From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The steamboat Islander (1) operated in
the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
Islander (1) a steamboat built in 1904, should not be
confused with Islander (2), an 89' long motor
passenger/freight boat built in 1921 for service on the same
route..[1]
Construction
Islander was built in 1904 by J.A. Scribner at Newhall,
Washington for Capt. Andrew Newhall. Islander was intended
to replace the Buckeye on the Bellingham Bay-San Juan
Islands route. Islander was propeller-driven, 72' long
and rated at 163 tons.[2]
Operations
Capt. Newhall ran Islander on the San Juan Islands mail
route until about 1909 when John S. McMillan, of Roche Harbor formed the San Juan Navigation
Co., which placed the steamer Vashonian on the run from
Seattle to Roche Harbor, where travelers could transship to
Burton to proceed further to Bellingham. In 1910,
when Captain Newhall’s mail contract expired, he could not compete
with the well-financed San Juan Navigation Co., and
Islander was forced to tie up at Decatur Island. Islander had
also encountered tough competition from Capt. W.H. Kasch, who
running the 65' long gasoline-powered launch Yankee Doodle
was able to race ahead of Islander, beating her to all the
landings and picking up cargo and passengers before
Islander could get to the dock.[3]
Sale
to Mexican interests
Captain Basford and his son charted Islander for a
while and ran her on the San Juan Islands route, however they did
not succeed and Islander was sold to a Mexican
concern.[4] How
long Islander remained in Mexico is unknown, although she appears
to have either never been transferred or at least returned by 1920
or so, when she was transferred from Puget Sound to California.[5] Another
source indicates that the sale to Mexican owners did not happen
until about 1920.[6]
Notes
- ^
Newell, Gordon R., ed., H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the
Pacific Northwest, at 324, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA
1966. There were at least two other Islander steamboats or
ferries on the West Coast of the United States and Canada at about
this time.
- ^
McCurdy, at 106 (showing photo of Islander )
- ^
McCurdy, at 252
- ^
McCurdy, at 158
- ^
McCurdy, at 324
- ^
Newell, Gordon R, and Williamson, Joe, Pacific Steamboats,
at 123, Bonanza Books, New York, NY 1958 (showing photograph of
Islander hauled out on a marine railway)
External
links
Historic images from the on-line collection of the University of
Washington
| The Mosquito
Fleet of Puget Sound |
|
| Sidewheelers |
|
”They managed to keep their particular sort of jaunty, wind-swept
beauty until the end.” – Newell, Gordon R., Ships of the Inland
Sea
|
|
| Sternwheelers |
|
|
| Propellers |
|
|
| Steamboat lines |
|
|
| Steamboat captains |
|
|
| Builders and shipyards |
|
|
Steamboats in other areas
of the Pacific Northwest |
|
|
Wikis
Map
Search
