Calista Steamship – Wooden Steamship Model 28"

 HISTORY

(source southwhidbeyhistory)

The Calista, at 117 feet long and 105 tons, was constructed in Washington State in 1911. She was one of the small, wooden, passenger ferries common among the early Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. A large number of private transportation companies ran small passenger and freight boats on Puget Sound, nearby waterways as well as local rivers. They were a varied group of steamers and stern wheelers that plied the waters of Puget Sound on an actual schedule and generally stopped at every waterfront dock.

On July 27, 1922, the ferry Calista departed Oak Harbor on her scheduled run, pulled into Coupeville, again at Langley, Clinton, and finally Glendale before heading to market in Seattle. One particular South Whidbey passenger on board that fateful day was Mrs. Margaret McLeod, mayor of Langley. She was accompanied by her coop full of chickens.

With a final total of 70 souls on board, Calista became enveloped in a thick fog as she approached West Point to enter Elliot Bay. It was then, at approximately 10:40 AM, the steamship Hawaiian Maru rammed the Calista which sank to the bottom 28 minutes later. Directly after the moment of collision, the Mayor of Langley fainted. Due to the noble efforts of Captain Bert Lovejoy, Purser R. McGinnis, Ships Mate Ole Swenson and Chief Engineer R. H. Kimmel of the Calista, no lives were lost and all passengers and crew were evacuated to Seattle. The postal mail from all 4 towns, and the chickens, however, were lost.

Early Navigation

The two greatest fears for any sailor are either a shipboard fire or flooding. For the Mosquito Fleet, if a fire broke out they could try to buy themselves time, by beaching the boat and removing all passengers in a relatively safe manner. Flooding, however, can be caused by an engineering casualty, but more commonly by a collision at sea.

Collisions were not uncommon when steamboats had to operate in fog or night. Up until 1945, when the LORAN (Long Range Aid to Navigation) system was established, navigation was a high-risk affair. Seamanship was an art forged from experience and sound decision making. In today’s navigational environment with instrumentation as sophisticated as radar, depth-sonar and GPS (global positioning system), risks are exponentially less.

Collisions in the 19th and early 20th century came suddenly, and destruction could be quick. This is especially the case when there is a difference in size between vessels, or wooden versus steel hull construction. Traffic, fog and geography is, to this day, a hazard for any helmsman.

The steamboats could not stop running at night or in bad weather. Heavy fog was particularly hazardous, and could come up any time of year. While there was no radar, Captains became expert at rudimentary sonar. They could fix their position using the echo of the steamboat whistle. Since sound travels at 1,080 feet per second, and if an echo was heard one second after the whistle blast, the Captain could calculate the steamboat was conservatively 500 feet from shore. The maritime historian Jim Faber summarized how pilots on the Bridge could roughly measure echo location:

“Experienced navigators not only could estimate how far they were from shore, but also could determine their position by the sound of the echo. This was in spite of the fact that a low shoreline, a high bank, or even a gravel beach can all return a different sound. Another determinant was the length of the echo. A short echo denoted a narrow island or headland, for most of the energy of the whistle continued by on both sides. In  only a few seconds, the navigator had to also decide whether the echo was bouncing from floating logs, buoys — or even a solid fog bank.”

This is why it took a Captain years of navigational experience on a particular route to safely pilot the boat through a fog bank, or into a dark rainy night.

Puget Sound Collisions

Elliot Bay off Seattle was the site of a number of maritime disasters. On the night of November 18, 1906, the passenger steamer Dix (102 feet long at 130 ton), had been designed specifically for very short runs such as its unscheduled transit across Elliott Bay. In steaming from Seattle to Alki Point, it collided with the much larger, 4 masted steam schooner, Jeanie (186 feet long at 1,000 ton). The collision, on a clear night full of stars, may have been due to the error of Dix’s unlicensed mate who was at the wheel. Even though the collision speed was slow, Dix was top-heavy. She heeled over, filled with water, and sank 103 fathoms to the bottom. Forty-five people, including the mate and the Chief Engineer went down with her. The wreck was so deep that no bodies could be practically recovered.

A similar collision, again in Elliot Bay, occurred on October 28, 1911. Fortuitously, there was no loss of life, however, this collision is significant because of the obvious standoff between a heavy, steel hulled vessel and a light, wooden hulled sternwheeler. Multnomah was rammed by the much larger steel-hulled express passenger Iroquois on October 28, 1911, resulting in the sinking of Multnomah in 240 feet of water. The Multinomah was built in Portland, Oregon in 1885, and was 143 feet long at 313 tons. The 214 foot long Iroquois, on the other hand, was built in Toledo, Ohio in 1901 and sat in the water at 1,169 tons.

