On August 10, 1905, while enroute up the Ohio River, she struck a snag at Sister's Island, below Golconda and near Bay City, Illinois and tore a hole 40 feet long in her hull, causing the boat to sink in shallow water. Three towboats went to the rescue of the wreck - the Fulton, Ranger and Wash Honshell - assisted in raising the Williams. She was then placed on the ways for repairs; damage
The Joseph B. Williams was built at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1876 and was 210 x 40 x 6.5 feet. She had Hartipoe engines which were 20's by 45's with a nine-foot stroke. The boat had six boilers. Her tonnage was 802, net and gross. The Williams was built for one of the Pittsburgh \"coal barons\" after whom she was named. She was not the largest towboat ever built but she was the most powerful
On Tuesday, March 15, 1898, the largest single shipment of coal ever moved on the Western Rivers was taken out of the harbor of Pittsburgh, Pa., by the towboat Joseph B. Williams, owned by C. Jutte and Co. of that place.