# What was the draft of Mississippi riverboats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-draft-of-mississippi-riverboats/957435 "2022-01-08T17:32:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-draft-of-mississippi-riverboats/957435/1 "2022-01-08T17:32:11Z")
‘Mark twain! Safe water!’ was the call that riverboat pilots liked to hear. If a depth of 12 feet was safe, what was the draft of Mississippi riverboats? ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-draft-of-mississippi-riverboats/957435/2 "2022-01-08T17:50:25Z")
Typically less than a man so I guess 5 to 6 feet max. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-draft-of-mississippi-riverboats/957435/3 "2022-01-08T18:00:08Z")
Riverboats had very shallow drafts. That was a design feature. Of course, different boats are different but as an example this one had a [draft of 22 inches](https://www.grandlady.info/group-cruises/history/) (although this one is a small riverboat). (70 tons) [This wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboats_of_the_Mississippi#Golden_age_of_steamboats) says the riverboat Washington had a draft of 4 feet (1.2m). Further down that page it notes a riverboat with a 6-foot draft. (1384 tons) I’d be surprised if they got much more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-draft-of-mississippi-riverboats/957435/4 "2022-01-08T22:30:28Z")
The Albatross, a steel-hulled side-wheeler originally built to transport railroad trains across the Mississippi River before a bridge was built at Vicksburg, [had a draft of only 7.6 feet.](https://jayseaarchaeology.wordpress.com/2018/05/12/museum-ships-series-iv-the-admiral/) To this day, river channels are maintained at [a minimum of nine feet](https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0809/ML080980172.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-draft-of-mississippi-riverboats/957435/5 "2022-01-09T01:13:21Z")
The first channel project was 4 foot, then 4.5, then 6 and finally 9 [https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online\_books/rmr/2/chap1.htm](https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/rmr/2/chap1.htm) Brian ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-draft-of-mississippi-riverboats/957435/6 "2022-01-11T20:17:25Z")
Mark Twain wrote of ribermen swapping tales, and one spoke of a riverboat with such a shallow draft, “it could float on a cryin’ woman’s tears.” The tale went on, IIRC, to tell of the boat fetched up on a sand bar, and they brought the weeper aboard to float it off…