Florence K
Encyclopedia
Florence K was a steamboat that was operated on Puget Sound
from 1903. This vessel was later renamed Gloria and was rebuilt as a steam ferry and renamed Beeline.
in 1903 for E.L. “Cap” Franks and his associates who were doing business as Eagle Harbor Transportation Co. Among the principals of the company was Capt. J.A. Jensen (1851-1933), who had been in charge of the Quartermaster Harbor
drydock when it was the only such drydock on Puget Sound.
, where a variety of safety rules had been violated, the steamboat inspectors swept through the Puget Sound steamboat fleet, fining sixteen vessels, including Florence K $750, a considerable sum then, for various safety deficiencies.
The safety deficiencies included inadequate fog horns; rather a steam driven horn, the vessels were using hand-held tin horns driven by a hand-bellows, or a weak manual horn simply blown by mouth, insufficient fire axes and fire buckets, not enough oars in the lifeboats, no plugs in the lifeboat drains, lack of life preserver notices and instructions, no load capacity marked on lifeboats, and boat falls and davits in poor condition. Inspectors strictly counted the total numbers of persons boarded on each vessel, and gave notice that there would be no more remissions of fines for equipment defects. (It had been the custom that heavy fines imposed on steamboats would be remitted upon a showing of compliance by the vessel's owners.)
running with Sentinel
. Florence K was also placed on the Seattle-Winslow route for the Eagle Harbor Transportation Co., until 1915 when the company put the new steamer Bainbridge on the route, and shifted Florence K to the Seattle – Port Washington route. Like many other Puget Sound steamers, Florence K used Pier 3 (now Pier 54) as its Seattle terminal.
Florence K. was the first vessel on the scene at the sinking, following a collision, of the steamer Dix
, in Elliott Bay on November 18, 1906. Forty-five people drowned, and the Dix sinking remains one of the worst transportation disasters in the history of the state of Washington. Florence, under the command of Capt. Cyprian T. Wyatt (1877-1952) and chief engineer, E.L. Franks, picked up the first survivors and took them to Port Blakely. It is reported that at some point Florence K was acquired by Kitsap County Transportation Co.
.
In 1922, one of the crewmen of Florence K was Reed O. Hunt (later chairman of the board of Crown Zellerbach Corporation witnessed from the Florence K the tragic drowning of his cousins, Ward Hunt, who had fallen off a freight boat, the Burro on the east side of Point Defiance
.
, and renamed Gloria. A.M. Hunt & Sons, one of the many Hunt family shipping concerns, operated Gloria on the Tacoma – Vashon Island – Gig Harbor
route under lease to Pierce County, Washington
.
As rebuilt, Gloria could ship 18 automobiles. In 1923 Capt. Harry Crosby, one of the pioneers of the Puget Sound ferry fleet, bought Gloria from A.R. Hunt and renamed the ferry Beeline. Crosby was then engaged in a rate war with the powerful Puget Sound Navigation
and Kitsap County Transportation
companies. PSN charged $2.00 for one-way and $2.50 round trip for their run from Seattle to Bremerton (called the “Navy Yard Route.”). The KCTC rerouted their boats to run out to Vashon Island
from Fauntleroy rather than Seattle, and reduced their fares to $1.00 each way for car and driver. Cosby reduce rates to 50 cents each way for car and driver. PSN and KCTC then went to the Public Utilities Commission, and were able to force Crosby to raise his rates to 85 cents one way, and $1.50 round trip.
In June 1926, the rate war was over and the three ferries of the Crosby concern, including Beeline, had been merged into the PSN, although for a time after the merger the Crosby boats operated under the Crosby name.
On December 4, 1926, Beeline was shifted over to the route from Everett
to Langley
, replacing the ferry Whidby, which was transferred to the run between Mukilteo
and Clinton
. Capt. Bart Lovejoy was master of the Beeline on the Everett-Langley route. During this time, autobuses picked up passengers and brought them down to Beeline and other ferries.
By this time, the steamboat business on Puget Sound was fading rapidly. Joshua Green
, an important early founder of the PSN, and later a prominent banker, left the PSN in 1927 because, in his words, “the steamboat business was rapidly degenerating into the ferry boat business.”
, the others being Virginia V
, Manitou
, Sightseer and Arcadia. Line drawings of five vessels were prepared by Phillip F. Spaulding, then an apprentice to naval architect Carl J. Nordstrom. Nordstrom had a contract from the Works Progress Administration
to prepare maritime records for the Historic American Register and Building Survey.
During World War II
Beeline was taken over by the U.S. Navy to run between Hadlock and Indian Island
. Just what happened to Beeline after the war is not known, but the vessel was probably scrapped.
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
from 1903. This vessel was later renamed Gloria and was rebuilt as a steam ferry and renamed Beeline.
