The Clipper was a steel-hulled, diesel sternwheeler. It was built in Nashville, TN in 1924, was 98 x 20 x 4.5 and was powered by a Chicago Pneumatic 6 cylinder diesel making 325 hp at 800 rpm. It was originally named John C. Irwin and was owned by the US Engineer Corps in Nashville. It was sold to Charles Zubik of Pittsburgh in September 1944. Zubik sold her in the spring of 1945 to the Crain Bros., of Pittsburgh, who renamed her in January 1946. She originally had a 150 hp Winton engine which was replaced in the spring of 1946. She towed a dump scow up the Allegheny River to Oil City, PA in the spring of 1951, in charge of Capt. Frank Crain.
For more photos of the Clipper, click here. Make sure to scroll down the page, as several boats were named Clipper. There five photos of the boat, some of the trip to Oil City in 1951. One shows the boat with part of the pilot house lowered so that the boat could clear a bridge.
Photo courtesy of Dan Owen.