SS Nantucket (1957)

SS Naushon underway in Nantucket Harbor, September 1979.
History
Name:	SS Nantucket
Operator:	The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority
Builder:	John H. Mathis & Company
Launched:	1956
In service:	1957
Out of service:	1987
Fate:	Land-locked, then in 2012 was dismantled at Mhoon Landing in Tunica, Mississippi
General characteristics
Tonnage:	2,652 GT
Length:	213 ft (65 m)
Installed power:	Steam reciprocating

The SS Nantucket (renamed SS Naushon) was the last steam-powered ferry in regular operation on the East Coast of the United States. She was owned and operated by the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority between 1957 and 1987.

Nantucket was originally designed with loading doors in the extreme bow and stern, so that cars and trucks could drive on at one end of the freight deck and off at the other. The bow doors proved unusable, however, and were welded shut early in the vessel's operational career. Thereafter, cars and trucks were loaded through the stern door, or through a door cut into the starboard (right) side of the vessel just behind the bow. Both methods complicated and slowed the loading process, and required Nantucket to always back into its slip. The vessel was thus more difficult to keep on schedule than subsequent ferries, which allowed vehicles to drive straight on and straight off.

The ship was described by Joseph Chase Allen as having "an impressive absence of beauty."

Nantucket had three decks above the freight deck, which were used for passenger accommodations. The Mezzanine Deck contained baggage-storage rooms and staterooms that passengers could book (at additional cost) in order to enjoy a greater degree of comfort and seclusion. Nantucket entered service as the Steamship Authority re-established service to New Bedford, and the staterooms were designed to appeal, particularly, to passengers on multi-hour trips from New Bedford to Nantucket. Never popular with passengers, the staterooms fell into disuse when service to New Bedford was discontinued. The Main Deck contained interior passenger seating (including large semi-circular booths upholstered in artificial red leather) and the snack bar. It also included open-air seating ares forward and aft of the vessel's superstructure. The Upper Deck, reached by an interior stairwell behind the pilothouse or by exterior stairs from the open, forward part of the Main Deck, consisted entirely of open-air seating. The vessel's lifeboats were also located on the Upper Deck.

Nantucket was renamed the SS Naushon in 1974, the year her original name was re-assigned to a new, state-of-the-art diesel-powered ferry which is still in use today. The steamer remained Naushon—a name held previously by two other Steamship Authority vessels, one in service from 1846 to 1848 and the other from 1929 until 1942—for its last 14 years of line service.