SS Catalina
Encyclopedia
{|The S.S. Catalina, also known as The Great White Steamer, was a 301-foot steamship
built in 1924 that provided passenger service on the 26-mile passage between Los Angeles
and Santa Catalina Island
from 1924 to 1975. According to the Steamship Historical Society of America
, the Catalina has carried more passengers than any other vessel anywhere. The S.S. Catalina also served as a troop ship during World War II
, transporting more than 800,000 soldiers and sailors. After a period of service as a floating discothèque, the ship ran aground on a sandbar in Ensenada
Harbor in 1997 and remained there half-submerged and decaying for more than a decade.
In January 2009 it was announced that the ship would be cut up for scrap, which has been completed.
The ship was originally built in 1924 at a cost of $1 million for William Wrigley Jr.
, the chewing gum and confectionery magnate who owned most of Catalina Island. Between 1924 and 1975, the S.S. Catalina carried about 25 million passengers between Los Angeles and Avalon Harbor
. According to the Steamship Historical Society of America, the Catalina has carried more passengers than any other vessel anywhere.
In its heyday, the ship was known as the "Great White Steamer" and carried 2,000 passengers at a time on the two-and-a-half hour trip to Catalina. Among its famous passengers were Presidents Calvin Coolidge
and Herbert Hoover
, actor Robert Mitchum
and many of the great musicians of the Big Band era. The Los Angeles Times
recalled the passage this way:
In 1958, the 26-mile trip to Catalina Island was made famous by Four Preps' hit song "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)
". The song reached the #2 position on the U.S. popular music charts. The metric distance of "40 kil-o-meters" also is sung.
In 1960, fed up with all of the excessive taxation and union pressure, Phillip K. Wrigley sold the ship to a group of investors, known as M.G.R.S. President, Charlie Stillwell, and Vice President, Vern Maynard who was also President of Channel Concessions, ran the ship, as well as managed the Casino Ballroom during the early to mid-1960s.
The ship is featured in the 1967 film "Catalina Caper"
, the Catalina was used as a troop ship in San Francisco Bay
, transporting more than 820,000 sailors and soldiers – more than any other military transport ship in the war effort.
In 1977, the Catalina was purchased at auction for $70,000 by real estate developer Hymie Singer. He bought the ship as a Valentine's Day gift for his wife and the steamship was moved for several years between Newport Beach, San Diego, Santa Monica Bay and Long Beach. At one point, there was a proposal for the Catalina to ferry tourists up the Nile River, but her 21 feet of draft was too deep for the river. As the ship bounced from one port to another, one writer noted: "Twice she broke free of her moorings in Long Beach and once nearly hit a tanker; it was as if the ship was rebelling against her fate, having gone from being a source of pride to an embarrassment to a naval hazard."
In 1985, Singer moved the ship to Ensenada, Baja California
, where she became the focus of a series of unsuccessful business ventures, including a floating discothèque and the Catalina Bar and Grill. In late 1997, the Catalina escaped its moorings and became stuck on a sandbar in Ensenada Harbor. Since that time, the Catalina remained half-submerged and stuck in the mud in the harbor. After years of neglect, the Catalina was badly decayed and rusted and had been stripped by looters and vandals.
(LAHCM #213) by the city's Cultural Heritage Commission, and was a California Historical Landmark
. She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976. Preservationists had sought since the late 1990s to raise funds to return the Catalina to Los Angeles for restoration. Others had opposed raising the ship, saying, "It's like digging up grandma and putting her at the head of the table."
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
built in 1924 that provided passenger service on the 26-mile passage between Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and Santa Catalina Island
Santa Catalina Island, California
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...
from 1924 to 1975. According to the Steamship Historical Society of America
Steamship Historical Society of America
The Steamship Historical Society of America is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1935 as a means of bringing together amateur and professional maritime historians in the waning years of steamboat services in the northeastern United States...
, the Catalina has carried more passengers than any other vessel anywhere. The S.S. Catalina also served as a troop ship during World War II
World 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...
, transporting more than 800,000 soldiers and sailors. After a period of service as a floating discothèque, the ship ran aground on a sandbar in Ensenada
Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...
Harbor in 1997 and remained there half-submerged and decaying for more than a decade.
In January 2009 it was announced that the ship would be cut up for scrap, which has been completed.
Passenger service to Santa Catalina Island
William Wrigley Jr.
