Arcadia (steamboat)

Last updated
Arcadia (steamboat) in 1937.jpg
Arcadia, July 12, 1937, chartered for the annual excursion of carriers for the Tacoma Times .
History
NameArcadia (later J.E. Overlade; Virginia VI)
OwnerBerntson & Lorenz; U.S. Bureau of Prisons; James F. "Cy" Devenny (dba Puget Sound Excursion Lines).
Port of registry Tacoma, Washington
In service1929
IdentificationU.S. registry #229258
NotesServed as a prison tender from 1942 to 1950.
General characteristics
Typeinland passenger/freighter, later an excursion vessel.
Length99 ft (30.18 m) or 99 ft (30.18 m)
Beam25.3 ft (7.71 m)
Installed powersteam engine
Propulsionpropeller
CapacityAs built: 275 passengers; 100 tons of freight.

The steamboat Arcadia, built in 1929, was one of the last commercial steamboats placed into service on Puget Sound. The vessel later served as a prison tender under the name J.E. Overlade, and after that, as Virginia VI, as an excursion vessel.

Contents

Construction and design

Arcadia was built in 1929 [1] at the Mojean Ericson [2] shipyard in Arcadia, Washington for Capt. Bernt L. Berntson (b.1896, retired 1955). [3] Arcadia was 99 ft (30.18 m) feet long according to one (later) source [3] or 89 ft (27.13 m) according to a contemporary vessel registry. [1] Arcadia had a beam of 25.3 ft (7.71 m) and a depth of hold of 6 ft (1.83 m). The overall size of the vessel was 102 gross and 80 registered tons. [1]

The ship was named after Arcadia, Washington. Arcadia was one of only four of the once-numerous small steamships of Puget Sound that was built after 1920, the others being the Concordia, the Vashona (later known as Sightseer and Columbia Queen), and the still-extent Virginia V . [3]

The engine and boiler for Arcadia came from the dismantled steamship Sentinel, which Arcadia was intended to replace. [3] As built, Arcadia could carry 275 passengers and 100 tons of freight. [3] The ship was assigned U.S. registry number 229258. [1]

Operation

Arcadia was placed on the upper Puget Sound route served by the partnership of Ed Lorenz and Bernt L. Berntson with their steamship Sentinel. [3] This route ran from Tacoma to Henderson Bay. [4] The daily run for Arcadia went from Lakebay, Washington to Tacoma, stopping along the way at Home, Arletta, Anchorage, Warren, Sunnybay, Cromwell, Sylvan, Wollochet, and Cedrona. [2]

Following the death of Ed Lorenz in 1941, Berntson, who himself had been ill at the time, [5] sold Arcadia to the government for use as a tender for the penitentiary on McNeil Island. [3] At that time, 1942, Arcadia was the last passenger and freight steamer operating between Tacoma and points in upper Puget Sound. [3] The government renamed the vessel J.E. Overlade (a former warden, [2] converted it to diesel [6] and used it to service the prison.

In 1959 the government sold J.E. Overlade to Puget Sound Excursion Lines, [3] a company which was controlled by Seattle businessman James F. "Cy" Devenny (born c.1896). [6] Devenny, dba Puget Sound Excursion Lines then also owned Virginia V, another of the few surviving steamers of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet, as well as other older vessels, including the Burro, which he had renamed Carolyn M. (after his wife), and the motor vessel Imperial and the large older yachts El Primero and Aquilo. [6]

Devenny renamed J.E. Overlade (ex-Arcadia) as the Virginia VI. [3] Following some conversion work, ran it in coordination with the Virginia V in their tour and excursion business. [3] Except for the yachts, Devenny ran the vessels on a regular basis. [6] Because of the requirements of keeping them maintained sufficiently to meet Coast Guard inspections, he has been credited with keeping them in existence for many years past what might have been expected to be the limits of their useful lives. [6]

Disposition

In 1967, Devenny sold Virginia VI (ex-Arcadia) [6] to an Alaskan, W.R. Lebo, Jr. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Virginia V</i> American commercial steamship

The steamship Virginia V is the last operational example of a Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet steamer. She was once part of a large fleet of small passenger and freight carrying ships that linked the islands and ports of Puget Sound in Washington state in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is a Seattle landmark and a National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puget Sound mosquito fleet</span> Private transportation companies in Puget Sound

The Puget Sound mosquito fleet was a multitude 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 historical period defining the beginning and end of the mosquito fleet is ambiguous, but the peak of activity occurred between the First and Second World Wars.

