BUCKSPORT (AP) – The 100th anniversary of the launching of the Roosevelt was celebrated in honor of the ship that carried Robert Peary farther north than any vessel had gone before.

The Roosevelt, a 184-foot steamship with auxiliary sails, took Peary and his crew to within 174 miles of the North Pole during Peary’s famed 1908-09 expedition. From there, Peary made his way toward the pole, realizing his dream of reaching the top of the world on April 6, 1909.

On Wednesday, residents turned out to mark the centennial of the Roosevelt, which was built on Verona Island. George Sawyer, a historian and grandson of one of the ship’s builders, announced the exact hour and minute that the launch occurred a century ago: “12:35 p.m., March 23, 1905.”

By the time the Roosevelt was built, Peary had already made several unsuccessful attempts at reaching the pole. Peary knew that what he needed to succeed was a vessel capable of pushing through the Arctic ice as far north as possible.

The closer to the pole he got by water, the less distance he would need to cover in his springtime sledge trip. With the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, Peary raised the funds to begin construction of the Roosevelt.

“He knew what he had to build in order to withstand the winter and the ice. It was built rugged,” said Earland Morrill, a historian and model shipwright who crafted a model of the Roosevelt on display at the Buck Library.

The vessel’s huge steam engine powered a heavy propeller, allowing it to break through polar ice that had stopped Peary’s previous ship.

After being launched, the Roosevelt was tied up to the town dock and thousands of visitors stepped on board for a visit.

The next day the ship left for Portland to be fitted out for the first trip. Peary did not reach the pole on the 1905-06 voyage, and the Roosevelt spent almost 10 months frozen in the arctic ice, breaking free in July 1906 and sustaining damage when it ran against an ice floe.

After extensive repairs in New York over the next two years, the Roosevelt headed north again in 1908. The vessel took Peary and his crew to within 174 miles of the North Pole, setting the stage for what would be Peary’s successful trek to the pole.

At Wednesday’s ceremony, George Wardwell, great-grandson of the chief engineer aboard the vessel on its two arctic voyages, displayed artifacts brought back from the voyage. They included his great-grandfather’s diaries of the two voyages, walrus and narwhal tusks, and 250 glass slides that have been in the family since Peary returned from the North Pole in 1909.

After Peary stopped using the Roosevelt, it was used for commercial shipping. It eventually ran aground near the Panama Canal, where it now lies on the ocean floor.