Snagboat W.T. Preston

Placeholder record. I have not yet visited the W.T. Preston. The particulars come from the City of Anacortes page listed under Sources, and photographs and field notes will follow after a visit.

The W.T. Preston was named for a civilian engineer of the Corps of Engineers’ Seattle District. A snagboat kept the navigable channels clear. Her derrick was rated at 70 tons, and her boom was a laminated fir timber 16 × 16 in and 70 ft 8 in long. She could lift 30 tons with the snag gear at a 28 ft radius, or 15 tons with the bucket at a 60 ft radius. Her draft was 3 ft 8 in.

Notes on the sources

• Build date. The Anacortes page gives 1939 as the official date of construction. It also says the wooden-hulled W.T. Preston succeeded the snagboat Swinomish in 1929. The two dates have not yet been reconciled.
• Beam. The page gives the beam as “34 feet 8-12 inches”, probably meaning 34 ft 8½ in. The length is 163 ft 5⅞ in, and the tonnage is given as “490 gross tons” under displacement.