its cruises. In other words, it was a paddle steamer with the paddle-wheels on the side as opposed to a stern-wheeler, which has one wheel at the stern. She was the last of the great Day Line "side-wheelers", and perhaps, the last of her kind to ply the Hudson River.
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