Roosevelt (Ship : 1904-1937)

The S. S. Roosevelt was built at the McKay and Dix Boatyard in Bucksport, Maine; her keel was laid on Oct. 15, 1904 and she was launched on Mar. 23, 1905. The S.S. Roosevelt was a specially constructed steamship, built to Admiral Robert E. Peary's specifications for Arctic exploration. The ship was 1,614 tons, 182 feet long, 3512 feet wide, with 30-inch thick sides. It was constructed of wood rather than steel, making it less vulnerable to jagged ice. The wood construction was easier to repair in the Arctic than steel. Its egg-shaped sides allowed the vessel to rise when squeezed by the icebergs. It could twist and turn rapidly and was built to move close into the Arctic shore. On July 16, 1905, the Roosevelt left New York on Peary’s 7th expedition with Captain Bob Bartlett as skipper, returning to New York Dec. 25, 1906. On July 6, 1908, she left New York, returning after the successful expedition to the pole was completed on July 18, 1909. From 1909 to 1937, the S.S. Roosevelt was used by various owners as a salvage vessel, a fishing boat, a tug boat, and then as a U.S. government patrol boat in Alaska. She was beached and abandoned on Jan. 21, 1937, in the harbor of Cristobal, Balboa (near the Panama Canal).