<i>Monticello</i> (steamboat)

The steamboat Monticello (2) operated in the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. The vessel went through several reconstructions and remained in service until 1962, when she was lost in Alaska waters. Her later names were Penaco and Sea Venture. (This Puget Sound steamer should not be confused with the smaller Monticello, which also ran on Puget Sound, but was built in 1895 for Captain Z.J. Hatch of the Monticello Steamship Company.

<i>Clara Brown</i> (steamboat)

Clara Brown was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet which operated from the late 1880s to the early 1900s, and possibly as late as 1930.

<i>Sentinel</i> (steamboat)

Sentinel was a small wooden propeller-driven steamship of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.

<i>Zephyr</i> (steamboat)

Zephyr was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.

<i>Capital City</i> (sternwheeler) American steamboat built in 1898

Capital City was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. The vessel was originally named Dalton.

<i>Northern Light</i> (sternwheeler)

Northern Light was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet and was active in the early 1900s.

Audrey was a small steam vessel that operated on Puget Sound in the early part of the 1900s. The vessel was converted to a diesel tug and operated as such for many years on Puget Sound.

<i>Iola</i> (1885 steamboat)

Iola was a small steam vessel that operated on Puget Sound from 1885 to 1915.

<i>Magnolia</i> (steamboat)

Magnolia was a wooden-hulled steamship that operated on Puget Sound from 1907 to 1937.

<i>Burton</i> (steamboat)

Burton was a steamboat built in 1905 in Tacoma, Washington and which was in service on Puget Sound until 1924.

<i>Vashon</i> (1905 steamboat)

Vashon was a wooden steamboat built in 1905 at Dockton, Washington on Vashon Island. The vessel was active on Puget Sound in the early decades of the 1900s. Vashon should not be confused with the sternwheeler Vashon which also ran on Puget Sound.

The Vashon Navigation Company was a shipping company that operated steamboats on Puget Sound in the early 1900s. Steamboats owned by the company included Norwood and the propeller steamer Vashon. The company was founded by steamboat captain Chauncey "Chance" Wiman and John Manson, of Dockton, who was a steamboat captain and an engineer.

<i>Crest</i> (1900 steamboat)

Crest was a wooden steamboat that operated on Puget Sound in the early 1900s. Following a sale of the vessel in May, 1912, this boat was known as Bay Island.

<i>Florence K</i> (steamboat) American steamboat built in 1903

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.

The Merchants Transportation Company was a shipping firm that operated on Puget Sound from 1905 to 1929. This company should not be confused with the similarly named Merchants Transportation Company of Olympia, formed in 1874 which is a completely separate firm.

Arcadia, Washington is an unincorporated community in Mason County, Washington, which is located on southwest Puget Sound on a point of land which extends between Hammersley Inlet on the north and Totten Inlet on the south. It is situated between Olympia, Washington and Shelton, Washington.

<i>Sioux</i> (steamship)

Sioux was a steamship which was operated on Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca from 1912 to 1941. From 1924 to 1941, following reconstruction, the vessel operated as an auto ferry under the name Olympic. During the Second World War (1941-1945) this vessel was taken under the control of the U.S. Army and renamed the Franklin R. Leisenburg. The Liesenburg served as a ferry in the Panama Canal area under Army control, and then was sold to a firm which ran the vessel on the Surinam river in South America.

<i>Concordia</i> (steamboat)

Concordia was a steamboat that ran on Puget Sound from 1930 to 1976. Although later converted to diesel power, Concordia was the last inland commercial steamboat ever built on either Puget Sound or the Columbia river.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Annual Merchant List for 1930, at page 16, line 43.
  2. 1 2 3 Findlay, Jean Cammon, and Paterson, Robin, Mosquito Fleet of South Puget Sound (Arcadia 2008) ISBN   978-0-7385-5607-9, at page 69.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Newell, Gordon R. ed., H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, Superior Publishing, Seattle WA (1966), at pages 304, 401, 508, 599, and 639.
  4. ↑ Newell, Gordon, and Williamson, Joe A., Pacific Steamboats (Superior Publishing 1957), at page 147.
  5. 1 2 Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, Marine Digest, Vol. 61 (1982), page 19.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kline, Mary S., Steamboat Virginia V (Documentary Book Publishers 1985) ISBN   0-935503-00-5, at pages 65-66.

Notes

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.