HISTORY

Probably the most beautiful historic paddle wheel steamer on the whole of the continent plies its way across Central Europe’s third largest inland lake with radiantly white awnings, polished brass and reflective mahogany and with teak and cherry wood fittings. The trade press have called it “Europe’s most superbly restored steamship” and it certainly symbolises all the craftsmanship of a long forgotten age. Each detail features masterpieces of art nouveau. Everything on board the Hohentwiel blends into an authentic whole. The completely faithful restoration recalls the steamship’s glorious heyday as a luxurious paddle steamer for crowned heads of state.

HISTORY

El Primero was a steam yacht built in 1893. This vessel was once considered one of the most luxurious yachts on the West Coast of the United States, and was one of the few steam yachts to be operated on Puget Sound. The yacht has since been converted to diesel, but it remained operational as of 2010.Design and construction El Primero, constructed at San Francisco, California, was the first steam yacht built on the west coast of the United States. The yacht had an auxiliary sail rig. The steam engine was rated at horsepower, driving the vessel at a maximum speed of 13.5 knots. Career The yacht's original owner was Edward W. Hopkins, heir to the wealth of his uncle, Mark Hopkins, for whom the Mark Hopkins Hotel is named. In 1896 Hopkins was the member of the San Francisco and the Pacific yacht clubs. In 1906 Hopkins sold the yacht to Chester Thorne of Tacoma, and the yacht thereafter came to be based in Puget Sound. Thorne in turn wagered the yacht in a craps game and lost the game, and the yacht, to Sidney Albert “Sam” Perkins (1865-1955), a newspaper publisher. El Primero transported four different presidents, including for example William Howard Taft when he came to Seattle to visit the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909. During World War II the yacht was taken into the U.S. Navy as a patrol vessel, and returned to Perkins in 1947. During the 1950s, there were only two steam yachts operational on Puget Sound, El Primero and Aquilo. After Perkins' death in 1955, the yacht went to his heirs and was later purchased by Sy Devening who was doing business as Puget Sound Excursion Lines, who converted it to diesel power. The yacht passed through two subsequent owners, an American (Arther B Church) and a Canadian, and was taken out of service in the year 2000, remaining at a dock in Blaine, Washington. In 2010, the yacht was purchased by a semi-retired tug captain and engineer. Encountering engine troubles, the new owner had the vessel hauled out at Port Townsend for repairs. With the vessel still in need of restoration, as of January 2010 the new owner was considering taking the yacht to Mexico or Thailand to have the work done. 2013 Ship proudly berthed and displayed at Bremerton, Washington Marina for maintenance, tours, and public functions.

HISTORY

hand-crafted model ship Stadt Luzern, steam ship model Stadt Luzern, display model Stadt Luzern, paddle steamer Stadt Luzern model ship, PADDLE STEAM SHIP STADT LUZERN, STEAM SHIP STADT LUZERN, Stadt Luzern paddle steamers model, hand-made paddle steamer Stadt Luzern Schiffsmodell, Stadt Luzern bootmodelStadt Luzern is the newest and biggest of the Vierwaldstättersee paddle steamers. It usually sails on Wilhelm Tell Express route between Luzern and Flüelen along the whole length of the lake.

Development of steamboat navigation

In December 1835, the merchant Casimir Friedrich Knörr surprised the people of Lucerne with his announcement that he intended to found a steamboat company. The proud "Stadt Luzern" was the first steamboat to make its maiden voyage on 24 September 1837. The shipping guilds feared for their existence, however, and pressured the government officials from the canton of Uri into prohibiting the landing of the steamboat. After one year, a compromise was finally made. Thereafter, various other steamboat companies were founded, which led to strong competition between them and price cutting. In 1870, the two oldest companies merged to form the "United Steam Ship Company of Lake Lucerne". In 1885, the company name was changed to "Steamship Company of Lake Lucerne" (DGV). Subsequent to the two World Wars, when shipping was suspended, DGV generally experienced an upward swing. In 1960, the company was finally renamed "The Lucerne Navigation Company " (SGV).

Since 1931, nine diesel motor boats have been built and five paddle steamers, previously heated with coal, have been converted to oil-fired vessels in SGV’s own wharf. In 1972, the "Friends of Steamboat Navigation" association was formed. Since then, it has supported SGV financially and ideologically with the refurbishing of the steamboats. In 1997, SGV and Friends of the Steamboats celebrated the two anniversaries "160 Years of Steamboat Navigation" and "25 Years of Steamboat Friends" with an impressive steamboat parade".