Career
Florence K was built at Tacoma, WashingtonTacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
in 1903 for E.L. “Cap” Franks and his associates who were doing business as Eagle Harbor Transportation Co. Among the principals of the company was Capt. J.A. Jensen (1851-1933), who had been in charge of the Quartermaster Harbor
Quartermaster Harbor
Quartermaster Harbor is a small harbor located in southern Puget Sound, in Vashon Island, Washington State.-Geographic description:Quartermaster Harbor is formed by Vashon Island on the west and Maury Island on the east...
drydock when it was the only such drydock on Puget Sound.
Steamboat inspection failure
Steamboat safety regulations were strict in theory in 1903, but loosely enforced. Following the sinking, in January 1904, of the ClallamClallam (steamboat)
The steamboat Clallam operated for about six months from July 1903 to January 1904 in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. She was sunk in a storm on what should have been an ordinary voyage to Victoria, British Columbia.-Construction:...
, where a variety of safety rules had been violated, the steamboat inspectors swept through the Puget Sound steamboat fleet, fining sixteen vessels, including Florence K $750, a considerable sum then, for various safety deficiencies.
The safety deficiencies included inadequate fog horns; rather a steam driven horn, the vessels were using hand-held tin horns driven by a hand-bellows, or a weak manual horn simply blown by mouth, insufficient fire axes and fire buckets, not enough oars in the lifeboats, no plugs in the lifeboat drains, lack of life preserver notices and instructions, no load capacity marked on lifeboats, and boat falls and davits in poor condition. Inspectors strictly counted the total numbers of persons boarded on each vessel, and gave notice that there would be no more remissions of fines for equipment defects. (It had been the custom that heavy fines imposed on steamboats would be remitted upon a showing of compliance by the vessel's owners.)
Operations
Florence K was placed on a route from Tacoma to Vashon IslandVashon Island
Vashon is a census-designated place in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon-Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,624 at the 2010 census. At , it is about 60 percent larger...
running with Sentinel
Sentinel (steamboat)
Sentinel was a small wooden propeller-driven steamship of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.-Career:Sentinel was built in 1898 for the Hunt Brothers, who ran a family steamboat business on Puget Sound. The Hunts ran the vessel to stops on Bay Island in southern Puget Sound, and also on a run to...
. Florence K was also placed on the Seattle-Winslow route for the Eagle Harbor Transportation Co., until 1915 when the company put the new steamer Bainbridge on the route, and shifted Florence K to the Seattle – Port Washington route. Like many other Puget Sound steamers, Florence K used Pier 3 (now Pier 54) as its Seattle terminal.
Florence K. was the first vessel on the scene at the sinking, following a collision, of the steamer Dix
Dix (steamboat)
The steamboat Dix operated from 1904 to 1906 as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. She was sunk in a collision which remains one of the most serious transportation accidents in the state of Washington to this day....
, in Elliott Bay on November 18, 1906. Forty-five people drowned, and the Dix sinking remains one of the worst transportation disasters in the history of the state of Washington. Florence, under the command of Capt. Cyprian T. Wyatt (1877-1952) and chief engineer, E.L. Franks, picked up the first survivors and took them to Port Blakely. It is reported that at some point Florence K was acquired by Kitsap County Transportation Co.
Kitsap County Transportation Company
The Kitsap County Transportation Company was an important steamboat and ferry company that operated on Puget Sound. The company was originally founded in 1898 as the Hansen Transportation Company.-Hansen Transportation:...
.
In 1922, one of the crewmen of Florence K was Reed O. Hunt (later chairman of the board of Crown Zellerbach Corporation witnessed from the Florence K the tragic drowning of his cousins, Ward Hunt, who had fallen off a freight boat, the Burro on the east side of Point Defiance
Point Defiance
Point Defiance may refer to:* Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington, USA** Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium within the park* USS Point Defiance , a dock landing ship* Point Defiance Elementary School, a school located within Tacoma, Washington...
.
Steam ferry
In 1924, Florence K was reconstructed as a ferry, but still under steam power, by A.R. Hunt, one of the Hunt BrothersHunt Brothers (steamboat line)
The Hunt Brothers were the owners of a steamboat business that ran on Puget Sound as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. Five of the seven Hunt children became owners, engineers and masters of steamboats, these were Emmett E., Arthur.M., A.R, L.B., and F.M. Hunt.-Background:The family...
, and renamed Gloria. A.M. Hunt & Sons, one of the many Hunt family shipping concerns, operated Gloria on the Tacoma – Vashon Island – Gig Harbor
Gig Harbor, Washington
Gig Harbor is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,126 at the 2010 census....
route under lease to Pierce County, Washington
Pierce County, Washington
right|thumb|[[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]] - Seat of Pierce CountyPierce County is the second most populous county in the U.S. state of Washington. Formed out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature of Oregon Territory...
