Inca (mail steamer)
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 4:33 pm
Perhaps one of the most curious stories is that of the little steamship Inca, shown on a Peruvian air mail stamp of 1936. The vessel was built at Hull In 1905 and still maintains a service, in 1946, 12,500 ft. above sea-level.
After sailing from Hull to Peru she was dismantled and taken in sections by railway up to Lake Titicaca, high in the Andes. She was then reassembled and relaunched on the lake.
The Inca is owned by the Government of Peru and operates between Guaqui, Bolivia, and Puno, as a connecting link in the .railway service, her passage of 120 miles between the two places taking about 10 hours.
Two other vessels are also employed in this service but the Inca is the largest of the three, her dimensions being 228 ft. x 30 ft. x 20 ft. She is of 700 gross tons and has triple-expansion steam engines driving twin screws. The vessel, I believe, is still in service (1946) after 40 years and certainly holds the "altitude" record for British ships.
Sea Breezes December 1946.
Peru SG625
After sailing from Hull to Peru she was dismantled and taken in sections by railway up to Lake Titicaca, high in the Andes. She was then reassembled and relaunched on the lake.
The Inca is owned by the Government of Peru and operates between Guaqui, Bolivia, and Puno, as a connecting link in the .railway service, her passage of 120 miles between the two places taking about 10 hours.
Two other vessels are also employed in this service but the Inca is the largest of the three, her dimensions being 228 ft. x 30 ft. x 20 ft. She is of 700 gross tons and has triple-expansion steam engines driving twin screws. The vessel, I believe, is still in service (1946) after 40 years and certainly holds the "altitude" record for British ships.
Sea Breezes December 1946.
Peru SG625