Kristin Poling 2

Actually this is Kristin 3, counting the mystery vessel post.  Let’s start in the wheelhouse, aka ship’s office, looking to port.  Notice the gauging equipment, sound-activated telephone, all the manuals.

Over on the starboard side below the controls, here’s a closeup of the pushbutton engine order telegraph, which corresponds to

this twin in the engine compartment, the engineer’s station looking forward.  The light down here is provided by portholes above.

Here’s a closeup of the starboard EMD 16-645-E2–if I recall–12-567

I’m guessing that Schoonmaker was a parts/service company?

Superchargers

Looking down/forward from the fiddley at port engine

After getting this foto of Kristin Poling just north of the Tappan Zee in May 2008, I wondered what I’d see through the portholes above the stern, and now

I know it’s a naturally-lit out-of-the-weather access area to the rudder machinery.

Note the folding joint on the mast.  What lies below these portholes is

the galley.  Again, the natural lighting is remarkable.    A note about these fotos . . . Kristin has been idle for several months now, and no attempt was made during this foto shoot to “spruce-up” any of the areas.

Large wooden door leads to the freezer, and the smaller door beside it  opens a defacto fridge.

Any guesses what lies beyond these portholes on the port side?

One of the crew’s quarters with sink, locker, and

bunk.  Is this color an off-white, yellowed with age, or was this “institutional buff”?

And these covered portholes on the forward port side of the “stern island” leads to

the engineer’s cabin.  The two recessed “bookshelves” are the interior of the portholes above.  I wonder the vintage of the desk and

(as seen from the portside porthole) the bunk with shelving beneath?    Excuse the blurry foto.

Corresponding portholes on the starboard side lead to the captain’s cabin.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of Kristin as much as I did.

A near-twin of Kristin—Chester A. Poling–was my introduction to the name Poling, although it was another company.  I heard about Chester A. in the 1990s from a diver in Cape Ann, MA.  Like Kristin, Chester A. was launched in 1934 from the shipyard in Mariner’s Harbor.  Originally 251′, both were lengthened by a 30-foot midsection in 1956.   From this foto, it appears the bow bulwarks on Chester were less protected.  Click on the image to get to Auke Visser’s fabulous site, from which the foto is taken.  Take your pic here from a wealth of video by folks diving on Chester.

Again, many thanks to Ed Poling and Jim Ash for the opportunity to see/foto Kristin in her dotage.    Thanks to you all for reading and commenting.  Special thanks to Johannah for the info on all-welded construction article and to Sachem1907  on the identification of the locks, which confirms operation by these vessels onto the Great Lakes.  I welcome more info and further history on these vessels of past era.

My all-time favorite fotos of Kristin were taken here less than a year ago by Paul Strubeck and “lightened-up” by  tugster.