Ninety percent of the time it is moving barges, equipment and supplies in support of mat-sinking operations.

Commissioners hold meetings at river towns in the boat's hearing room, which can seat 115 people.

Used for inspecting and surveying along rivers, the boat continued in service until April 1961, when the USACE decommissioned it at Memphis, Tennessee.

[5] While in Missouri, it was renamed Becky Thatcher,[6] after the character in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The boat was purchased by a group of interested citizens who planned to bring her to Marietta as part of the Bicentennial project.

In 1984, the boat sank during a spring flood with heavy damage to her hull and superstructure, but she was raised and returned after repairs for the 1985 season.

[9] On the night of February 19, 2010,[10] during severe winter weather conditions,[11] the showboat Becky Thatcher sank at its mooring on Neville Island in the Ohio River.

Powered by two 8-cylinder engines, for a total of 3720 horsepower, for extra maneuverability it used controllable pitch propellers which allowed it to generate a reverse thrust of over 70% in the forward direction.