1023

Boiler Steam Gauge, S.S. Central America [158846]

Currency:USD Category:Artifacts / Shipwreck Artifacts Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 USD and UP
Boiler Steam Gauge, S.S. Central America [158846]
SOLD
2,500.00USD+ (500.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2022 Dec 03 @ 11:25UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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American Steam Gauge Co. steam pressure gauge recovered from the S.S. Central America. It is 8" diameter, 2" thick with brass release valve. Cracked 5" window, stain inside obscuring some of the printing. The gauge numerical indicators go up to 70, but the units of measurement are not clearly noted and are assumed to be PSI. The American Steam Gauge Co. built its factory in Boston in 1851 at #4 Charlestown St. They quickly became one of the largest steam gauge manufacturers in America. The company was under the management of E. Ashcroft, who was succeeded by H. K. Moore by 1855. The company owned a number of patents, and in 1855 got into a legal dispute with a competitor who allegedly stole their "Bourbon Patent" and used it as if it were not under patent. A number of steam gauges would have been within the boiler room of the S.S. Central America monitoring differing sectors of the steam production. While the boilers themselves were made of iron and dissolved into the seawater, the gauge remained as a memory and artifact of the engines that were hoped to carry the ill-fated ship through the rough waters while the deployment of the sails was impossible in a horrific storm. But after the boilers and coal source were flooded with water, this gauge became of no use. When the black arrow on this gauge hit the zero, it became the signal that all was lost. With no power, the ship was left to wallow in a rough sea at the whim and mercy of Mother Nature.

Date: 1857
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Provenance: SS Central America Collection