by Now drydocked at the Lower Mississippi River Museum in Vicksburg, Miss., the Motor Vessel (M/V) Mississippi IV was the fourth vessel operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to have been named the Mississippi, but the first to be driven by diesel engines instead of steam (hence the “M/V” designation). It was built in the early 1960s and served for more than thirty years as a tugboat and inspection vessel on the Mississippi River and as the flagship of the Mississippi River Commission, with meeting space for public hearings and meetings of the MRC Commissioners as the vessel sailed up and down the Mighty Mississippi.
The Mississippi has five decks, with crew and guest quarters, meeting rooms, separate dining rooms for guests and crew, a five-ton crane, and capstan and wenches capable of producing 20,000 pounds of pull when towing barges. The two 8-cylinder engines could each generate 1860 horsepower; when launched, the ship generated so much vibration that it was nicknamed “Big Shaky.” The addition of 22 tons of steel plate and change from 3-bladed to 4-bladed propellers helped reduce but never eliminated the shaking.
After it was decommissioned in 1993, it eventually made its way to its permanent home in Vicksburg where it can be visited today. It retains its classic groovy ’60s styling like some sort of set from a Wes Anderson film, and I couldn’t get enough of the colors and symmetry and design and state-of-the-art 1960s technology.
