S.S. ADMIRAL

" The largest and finest inland passenger steamer ever built in America"

Anyone who grew up in St. Louis, Missouri after 1940 knows the S.S. Admiral. Many of us remember hot summer days on the top deck looking at the St. Louis skyline drifting by, listening to the steam calliope reverberating off the downtown buildings, or dancing our Saturday night away to Bob Kuban's Brass band. For many years the Admiral was as much a part of St. Louis as the Gateway Arch or the Cardinals. Now a casino, her beautiful art deco lines are being hidden by a large gaudy flashing facade and stripped of her engines, she has become a floating barge. However, I have many great memories of walking along the cobblestone levee and looking up at her stainless steel topsides gleaming in the sun. Even a half brain-dead teenager such as myself was awed by the large art deco ballroom.

The S.S. ADMIRAL began life as the S.S. ALBATROSS a railroad car ferry in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Built in 1907, she was 308 ft. long and 58 ft. wide, and carried 16 railroad cars. In 1920-21 she was lengthened to 365 ft. making her an "engineering marvel of her time."

 

When Captain Joe Streckfuss decided to build a new flagship to replace the palatial J.S. DELUXE he hired Mazie Krebs to design the ADMIRAL. Ms. Krebs previously designed the PRESIDENT. Captain Joe said to spare no expense. The ALBATROSS was brought to St. Louis and stripped down to the hull and engines. Construction took five years and cost more than $1,000,000. Mirrors and crystal were imported from Europe. The walls were tufted leather filled with steel wool for fire proofing. Artists were brought in to paint the constellations on the ballroom ceiling and musical notes in the women's lounge. The Sonja Henie womens lounge had white snow flakes painted on the dark blue leatherette walls and the floor was a white glazed tile to simulate ice. And they installed something no other riverboat had, air conditioning.
The original steam engines nicknamed Popeye and Wimpy were replaced in 1974 with three diesel engines, one in each paddle box and a one in the stern generating 2700 H.P. The ADMIRAL cruised from 1940 until the late 70's when it was decertified for passenger cruising. It was moored in New Orleans awaiting an uncertain future when it was vandalized. She was brought back to St. Louis and turned into a floating entertainment center. When gambling was legalized it became a casino. Her future is uncertain, her owners would like a new boat and replacing her 100 year old hull is economically unfeasible.


To me, she will always be the grandest lady on the river.


L.O.A. 365


Passenger capacity 4400