Mother Nature Strikes Again

Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist

Has the recent snow and cold weather kept you stuck in the house for a few days? Well, things could be worse – you could be stuck on a tugboat in a frozen river. For a month!

This week, we take a look back at the harsh winter of 1940 as seen through the eyes of a tugboat pilot. The following are entries from a pilot’s log of the M. S. King’s Landing, a tugboat of the Kosmos Towing Co. of Kosmosdale, Kentucky. The log covers the boat’s travels from 1938 to 1943. The examples shown here are from January 1 through February 20, 1940, when thick ice and frigid temperatures left the King’s Landing immobile for nearly a month. The crew increasingly deals with snow and ice in early January as winter weather worsens. By January 18th, they are forced to tie up in Spotsville, Kentucky, along the Green River, which becomes solidly frozen. The King’s Landing is stuck in this situation until February 16^th, and resumes work and travel on the Ohio on the 17^th.

Summaries of the entries accompany the following images. Full transcripts are available for these and the entire five-year journal in the Pilot’s Log – King’s Landing collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 1^st – 5^th: snow and ice begin to mount

1^st – Heavy snow storm

2^nd – Ice in the river

3^rd – Fog, river about full of ice

4^th – Ice is fairly heavy

5^th – Ice getting heavier, river frozen solid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 5^th– 16^th: ice increasingly makes river travel difficult

5^th – stalled in heavy ice, broke through, then stuck again

6^th – still cold, making ice all the time, 12 below zero

7^th – not as cold

8^th – broke ice up above the dam, tried to run through-not much success

9^th – still cold as everything.

10^th – warmer

11^th – warmer, able to break through the ice

12^th – warmer, but ice isn’t leaving very fast

13^th – colder, layed up all day

14^th – layed up at Owensboro

15^th – at Stanley, KY, 6:30 pm, heavy ice storm from Yankeetown, IN to the Green River

16^th – traveled back and forth between the mouth of the Green River and Evansville, IN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 16^th – 31^st:  temperatures drop and ice builds making travel impossible

16^th – Green River, ice is heavier. Froze about ½ inch previous night

17^th – tied up, heavy ice in river and turning colder

18^th – temperature is zero. Tied up at Spotsville, KY; turning colder

19^th – continue to lay up at Spotsville; 10 below zero that morning

20^th – 31^st – Layed up at Spotsville

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 1^st – 20^th: remain stuck until mid-February

1^st – Layed (sic) up at Spotsville; Green River has ice 8 inches thick. Frozen solid from bank to bank.

2^nd – 6^th – Continue to stay put at Spotsville

7^th – ice in Green River is nearly gone. River raised 2 feet during the night.

8^th – all ice gone in Green River

9^th – 13^th – continue to stay put at Spotsville, waiting for ice in Ohio River to thaw enough for travel

13^th – ice breaking up in the Ohio River

14^th -15^th – stay put at Spotsville

16^th – travel from Spotsville to the mouth of the Green River. Ohio River still about ½ full of heavy ice

17^th –  ice nearly all gone by morning. Left mouth of Green River at 6:00 am and resumed travel and work on the Ohio.

18^th – 20^th – some ice and fog, but otherwise able to continue with normal workload