Steel Electric class ferry

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The MV Nisqually on Puget Sound
Class overview
Operators:	1927-1940 Southern Pacific-Golden Gate Ferries Ltd 1940-1951 Black Ball Line 1951-2007 Washington State Ferries
Built:	1927 Refit: 1981-1987
In service:	1927-2007
Building:	6
Completed:	6
Retired:	6
General characteristics
Type:	auto/passenger ferry
Tonnage:	gross-tonnage: 1,368 net-tonnage: 930
Length:	256 ft (78.0 m)
Beam:	73 ft 10 in (22.5 m)
Draft:	12 ft 9 in (3.9 m)
Deck clearance:	13 ft 9 in (4.2 m)
Installed power:	Total 2,896 hp from 2 x Diesel-Electric engines
Speed:	12 kn (22 km/h)
Capacity:	616 passengers 59-64 vehicles (max 24 commercial)

The Steel Electric Class ferries became part of the Washington State Ferry System when Puget Sound Navigation Company was acquired in 1951. They were all built in San Francisco or Oakland in the 1920s.

Contents 1 History 2 Vessels 3 Withdrawal from service 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

The Steel Electric class ferries were built for San Francisco in 1927. However with the opening of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate bridge they were sold to Puget Sound Navigation, also known as the "Black Ball Line". In the 1940s the Entai and Willipa were extensively rebuilt and their engines replaced (thus precluding them from being part of the "Steel Electric" class).^[1] All six boats were purchased by the Washington Toll Bridge Authority in the fifties. In the sixties the Entai and Willipa 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 Entai and Willipa 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.

[edit] Vessels

Ferries in this class include:

• MV Illahee ex Lake Tahoe
• MV Klickitat ex Stockton
• MV Nisqually ex Mendocino
• MV Quinault ex Redwood Empire

Two additional ferries had been originally built within this class, but conversion of their design and power plants made them technically no longer "Steel-Electric" ferries. Both were retired earlier in their careers than the four remaining steel-electric ferries. They were:

• MV Enetai

Enetai has been restored to her original state and is now the headquarters of Hornblower Yachts in San Francisco, California under her old name, Santa Rosa.

• MV Willapa

Willapa, after years of languishing, is being turned into storage warehouse under her old name, Fresno.

[edit] Withdrawal from service

Corrosion on the Steel Electric hulls was discovered in 2007 inspections.^[2] 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.^[3]

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. Governor Gregoire announced plans for their replacement,^[4] 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^[5] into law, which authorizes construction of replacement ferries.^[6]. The current plan is to first build one smaller ferry and then two larger ferries that will carry up to 100 cars. There have been discussions of basing the design of these new 100-car ferries on the MV Island Home which runs between Martha's Vineyard and Woods Hole, Mass.

In the interim, the state is leasing the Pierce County ferry service's Steilacoom II to cover the Port Townsend-Keystone run.^[7] This ferry in 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 sited 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 plans to re-bid this project and the re-bidding will most likely affect how soon the new ferries can be put into service.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Washington State Ferries class information
• Washington State Ferries history
• Past vessels of the Washington State Ferry system at evergreenfleet.com

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