.
As rebuilt, Gloria could ship 18 automobiles. In 1923 Capt. Harry Crosby, one of the pioneers of the Puget Sound ferry fleet, bought Gloria from A.R. Hunt and renamed the ferry Beeline. Crosby was then engaged in a rate war with the powerful Puget Sound Navigation
Puget Sound Navigation Company
The Puget Sound Navigation Company was founded by Joshua Green in 1913. It operated a fleet of steamboats and ferries on Puget Sound in Washington and the Georgia Strait in British Columbia...
and Kitsap County Transportation
Kitsap County Transportation Company
The Kitsap County Transportation Company was an important steamboat and ferry company that operated on Puget Sound. The company was originally founded in 1898 as the Hansen Transportation Company.-Hansen Transportation:...
companies. PSN charged $2.00 for one-way and $2.50 round trip for their run from Seattle to Bremerton (called the “Navy Yard Route.”). The KCTC rerouted their boats to run out to Vashon Island
Vashon Island
Vashon is a census-designated place in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon-Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,624 at the 2010 census. At , it is about 60 percent larger...
from Fauntleroy rather than Seattle, and reduced their fares to $1.00 each way for car and driver. Cosby reduce rates to 50 cents each way for car and driver. PSN and KCTC then went to the Public Utilities Commission, and were able to force Crosby to raise his rates to 85 cents one way, and $1.50 round trip.
In June 1926, the rate war was over and the three ferries of the Crosby concern, including Beeline, had been merged into the PSN, although for a time after the merger the Crosby boats operated under the Crosby name.
On December 4, 1926, Beeline was shifted over to the route from Everett
Everett, Washington
Everett is the county seat of and the largest city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. Named for Everett Colby, son of founder Charles L. Colby, it lies north of Seattle. The city had a total population of 103,019 at the 2010 census, making it the 6th largest in the state and...
to Langley
Langley, Washington
Langley is a town in Island County, Washington, United States near the eastern end of the north shore of the south end of Whidbey Island. It is the third largest incorporated area on Whidbey. The population was 1,035 at the 2010 census, while the ZCTA for Langley's post office had a population of...
, replacing the ferry Whidby, which was transferred to the run between Mukilteo
Mukilteo, Washington
Mukilteo , which means "good camping ground", is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 20,254 at the 2010 census. It is on the shore of the Puget Sound, and is the site of a Washington State Ferries terminal linking it to Clinton, on Whidbey Island.Mukilteo is...
and Clinton
Clinton, Washington
Clinton is a community and census-designated place located on southern Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington, United States. The town was named after Clinton, Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the village was 928. However, the post office serves at least 2,500 people.Clinton is the western...
. Capt. Bart Lovejoy was master of the Beeline on the Everett-Langley route. During this time, autobuses picked up passengers and brought them down to Beeline and other ferries.
By this time, the steamboat business on Puget Sound was fading rapidly. Joshua Green
Joshua Green (seaman and banker)
Joshua Green was an American sternwheeler captain, businessman, and banker. He rose from being a seaman to being the dominant figure of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet, then sold out his interests and became a banker...
, an important early founder of the PSN, and later a prominent banker, left the PSN in 1927 because, in his words, “the steamboat business was rapidly degenerating into the ferry boat business.”
Last years
In 1937, Beeline was one of the five remaining wooden-hulled vessels of the Puget Sound Mosquito FleetPuget Sound Mosquito Fleet
The Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet was a large number of private transportation companies running smaller passenger and freight boats on Puget Sound and nearby waterways and rivers. This large group of steamers and sternwheelers plied the waters of Puget Sound, stopping at every waterfront dock...
, the others being Virginia V
Virginia V
The steamship Virginia V is the last operational example of a Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet steamer...
, Manitou
Manitou
Manitou is a general term for spirit beings among many Algonquian Native American groups.Manitou may also refer to:- Geography :* Manitou, Manitoba, Canada* Manitou, Kentucky, USA* Manitou, Oklahoma, USA- Other uses :...
, Sightseer and Arcadia. Line drawings of five vessels were prepared by Phillip F. Spaulding, then an apprentice to naval architect Carl J. Nordstrom. Nordstrom had a contract from the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
to prepare maritime records for the Historic American Register and Building Survey.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Beeline was taken over by the U.S. Navy to run between Hadlock and Indian Island
Indian Island, Washington
Indian Island is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. It is located between Port Townsend Bay and Kilisut Harbor. Parts also border on Oak Bay and Scow Bay. Until the construction of the Port Townsend Ship Canal Indian Island was connected to the mainland...
. Just what happened to Beeline after the war is not known, but the vessel was probably scrapped.
External links
- West Coast Ferry forum (discussing 2002 DVD showing motion pictures of ferries Beeline and Whidby)