Adirondack, a steel-hulled side-wheel river passenger steamship displacing 3882 LT, was built by J. Eaglis and Sons, at Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, in 1896, for the Hudson Navigation Company, the "People's Line". Her keel was laid 8 June 1895, and she was launched within five months, probably October 1895, with her fitting out completed in time for the summer 1896 season.

Design

Adirondack had a hull constructed almost entirely out of wood with a single expansion low pressure beam engine. She was built out of wood to give her more flexibility in pushing over the shoals of the upper Hudson River that she would spend her life traversing between New York and Albany. In a day when most ships were using multi-expansion engines the owners went with the cheaper, and simpler, single expansion engine because she would only be used for part of the year making a one-way, ten hour trip, between New York-to-Albany/Albany-to-New York a day, they felt the fuel efficiency and cost of the more complicated engines would not pay for themselves in the long run. Adirondack was 412 ft long overall with a 50 ft beam and a width at the paddle wheel guards of 90 ft. The depth of hull was 13 ft and a draft of 8 ft. She was 4500 ST gross measurement and had a freight capacity of 1000 ST. The oak keel was 12 in wide by 16 in deep. The frames, which were of oak, chestnut and red cedar, were 12 inches thick and are spaced 24 in center to center. They varied in depth from 20 in on the floor to 10 in at the sides. There are 11 keelsons of yellow pine, measuring 12 inches by 20 inches, and they were bolted to the frames at each intersection by four bolts. The entire hull was strengthened by diagonal straps of 1/2 in by 4 in iron, which was riveted to the frames at each intersection. The hull was also stiffened by two deep suspension trusses or "hog frames," the top chord of which was 14 in wide by 30 in deep. There were three watertight bulkheads, which reach to the main deck. She had four W. & A. Fletcher Company, steam boilers, of only 55 psi, running a W. & A. Fletcher Company, single expansion engine that produced 4000 hp. The engine turned two 30 ft side wheels at an average of 26 revolutions per minute. Each wheel had 12 curved steel buckets that were 45 in wide by 12 ft long that dipped approximately 5+1/2 ft into the water.

Service history

She was chartered by the US Navy for World War I service, delivered on 25 September 1917 she became USS Adirondack (ID 1270), and was officially requisitioned on 16 October 1917. For more than two years, she was employed as a floating barracks attached to the Receiving Ship at the New York Navy Yard, in a noncommissioned status. No longer required after the Armistice. Adirondack resumed her pre-war operations, serving as a passenger steamer with the Hudson Navigation Co. She was finally abandoned due to age and deterioration during the fiscal year which ended on 30 June 1924.