Steel Electric Class ferry
Encyclopedia
The Steel Electric Class ferries became part of the Washington State Ferry System
Washington State Ferries
Washington State Ferries is a passenger and automobile ferry service owned and operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation that serves communities on Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands. It is the most used ferry system in the world and the largest passenger and automobile...
when Puget Sound Navigation Company
Puget Sound Navigation Company
The Puget Sound Navigation Company was founded by Joshua Green in 1913. It operated a fleet of steamboats and ferries on Puget Sound in Washington and the Georgia Strait in British Columbia...
was acquired in 1951. They were built on 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...
for service on Southern Pacific and Northwestern Pacific Railroad
Northwestern Pacific Railroad
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional railroad serving California's North Coast. The railroad currently runs on 62 miles of the 462 mile main line, stretching from Schellville, California to Eureka, California...
routes across that bay.
History
The Steel Electric class ferries were built in 1927 for Southern Pacific Transportation Company service on San Francisco BaySan 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...
. After a decade of service on San Francisco Bay, they were idled by completion of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936 and the Golden Gate bridge
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...
in 1937. They were sold in 1940 to Puget Sound Navigation, also known as the "Black Ball Line". In the 1940s the Enetai and Willapa were extensively rebuilt and their engines replaced (thus precluding them from being part of the "Steel Electric" class).
All six boats were purchased by the Washington Toll Bridge Authority in the fifties. In the sixties the Enetai and Willapa were sold. In the '80s the four remaining boats were given an overhaul and continued to serve until November 2007. The six boats are now fairly different. The Enetai and Willapa were both converted into single-ended boats and had their engines replaced.
The Klickitat was rebuilt before the other units and has a shorter cabin and lacks an elevator. The remaining three all have elevators.
Vessels
| Number | Builder | SP name | Washington name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 226344 | Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco | Fresno | MV Willapa |
| 226567 | Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco | Stockton | MV Klickitat |
| 226588 | Moore Dry Dock, Oakland | Lake Tahoe | MV Illahee |
| 226599 | General Engineering & Dry Dock, Alameda | Santa Rosa | MV Enetai |
| 226712 | Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco | Mendocino | MV Nisqually |
| 226738 | Moore Dry Dock, Oakland | Redwood Empire | MV Quinault |
Willapa
Keel was laid on 8 November 1926, and launching was 16 January 1927. The ferry was christened Fresno by Miss Shirley Harding, daughter of Southern Pacific's engineer of standards. The $525,000 ferry went into service between San Francisco and Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, 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...
in April with an all-electric galley for the dining room and capacity for 100 automobiles. Fresno was disabled when heavy seas shorted the electrical power plant during a stormy January 1932 evening bay crossing from San Francisco to Oakland. The ferry drifted nearly to Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal...
before tugs were able to rig a tow to Oakland. After 28 years in Puget Sound, Washington State declared Willapa surplus in 1968. After years of languishing, she was to be turned into a storage warehouse under her old name, Fresno. However the owners, Parker Oceanic, never really did much work on her; she was sold to NYMET Holdings, a salvage firm, and scrapped in Stockton, CA in 2009.
Klickitat
Keel was laid on 15 November 1926, launching was 5 March 1927, and service between San Francisco and Oakland began in May. The ferry was christened Stockton by Miss Louise Shoup, daughter of Southern Pacific's president, Paul Shoup.Illahee
Launching was 23 March 1927, and service between San Francisco and Oakland began in June. The ferry was christened Lake Tahoe by Miss Helen Dyer, daughter of Southern Pacific's general manager. Lake Tahoe was involved in a minor collision with the Southern Pacific ferry Oakland in fog on 14 August 1943. This ferry made the last Southern Pacific San Francisco Bay auto ferry run on 16 May 1940. The tug Commissioner towed this ferry out of San Francisco Bay on 10 August 1940 bound for Puget Sound. The tow line broke off Trinidad, CaliforniaTrinidad, California
Trinidad is a seaside city in Humboldt County, located on the Pacific Ocean north of the Arcata-Eureka Airport and north of the college town of Arcata...
and the ferry drifted for 36 hours until it could be towed to Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, United States entirely within Humboldt County. The regional center and county seat of Eureka and the college town of Arcata adjoin the bay, which is the second largest enclosed...
for emergency repairs before continuing northward.
Enetai
This ferry was built as Santa Rosa to inaugurate Northwestern Pacific auto ferry service on 1 July 1927 across the mouth of San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and a new terminal at the foot of Mission Street in Sausalito. After 28 years in Puget Sound, Washington State declared Enetai surplus in 1968. She was purchased for restoration and is now the headquarters of Hornblower Yachts in San Francisco, CaliforniaCalifornia
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...
under her old name, Santa Rosa.
Nisqually
This ferry was built as Mendocino to inaugurate Northwestern Pacific service across the mouth of San Francisco Bay.Quinault
This ferry was built as Redwood Empire to inaugurate Northwestern Pacific service across the mouth of San Francisco Bay. The tug Commissioner towed this ferry out of San Francisco Bay on 10 August 1940 bound for Puget Sound.Withdrawal from service
Corrosion on the Steel Electric hulls was discovered in 2007 inspections. On November 20, 2007, the Washington State Secretary of Transportation, Paula Hammond, announced that Washington State Ferries (WSF) will pull all of the Steel Electric class vessels out of service on that day. The decision closed the Port Townsend-Keystone route until WSF began to operate the high-speed passenger-only ferry Snohomish on the run starting November 23.During Nov. and Dec. the Snohomish was pulled from this run and began a new interim service between Seattle and Port Townsend. This was done, in part, because there were much fewer visitors to Port Townsend during the holiday shopping season; it was hoped that a special run directly from Seattle would bring more visitors and shoppers to town. During this time, WSF got a third party to operate passenger only service on the PT-Keystone run, using a much smaller whale watch boat. The Snohomish was eventually put back on this run.
Unfortunately the corrosion on the ferry's hulls was too extensive and Secretary Hammond has announced they will be scrapped instead. All four of the ferries are berthed at the systems main storage facility in Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island. Governor Gregoire announced plans for their replacement, and the Washington State Legislature directed WSF to build new ferries to replace the Steel Electrics. On February 14, 2008, Governor Gregoire signed Senate Bill 6794 into law, which authorizes construction of replacement ferries.
Washington State Ferries has commissioned TODD Pacific Shipyards to build the first the replacement ferries. Its design is based on the Island Home, a vessel which serves the Martha's Vinyard run. The new vessel will hold 64 autos, 1,200 passengers and up to 200 bicycles. The vessel will be launched in January, 2010 and be delivered to Washington State Ferries June, 2010.
Bids for an additional 1 to 2 hulls of this class will be received by the state in October 2010.
In the interim, the state is leasing the Pierce County
Pierce County, Washington
right|thumb|[[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]] - Seat of Pierce CountyPierce County is the second most populous county in the U.S. state of Washington. Formed out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature of Oregon Territory...
ferry service's Steilacoom II to cover the Port Townsend-Keystone run. This ferry is being utilized in preference to other State-owned ferries due to the restrictions the Keystone passage imposes on the size of vessels serving that route.
The state had hoped that the first ferry would enter service in April 2009, however in early April 2008 the state rejected a bid of $26 million to build a ferry based on the Steilacoom II design as being too high. Reasons cited for the bid being $9 million over the state's estimate include the requirement that the shipbuilder complete the ferry within one year (or face stiff daily fines), and changes to the specifications including improved safety, security and quality. Washington State Ferries will not re-bid this project.
Despite several proposals to save the vessels, all four of the class were towed to Mexico in June 2009 for scrapping.