William Wrigley Jr. was a U.S. chewing gum industrialist. He was founder and eponym of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
, the chewing gum and confectionery magnate who owned most of Catalina Island. Between 1924 and 1975, the S.S. Catalina carried about 25 million passengers between Los Angeles and Avalon Harbor
Avalon, California
Avalon, or Avalon Bay, is the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island of the California Channel Islands, and the southernmost city in Los Angeles County. Besides Avalon, the only other center of population on the island is the small unincorporated town of Two Harbors...
. According to the Steamship Historical Society of America, the Catalina has carried more passengers than any other vessel anywhere.
In its heyday, the ship was known as the "Great White Steamer" and carried 2,000 passengers at a time on the two-and-a-half hour trip to Catalina. Among its famous passengers were Presidents Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
and Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, actor Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
and many of the great musicians of the Big Band era. The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
recalled the passage this way:
"To board the Catalina during its heyday was to enter a world of luxurious leather settees and gleaming teak. On the upper deck people danced to swinging big bands. Magicians and clowns entertained passengers. On the lower deck youngsters played hide and seek among the lifeboats, and couples found hidden spots where they could be alone. ... Residents fondly remember the rituals with which the ship was greeted as it approached the island: Speedboats would circle the ship, water skiers slicing through its giant wake. Closer to shore, children swam out to dive for coins passengers tossed into the bay. People in Avalon gathered to sing as passengers stepped off the ship that docked near the center of town."
In 1958, the 26-mile trip to Catalina Island was made famous by Four Preps' hit song "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)
26 Miles (Santa Catalina)
"26 Miles " is a popular song by the 1950s and 1960s pop band The Four Preps. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the Billboard R&B chart in 1958...
". The song reached the #2 position on the U.S. popular music charts. The metric distance of "40 kil-o-meters" also is sung.
In 1960, fed up with all of the excessive taxation and union pressure, Phillip K. Wrigley sold the ship to a group of investors, known as M.G.R.S. President, Charlie Stillwell, and Vice President, Vern Maynard who was also President of Channel Concessions, ran the ship, as well as managed the Casino Ballroom during the early to mid-1960s.
The ship is featured in the 1967 film "Catalina Caper"
Troop ship in World War II
During 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...
, the Catalina was used as a troop ship in 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...
, transporting more than 820,000 sailors and soldiers – more than any other military transport ship in the war effort.
Retirement and abandonment in Ensenada
By the early 1970s, smaller, faster vessels made it difficult for the Catalina to compete for passenger traffic, and she was retired from passenger service in 1975.In 1977, the Catalina was purchased at auction for $70,000 by real estate developer Hymie Singer. He bought the ship as a Valentine's Day gift for his wife and the steamship was moved for several years between Newport Beach, San Diego, Santa Monica Bay and Long Beach. At one point, there was a proposal for the Catalina to ferry tourists up the Nile River, but her 21 feet of draft was too deep for the river. As the ship bounced from one port to another, one writer noted: "Twice she broke free of her moorings in Long Beach and once nearly hit a tanker; it was as if the ship was rebelling against her fate, having gone from being a source of pride to an embarrassment to a naval hazard."
In 1985, Singer moved the ship to Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...
, where she became the focus of a series of unsuccessful business ventures, including a floating discothèque and the Catalina Bar and Grill. In late 1997, the Catalina escaped its moorings and became stuck on a sandbar in Ensenada Harbor. Since that time, the Catalina remained half-submerged and stuck in the mud in the harbor. After years of neglect, the Catalina was badly decayed and rusted and had been stripped by looters and vandals.
Historic recognition and preservation efforts
The Catalina was recognized as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural MonumentLos Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites in Los Angeles, California, which have been designated by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria.-History:...
(LAHCM #213) by the city's Cultural Heritage Commission, and was a California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
. She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976. Preservationists had sought since the late 1990s to raise funds to return the Catalina to Los Angeles for restoration. Others had opposed raising the ship, saying, "It's like digging up grandma and putting her at the head of the table."
Demise
The Catalina was finally broken up after sitting in Ensenada Harbor for about 12 years. The scrapping of the SS Catalina began in January 2009 and was finished by late 2009 or early 2010.See also
- List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
- Santa Catalina Island, CaliforniaSanta Catalina Island, CaliforniaSanta Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...
External links
- The S.S. Catalina: The First 75 Years Of a "Great White Steamer" by Shawn J. Dake
- Escapist.com: S.S. Catalina Steamship Information
- Maritime Matters: S.S. Catalina