The Kalakala Ferry
This unused Lantern Press Vintage Art postcard with an artist rendition of the ferry Kalakala is numbered 6548. It was interesting to find out that the ferry was first constructed for the Key System’s ferry service on San Francisco Bay between Oakland and San Francisco. Key System was a private company that in addition to the ferry line also operated streetcars, bus lines, and trains. At the time the ferry was part of Key System it was named Peralta after one of the early Spanish founding families in California. The Peralta, powered by a steam-turbo-electric system, was launched in 1926. Unfortunately, while the ferry was moored at Oakland in 1933 an arson fire started in an adjacent train shed and spread to the Peralta resulting in the superstructure collapsing due to the intense heat. The ferry was written off by the insurance company but still had an intact hull.
In October 1933 the Peralta hull was sold to the Puget Sound Navigation Company, also known as the Black Ball Line, and towed by tug boat to the Lake Washington Shipyards in Houghton (now part of Kirkland) to be restored and used as a ferry. It took 2 years to rebuild. A single engine diesel engine was installed, and the length of the ferry was reduced from 68 feet to 55 feet 8 inches. A new electro-welding process was used instead of rivet construction giving the ferry a streamlined seamless appearance. The new bridge and wheelhouse were built of copper. In 1934 the ferry was re-named Kalakala, said to mean “bird” in Pacific Northwest Native American Chinook Jargon. The naming of this ferry started the tradition of all vessels in the ferry fleet of the Washington State Department of Transportation having indigenous names.
Service between Seattle and Bremerton on the Kalakala began 4 July 1935. The design of the ferry was instantly popular and the ferry was often photographed. Moonlight cruises on the Kalakala with a live dance orchestra were offered in addition to the regular ferry service. During World War II service on the Kalakala was extended to allow for transportation of Navy personnel and shipyard workers from Seattle to Bremerton. At that time the ferry gained the title “The Workhorse of Puget Sound.”
The art deco or quirky, space age design had some disadvantages. Because the wheelhouse was set back it was impossible to see the bow of the vessel which lead to difficulties when docking. The small size of the wheelhouse and round windows also made visibility problems. The car deck was not wide enough to comfortably accommodate postwar vehicles that were wider than earlier cars resulting in a drop of about 40% in the number of cars that could be carried. By the mid 1950s the Kalakala had become obsolete for runs across the Sound. The enclosed design made her suitable for open water routes and she was transferred to the Port Angeles to Victoria, B.C. run where she served from 1955 to 1959. The Kalakala was also used for tours of the Bremerton Shipyards during the Seattle World’s Fair, 1962.
We rode on the Kalakala several times. The engine vibration and heavy shaking that ran throughout the vessel when in operation was very noticeable and part of the experience. The ferry had several nicknames, The Silver Swan, The Silver Slug, Silver Beetle, Galloping Ghost of the Pacific Coast, and by Seattle’s Scandinavians as Kackerlacka (cockroach).
In 1967 the Kalakala retired from service altogether, was moved to a repair facility at Eagle Harbour and sold a year later to a seafood processing company. After the sale the ferry was towed to Alaska to work as a crab cannery at Ouzinkie, Alaska. In 1970 the Kalakala was beached at Kodiak and used to process shrimp. From 1984 to 2011 several attempts were made by various people to save the ferry but finally the Coast Guard declared it a hazard to navigation and it was scrapped in 2015. Only a few pieces were sold as souvenirs. Some of the scrapped pieces were purchased by the city of Kirkland with an idea of using them in a public art project.
For additional information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_System
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Kalakala
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