Former Coastal Steamer was Inner Harbor Destination for Dinner

For 48 years, until the Nobska was withdrawn from service in 1973 by owner the Steamship Authority, the classic white-and-black vessel with its straight bows, tall buff-colored funnel and ear-piercing whistle, was the reigning queen of the waters of the Nantucket Sound, transporting generations of happy vacationers, automobiles and freight to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard from its mainland terminal.

The 210-foot long Nobska, named after Nobska Point, Woods Hole, on Cape Cod, was built for the New England Steamship Co. at Bath Iron Works in Maine, and was launched in 1925 when its steel plates were first caressed by the chilly waters of the Kennebec River.

Power for the vessel were two Babcock and Wilcox watertube boilers which generated steam at 200 pounds of pressure to the ship’s fou