Gazelle (1854 sidewheeler)
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Gazelle |
| Builder | Willamette Falls Milling and Transport Co., Linn City, Oregon |
| Maiden voyage | March 14, 1854 |
| Fate | Boiler exploded April 8, 1854 at Canemah, upper works destroyed. |
| Notes | Hull salvaged, upper works rebuilt, and renamed (briefly) Sarah Hoyt and later Señorita. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | inland shallow draft passenger/freighter/towboat |
| Length | 145 ft (44 m) |
| Beam | 23 ft (7 m) |
| Depth | 5.0 ft (2 m) depth of hold |
| Installed power | twin steam engines, high-pressure, one cylinder each, 14.5" bore by 48" stroke |
| Propulsion | sidewheels |
| Notes | Engines later installed on sternwheeler Okanogan, built in 1861. |
_explosion.jpg){kind=link}
Gazelle was an early sidewheeler on the Willamette River in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. She did not operate long, suffering a catastrophic boiler explosion on April 8, 1854, less than a month after her trial voyage. This was the worst such explosion ever to occur in the Pacific Northwest states. The wrecked Gazelle was rebuilt and operated for a few years, first briefly as the unpowered barge Sarah Hoyt and then, with boilers installed, as the steamer Señorita. A victim of the explosion was D.P. Fuller, age 28, who is buried in Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.