The Reconstructing of the Lake Champlain Sidewheel Steamer Champlain II

The steamship Champlain II, ex-Oakes Ames, was built as a railroad car transfer ferry in 1868 at Marks Bay, Burlington, Vermont in the private shipyard of Napoleon B. Proctor. The vessel was later converted to a passenger line boat in 1873, but was in service only a few years before she was dramatically wrecked on the night of July 16, 1875. Champlain II holds an important place in the development of steamships on Lake Champlain.
This thesis examines the historical and economic background of Champlain II, ex-Oakes Ames. Attention is paid to the original construction of Oakes Ames and includes a discussion of the railroad car ferry as a specific vessel type. The narrative includes a detailed corporate and financial history of the vessel's owners, the Rutland Railroad, the Delaware and Hudson Company and the Champlain Transportation Company, and chronicles the changes in Oakes Ames' ownership and her subsequent refit as a passenger line boat. Particular attention is paid to the details of the wreck and the folklore that grew surrounding the event.
The thesis also includes a narrative of the two-year archaeological study of the vessel, undertaken in the summers of 1993 and 1994, which involved full documentation of the dimensions of the hull timbers by divers. The findings of the archaeological recording are presented in detail and discussed as part of the overall architecture of the hull. The archaeological data and archival materials on 19th-century wooden steamship construction were combined to create a reconstruction of the Champlain II, ex-Oakes Ames. The reconstruction is graphically depicted in this thesis by lines, construction and propulsion plans of the vessel. The vessel is then compared to other archaeologically examined steamboat wrecks of Lake Champlain. Analysis of Champlain Il's hull construction and comparison between it and contemporary vessels has led to the conclusion that Champlain II, although built for nonpassenger, cross-lake traffic, had framing and longitudinal support systems that were quite typical for Lake Champlain passenger line steamers of the period.

尚普兰二号号蒸汽船（Champlain II，原名为奥克斯·埃姆斯号（Oakes Ames））于1868年在佛蒙特州伯灵顿市马克斯湾的拿破仑·B·普罗克特（Napoleon B. Proctor）私人造船厂建造，最初作为铁路车辆转运渡轮使用。该船于1873年被改装为客运航线船只，但仅服役数年，便于1875年7月16日夜遭遇灾难性失事。尚普兰二号号在尚普兰湖蒸汽船发展史上占据重要地位。

本论文对尚普兰二号号（原奥克斯·埃姆斯号）的历史与经济背景展开研究。研究重点涵盖奥克斯·埃姆斯号的原始建造细节，并对铁路车辆转运渡轮这一特定船型进行探讨。本文详述了该船的三家所有者——拉特兰铁路公司（Rutland Railroad）、特拉华与哈德逊公司（Delaware and Hudson Company）和尚普兰运输公司（Champlain Transportation Company）的企业与财务历史，并梳理了奥克斯·埃姆斯号的所有权变更历程，以及其后续改装为客运航线船只的过程。此外，本文特别关注了此次失事事件的细节及其衍生的民间传说。

本论文还包含1993年与1994年夏季开展的为期两年的沉船考古研究，研究团队通过潜水员完成了船体木材尺寸的完整记录。本文详细呈现了考古记录的发现结果，并将其作为船体整体结构的一部分进行讨论。研究人员结合考古数据与19世纪木质蒸汽船建造的档案资料，完成了尚普兰二号号（原奥克斯·埃姆斯号）的复原建模。本论文通过船体线型图、建造与推进方案图对该船的复原结果进行可视化呈现。随后，本文将该船与其他经考古研究的尚普兰湖蒸汽船失事船体进行对比分析。通过对尚普兰二号号船体结构的分析，以及与同期船只的对比，本文得出结论：尽管尚普兰二号号最初为非客运跨湖运输设计，但其船体框架与纵向支撑系统与当时尚普兰湖客运航线蒸汽船的典型配置相当一致。