The Mount was originally christened the
MT. Washington II when she was launched on August 12, 1940 in Lakeport on Paugus Bay near where the current Corvette Store is located on Rte 3. I believe the roman numeral "II" was dropped after WW II in 1946 when the Mount was repowered with the twin diesel motors and the pilot house was moved to the the third deck. In 1940 and 1941 the Mount was powered by steam engines, and I believe the Mount had a more pronounced exhaust emitting from the smokestack. I have seen postcards in this forum, one in particular of the Mount passing Lake Shore Park where there is a large plume of smoke coming from the exhaust. Normally the Mount does not emit a very discernible exhaust plume since it was repowered with the twin diesels. I was hoping some of our resident Lake Winnipesaukee Historians might want to provide me with the correct date when the "II" was dropped. This question recently came about to me when I won in ebay a Lake Winnipesaukee sterling silver commerative spoon. Upon close examination of the spoon you will see a picture of the Mount and it looks like the wheel house might be on the second deck, and the name of the ship is titled
SS MT WASHINGTON II. I might be able to answer my own questions in a few days when I receive my recently purchased copyfrom amazon.com of
The Story of the Steamboat Era on Lake Winnipesaukee by Edward Blackstone. Attached are photos of the spoon and the launching of the
MT WASHINGTON II My spoon could possibly date from sometime in the 1940's. I believe the Mount has had three different prefix designations:
SS for Steam Ship, MS for Motor Ship, and MV for Motor Vessell.
Picture of Launching Day August 12, 1940:
