_{The former Sioux probably had the most successful conversion to an auto carrier, retaining her trim steamship lines as the “day ferry” to Victoria as the Olympic. Courtesy of Tom Sanislo, colorized.}

BUILT: 1910, Seattle, WA

PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Sioux, b. Olympic, c. USAT Franklin S. Leisenring

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 208278 SIGNAL LETTERS: KMVZ

L/B/D: 175 x 39 x 23 GROSS/NET TONS: 1317/896 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 560/40

PROPULSION: One four-cylinder triple-expansion engine, 1400 HP

NAME TRANSLATION: For the Mountain range; mountains took the name from the tallest peak, Mount Olympus; the name was given by Capt. John Meares who said at the time, “For truly it must be the home of the Gods.”

FINAL DISPOSITION: Sold to the US Army, 1941. Renamed USAT Franklin S Leisenring.  During World War II USAT Franklin S. Leisenring was assigned to the Panama Canal Zone.  Following World War II USAT Franklin S. Leisenring was sold to a Dutch Guiana company for service out of Paramaribo on the Suriname River. According to author Gordon Newell in Pacific Steamboats (1958), the Olympic ex-Sioux was still in service, steaming up and down the Suriname River.

HISTORY

The ferry Coho now plies a route that has been in service for well over 100 years. While memories of the Kalakala, the Chinook or even the Iroquois are still in the minds of some when the Port Angeles-Victoria route is mentioned, few remember the Olympic.

Puget Sound Navigation was still reeling from the worst maritime disaster on Puget Sound. The loss of the S.S. Clallam took with it 54 people when it foundered in a storm in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Port Townsend and  Victoria.  Not one woman or child aboard survived the sinking, and the loss prompted PSN to cease building any more steamers constructed of wood.

One of the first steel steamers built after the Clallam disaster was the Sioux. Built in 1910 at Seattle Construction and Drydock, the vessel ran between Seattle, Irondale and Port Townsend at first, but was later moved to Everett, Port Angeles and other ports around the Sound.

Like many of the other Black Ball steamers, the Sioux was about to change her carrying duties. She was sent into the yard to undergo conversion to carry autos. However, unlike many of her contemporaries the Sioux would retain much of her original look.  With the exception of new side and bow doors, the Sioux, which emerged in 1924 as the Olympic, still retained her sharp-looking steamer lines.  PSN placed her on the Bellingham-Victoria run first, and when that run was discontinued the moved her over to the Port Angeles-Victoria run, where she sailed successfully until 1941.

For nearly two decades the lovely steamer carried passengers and cars to and from Victoria to Port Angeles during the day as a direct route while the Iroquois carried on as the night ferry from Seattle, Port Townsend, Port Angeles and Victoria.

PSN sold her to the U.S. Army Transport service in 1941.During World War II USAT Franklin S. Leisenring was assigned to the Panama Canal Zone.  Following World War II USAT Franklin S. Leisenring was sold to a Dutch Guiana company for service out of Paramaribo on the Surinam River.

According to author Gordon Newell in Pacific Steamboats (1958), the Olympic ex-Sioux was still in service, steaming up and down the Suriname River.