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General Frank M. Coxe (ship)
Encyclopedia
The General Frank M. Coxe is a steam ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
which was built for the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
to provide transportation services among several military facilities which ring California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
.
The 144 feet (43.9 m) was built in 1921 and, along with sister-ship General John McE. Hyde
General John McE. Hyde (ship)
The General John McE. Hyde was a long ferry boat built for the United States Army in 1921, to provide transportation services among the military facilities in Manila Bay, Philippines....
, was designed and built shortly after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
to ferry army personnel to island bases in strategic harbors, in answer to the increasing military importance of the Pacific ports.
Prior to the availability of the current system of bridges and highways in San Francisco Bay, mobility on the water was critical. It is estimated that the General Frank M. Coxe carried six million passengers during her military service.
Design and construction
The Coxe was not a navy ship; it was among the thousands of vessels owned and operated by the US Army for specific logistical purposes. It was designed by the New York firm of Cox & StevensCox & Stevens
Cox & Stevens began in 1905 as a yacht design and commercial brokerage in New York City. The original principal partners were Daniel H. Cox, Irving Cox, and marine engineer Colonel Edwin Augustus Stevens Jr., son of renowned designer Edwin Augustus Stevens....
, who were renowned Naval Architects specializing in yachts and small commercial and military craft. The Coxe was built in 1922, along with the General John McE. Hyde (built 1921), to Cox & Stevens
Cox & Stevens
Cox & Stevens began in 1905 as a yacht design and commercial brokerage in New York City. The original principal partners were Daniel H. Cox, Irving Cox, and marine engineer Colonel Edwin Augustus Stevens Jr., son of renowned designer Edwin Augustus Stevens....
design #244 by Charles Ward Engineering Works
Charles Ward Engineering Works
The Charles Ward Engineering Works, Charleston, W. Va. was an iron and steel fabricator and shipyard founded by Charles Ward in 1872. They produced shallow draught boats at a plant on the south bank of the Kanawha River. It remained in operation until 1931 headed by the founder’s son Charles E...
of Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
, located on the Kanawha River
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.It is formed at the town of Gauley...
, a firm which specialized in shallow draft vessels such as ferries, riverboats, and tugs. (The Hyde was sunk by Japanese artillery at Corregidor
Corregidor
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...
on April 15, 1942, during World War II.)
Military use
Prior to the building of the Golden Gate
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
and Bay bridges in the mid 1930s, ground transportation in the Bay Area was hampered by the Bay and the rivers which bisected the region from San Jose to the Sacramento River Delta. However, this region was heavily populated by the Army personnel who garrisoned and maintained the ring of fortresses and ancillary facilities from Fort Point and Fort Cronkite at the mouth of the Bay, to the Benicia Arsenal
Benicia Arsenal
The Benicia Arsenal 1851-1964, and Benicia Barracks 1852-1866, was a large military reservation located next to Suisun Bay in Benicia, California. For over 100 years, the arsenal was the primary US Army Ordnance facility for the West Coast of the United States.In 1847 a parcel of land adjoining...
at the mouth of the Delta. There were two island fortresses: Fort McDowell (Angel Island
Angel Island, California
Angel Island is an island in San Francisco Bay that offers expansive views of the San Francisco skyline, the Marin County Headlands and Mount Tamalpais. The entire island is included within Angel Island State Park, and is administered by California State Parks. It has been used for a variety of...
) and Alcatraz, with each of these becoming special purpose facilities by the time of the Coxe.
By the 1920s, Angel Island and Alcatraz were considered obsolete as artillery positions, with their purposes supplanted by larger coastal guns and extensive electronic mines as the primary coastal defenses. As aircraft developed, these also became irrelevant. Angel Island developed as a processing center for inductees and recruits, and Alcatraz developed into a maximum security military prison. The Coxe provided a regular service between Fort Mason
Fort Mason
Fort Mason, once known as San Francisco Port of Embarkation, US Army, in San Francisco, California, is a former United States Army post located in the northern Marina District, alongside San Francisco Bay. Fort Mason served as an Army post for more than 100 years, initially as a coastal defense...
, on the north coast of the San Francisco peninsula, and Fort McDowell on Angel Island, with periodic stops at Alcatraz. The Alcatraz service continued after the Army relinquished control to the Federal Prison Bureau in the mid 1930s.
Alcatraz prison break
John K. Giles
John Knight Giles . He was sentenced to the United States Penitentiary on May 11, 1935 for attempted robbery of the Denver and Rio Grande Western mail train. previously been serving a life sentence in Oregon for murder before escaping. Giles had escaped from the jail in Oregon as a WANTED MAN...
, aged 50, a mail robber and four-time convict, stole an army uniform from the prison laundry and jumped aboard the Coxe just before she departed for Angel Island. Although a count of both the soldiers on the Coxe and the prisoners working on the docks alerted the authorities to an escape, an error in communication and forged documents allowed Giles to land at Fort McDowell. However, a discrepancy in his uniform brought him to the attention of an officer, who then recognized his forged documents and arrested him not knowing of the prison break. Giles was returned to Alcatraz to serve-out his sentence. There was some controversy over whether this constituted a successful escape and a recapture, or a foiled plan. Officially, Alcatraz retained its perfect record as "escape proof" until it closed in the mid 1960s, since it was assumed that all other missing prisoners had drowned.
World War II
With the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Angel Island became a critical processing center for US troops heading to the Pacific theater of battle. The processing was substantially divided between Fort McDowell and Fort Mason, and despite the new bridges and highways, ships and ferries were the only connection between the locations. During World War II, the Coxe made as many as eight scheduled trips per day between Fort McDowell and Fort Mason. However, after satisfying the exigencies of the war, Fort McDowell was eventually phased-out after World War II, and was closed as a processing center prior to the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. By 1947 the Coxe was obsolete and was decommissioned.
Tour Ferry
Red & White Fleet
Red & White Fleet is the business name for a vessel tour company operating in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.Red and White Fleet is San Francisco’s original sightseeing provider and has been cruising the Bay since 1892...
of ferry and tour boats on San Francisco Bay. The Coxe operated as the SS Frank M. Coxe as a local cruise ship and tour ferry until the 1960s.
Restaurant and night club
After retiring as an active vessel, the Coxe was converted to a floating restaurant called the Showboat in Stockton, CaliforniaStockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
. The restaurant went through several leases and was operated under several names in various locations. At one point is was a dance club catering to the "under 21" patrons. In the late 1980s it was berthed at Jack London Square
Jack London Square
Jack London Square is a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront of Oakland, California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, an Amtrak station, a ferry dock, the historic Saloon, the cabin Jack London lived in the...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
operating as the Pattaya Princess, a Thai restaurant that closed in 1990.
Current use
For the 16 years up until 2006, the General Frank M. Coxe was a vacant hulk, until local restaurateurs bought the ship from Mr. Robert Sherman, who had preserved the General Frank M. Coxe on an unused canal in Burlingame, CaliforniaBurlingame, California
Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for its many surviving examples of Victorian architecture, its affluence, and...
, just south of San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
.
The new owners obtained an extended lease from the City of Burlingame and renovated the vessel. The name of the vessel was changed from the General Frank M. Coxe to The Sherman in honor of the longtime owner, and is now operated as a restaurant of that name.