“I am amazed that the ship, with such a low freeboard, could withstand the open ocean.”
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It was shipped in pieces and rebuilt in California.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Queen
The Delta Queen did have to make a blue-water trip (under tow) when it was moved from the west coast to the Mississippi. Her superstructure was tightly covered to prevent damage and minimize shipping water. I think there are pictures of her transiting the Panama Canal.
http://maritimematters.com/2010/06/the-delta-king-california%E2%80%99s-monarch-by-shawn-j-dake/
“The steel hull was actually built by William Denny & Brother’s Dumbarton yard in Scotland. The sections were assembled on the banks of the River Clyde, then taken apart, carefully marked for reassembly and shipped by freighter to San Francisco, then barged to the construction site. Cross compound condensing engines were designed by the Charles H. Evans Company of San Francisco in 1925 but built in Scotland. Two oil-fired water tube boilers were acquired from unused, surplus machinery intended for World War I, U.S. Navy destroyers. The four deck superstructure was entirely constructed of oak, teak, mahogany and Oregon cedar, while the Main Deck freight level was constructed of hard ironbark purportedly from Siam.”