Richmond County GaArchives News.....Titanic Hero Remembered in Memorials May 4 1968
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Beth Hemingway bmheming@bellsouth.net March 27, 2004, 5:38 pm

Augusta Chronicle
Titanic Hero Remembered in Memorials
Early in this century Augusta honored the memory of one of its favorite sons, 
Major Archibald Wallingham Butt, in various ways.
And some reminders remain here of this man who went down with the SS Titanic 
the night of April 14, 1912, in the North Atlantic and was one of the heroes of 
the tragedy.
There's the heavily traveld Butt Memorial Bridge on Fifteenth Street.  And, 
although down to a few beterans, the Archie Butt Camp of Spanish-American War 
Veterans is still in existence.
But there's another memento of the former military aide to Presdient Taft who 
bravely wnet to a watery death with a smile and a request that he be 
remembered "to all the folks back home."
It's the rusting remains of a river steamer now a landmark in the harbor of 
Charleston, SC.  Few here are aware of this additional testimony to Butt.
In the latter part of April, a story appeared in the Charleston News and 
Courier concernin the history of the Major Archibald Butt.
Now Beached
The concrete hulk, now beached on the Mount Pleasant side of the Cooper River 
about 500 years from the two Cooper River bridges is seen daily by those 
traveling over the bridges.
The boat was built as a steamer for the quarter-master department of the US 
Army.  It was constructed for river service after the sinking of the Titanic.
During World War I the vessel was used to supply the nearby Fort Moultrie and 
to ferry troops back and forth between the city and the fort.
After the war it was not used and for several years lay on the mud off For 
Moultri.  The government later sold the boat as salvage to a Joseph Sabel for 
$2,700 and it was moved to a slip on the city side of the Cooper.
The Major Archibald Butt soon appeared in the Ashley Rier not far off Murray 
Boulevard as a flotaing gasoline station, ready to service what were then 
called "gasoline boats."
It made a curious sight with its concret hull, giving the vessel a "heavy" 
appearance in the water and causing one to think at first it was aground.
Not long after this the Sabel home on Cole Island burned and the family 
temporarily moved aboard the boat.
Boat sold
Then Sabel was offerend $7,500 for the 12-foot boat and he decided to seel the 
Butt to the man who ahd purchased from him a sister boat, the General Sawyer, 
and had moved it to Miami converting it into a restaurant.
The boat was towed out from Cole Island because the engine had been removed.  
But a shaft opening begand to leak and the boat sank.  The vessel was later 
raised and brought to a dock at the foot of Tradd Street where it sank again.
The offer to purchase was withdrawn and Sabel decide to leave the boat where it 
was but the city had other ideas.
Mayor Henry W Lockwood decided the boat must be raised and beached elsewhere.  
So the hull was pumped free of water, a coffer dam was built about it and the 
boat moved to its present location.  This project is said to have cost the city 
$10,000.
So today--some 30 years since the Butt was last moved, the gulls pause on its 
structure briefly and it has become a popular fishing drop.

Additional Comments:
Scanned photo from newspaper is in photo section of this site.

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