CITY of STEILACOOM

BUILT: 1924, Gig Harbor 

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 223660

L/B/D: 91x 27 x 10 GROSS/NET TONS: 134/87 PASSENGERS/AUTOS:

HISTORY: Built by the Skansie Brothers, the City of Steilacoom operated between

Tacoma and Fox Island by Pierce County. Re-engined in 1952 with a Caterpillar diesel.

Put out of work by the new bridge in 1954. Sold in 1962 to Webb School of California and moored in the San Juan Islands as an adjunct to a boys’ school.

NAME TRANSLATION: For the city of Steilacoom. Founded as Port Steilacoom by Lafayette Balch and was one of the first towns in Washington.   There are several versions of the name origin, including that it was “…derived from Chief Tail-a-koom” (Dictionary of Indian Geographic Names); that it was for the “…pink flowers plentiful in that locality…” (Henry Sicade, Tacoma Times. June 19, 1920); that “Steilacoom was named after Steilacoom Creek by Lafayette Balch who spelled it ‘Cheilcoom.’

FINAL DISPOSITION: Scrapped, 1975.

CITY of TACOMA

BUILT: 1921, Gig Harbor, WA.

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 221831

L/B/D 150 x 44 x 10 GROSS/NET TONS: 269/179 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 300/50

HISTORY: Auto ferry service began on the Narrows route between Tacoma and Gig Harbor in 1921 when the Skansie Brothers completed the City of Tacoma. Re-engined as a diesel in 1927. Retired and sold, 1951.  Served as a floating breakwater and storage barge at Lake Washington Marina.

NAME TRANSLATION: for the city of Tacoma (see Tacoma)

FINAL DISPOSITION: Sank at Yarrow Bay, July 1969.  The old ferry is a popular dive site.

DEFIANCE. See main entry on front page.

FOX ISLAND. See below.

GIG HARBOR

BUILT: 1925, Western Boat Building Co., Tacoma, WA.

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 224605

L/B/D: 116 x 39 x 8 GROSS/NET TONS: 159/108 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: ?/30
PROPULSION: Steam

HISTORY: Built for Washington Navigation Company’s use on the Gig Harbor-Tacoma run.

NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the harbor.  The bay was named by Commander Charles Wilkes in 1841.  Wilkes believed that the bay had sufficient depth for a “captain’s gig.”

FINAL DISPOSITION: Destroyed by fire 10 June 1929 at Gig Harbor.

SKANSONIA. See entry on main page.

VASHONIA

BUILT: 1930, Skansie Brothers Shipyard, Gig Harbor, WA

PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Relief b. Vashonia

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 230078

L/B/D: 93 x 38 x 12 GROSS/NET TONNAGE: 211/179

HISTORY: Built in 1930 for the Tacoma-Gig Harbor routes, the gasoline powered Relief was named with that exact designation in mind–to be a relief vessel for the rest of the ferries in the

Washington Navigation fleet.  Two years later, in 1932, the vessel was stripped down to the hull, had a new house built, was re-engined as a diesel and was renamed Vashonia.

In 1943 the vessel was picked up by the Kitsap County Transportation Company, which had been operating as a subsidiary but separate corporation, though wholly owned by the Puget

Sound Navigation Company (Black Ball Line) since 1935.  A year later, in 1944, Black Ball finally dissolved the subsidiary corporation and absorbed the entire KCTC fleet.  The Vashonia,

along with the other KCTC vessels, was repainted in Black Ball Colors.

NAME TRANSLATION: From the island, which was named by Captain Vancouver for his friend, Captain James Vashon

FINAL DISPOSITION:  Abandoned/scrapped 1952

WOLLOCHET

BUILT: 1925, Skansie Brothers, Gig Harbor, WA.

FORMER/LATER NAMES: a. Wollochet, b. Fox Island, c. George S. Pearson, d. Western Service

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 224559 

L/B/D:  90 x 33 x 10 GROSS/NET TONS: 148/98 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 134/18 cars

NAME TRANSLATION: Named for Fox Island, which was named in 1841, by Commander Charles Wilkes for Dr. J. L. Fox, the assistant surgeon of the Wilkes Expedition.

FINAL DISPOSITION: Sold to Canadian interests after the Defiance replaced the vessel on the Port Townsend-Keystone run.  She sailed as the George S. Pearson until retired and sold in 1966.  As the Western Service,upper works wrecked in a storm in 1968, scrapped thereafter.

HISTORY

The Wollochet (which in Chinook means “squirting clams”) was diesel ferry built in 1925 by the Skansie Brothers for their Washington Navigation Company.   She was a small ferry at a mere 89.5 feet in length with a beam of 32.5 feet.   Built at Gig Harbor, the ferry was put into service to Day and Fox Islands near Tacoma.

She was later renamed Fox Island while still with the Washington Navigation Company.  WNCo. sold the vessel in 1942 to the Horluck Transportation Co., which was in desperate need of additional ferries to meet the passenger demands of its ferry service between Port Orchard and Bremerton.   During World War II the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was working around the clock and traffic to and from the yard was non-stop. After traffic returned to normal levels when the war ended, so Horluck sold the ferry in 1947 to Captain Oscar Lee.  Lee, H.J. Carroll and A.C. Grady formed Olympic Ferries Inc. and purchased the Port Townsend-Keystone route from the Puget Sound Navigation Company (Black Ball Line) after the company had essentially abandoned the route in 1943.  The manmade harbor with the ferry dock opened in 1947.

rebuilt in 1947 and sailed on the run until being displaced by the ferry Defiance in 1952. The Fox Island was sold in 1955 to the Gulf Island Ferry Company in British Columbia between Crofton and Vesuvius. Gulf Island Ferry Company renamed the ferry George S. Pearson and started operations in the Gulf Islands, but the ferry was charted for use by Black Ball Ferries for use between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale.

In 1961 she was transferred to B.C. Ferries when the Crown Corporation took over the Gulf Island Ferry Company.  She continued to sail until 1966 when she was sold to Nelson Brothers Fisheries, Ltd., to be used as supply vessel.

The ferry was destroyed by a storm in 1968…see the details below.

Thanks to Lorne Campbell, who provided me with the following information: According to the 23 Sept 1968 issue of the Prince Rupert Daily News, George S. Pearson, then named Western Service and owned by Nelson Bros. Fishery, was caught in a storm in Hecate Strait between what is now Haida Gwaii (then Queen Charlotte Islands) and the mainland on 8 September 1968. She was loaded with supplies including washers and dryers to serve the fishing fleet. As name implies, she was attached to the fishing fleet and was a supply ship. The house was destroyed in the storm and it says the owners had not determined what to do with the hull. I assume it was scrapped as I can find no reference anywhere of the hull’s fate.