Virginia V

The steamship Virginia V (the “V” represents the Roman numeral five) is the last operational example of a Puget Sound

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...

Mosquito Fleet

Puget 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...

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.

Her original route was between the cities of Tacoma

Tacoma, 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...

and Seattle, along the West Pass (also known as “Colvos Passage

Colvos Passage

The Colvos Passage is a tidal strait within Puget Sound in the American state of Washington running west of Vashon Island between the island and the Kitsap Peninsula. It lies just north of the Tacoma Narrows. One of the more interesting things about the Colvos Passage is that it has a permanent...

”) between 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...

and the Kitsap Peninsula

Kitsap Peninsula

The Kitsap Peninsula is an arm of land that is part of the larger Olympic Peninsula in Washington state that lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound. Hood Canal separates Kitsap Peninsula from the rest of the Olympic Peninsula...

.

Today the ship operates from Heritage Wharf at Lake Union Park in Seattle.

West Pass Transportation Company

Around the turn of the 20th century outlying communities all over Puget Sound, particularly those on the many islands, were dependent on small boats and ships for delivering goods and basic transportation. The primary shipping lane from Seattle to Tacoma was along the east side of Vashon Island, where it remains to this day.

Farmers and business people along Colvos Passage in Kitsap County and on the west side of Vashon were very dissatisfied with the unreliable boat service they received. In 1910 Captain Nelse “Nels” Christensen and John Holm formed the “West Pass Transportation Company” and purchased their own boat to serve this part of the island.

The boat they bought was the Virginia Merrill, a 54 feet (16.5 m) long gasoline-powered tug. She was renamed simply the “Virginia” and converted for use as a small ferry.

The “Virginia” Boats

The Virginia was replaced in 1912 with the Virginia II, a 77 feet (23.5 m) long ship propelled by a 110 HP Corliss gasoline engine. In 1914 the West Pass Transportation Company purchased the 92 feet (28 m) steam ship Typhoon and renamed her Virginia III. In 1918 they purchased the 98 feet (29.9 m) steam ship Tyrus, and in 1920 they renamed her Virginia IV and put her on the West Pass route.

Construction of the Virginia V

In 1921 Anderson & Company of Maplewood, Washington, began construction on the Virginia V. The ship was built of local old-growth fir. She was launched March 9, 1922, and towed to downtown Seattle for the installation of her engine and steam plant. In Seattle the engine was removed from the Virginia IV and installed in the Virginia V. On June 11, 1922, the Virginia V made her maiden voyage from Elliott Bay

Elliott Bay

Elliott Bay is the body of water on which Seattle, Washington, is located. A line drawn from Alki Point in the south to West Point in the north serves to mark the generally accepted division between the bay and the open sound...

in Seattle to Tacoma down the West Pass. She continued to make this voyage nearly every day until 1938.

Storm of 1934

On October 21, 1934, a severe Pacific storm swept through the Puget Sound. The Virginia V was attempting to dock at Ollala, Washington, when the brunt of the storm hit. The powerful winds pushed the ship against the dock as the waves pounded the ship into the pilings. The result was the near destruction of the upper decks. The ship was re-built at the Lake Washington Shipyard at Houghton, near modern day Kirkland, Washington

Kirkland, Washington

Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a suburb of Seattle on the Eastside . The population was 48,787 at the 2010 census makes it the 9th largest city in King County and the 20th largest city in the state...

. She was returned to service on December 5, 1934.

Camp Sealth and the Camp Fire Girls

Each summer from 1922 to 1970 (with a few interruptions around World War II) the Virginia V carried girls to and from Seattle to Camp Sealth

Camp Sealth

Camp Sealth is owned and operated by Camp Fire USA, a non-profit youth organization, and located on Vashon Island, Washington. Sealth hosts resident and day camp during the summer, environmental education for school groups during the spring and fall, and is a year-round conference and retreat center...

on Vashon Island for the Camp Fire Girls. Thousands of women in the Northwest recall a ride on the “Virginia Vee” (as she was affectionately called) as the beginning of a camping adventure.

Columbia River service and bankruptcy

The West Pass Transportation Company went out of business in 1942. Virginia V, which had been operating for a while on the Seattle-Fort Worden

Fort Worden

Fort Worden and accompanying Fort Worden State Park are located in Port Townsend, along Admiralty Inlet in Washington. It is situated on 433 acres originally built as a United States Army installation for the protection of Puget Sound. Fort Worden was named after U.S...

run, was transferred to the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

, where for a brief time she was placed on the Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

-Astoria

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...

run, thus becoming the last scheduled passenger vessel running on both Puget Sound and the Columbia River. Her Columbia River career was unsuccessful. Her owners were unable to pay her crew and she was libeled (legally seized for debts owed) and sold at Vancouver, Wasghington by the U.S. Marshals to pay her owner's debts. Virginia V was purchased by O.H. “Doc” Freeman and Joe Boles of Seattle. They resold the vessel to Jack Katz and Capt. Howell Parker less than a year later.

Captain Howell Parker and The Great Steamboat Race

Capt. Parker operated the Virginia V carrying war workers between Poulsbo, Washington

Poulsbo, Washington

Poulsbo is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the fourth largest city in Kitsap County and one of the main suburbs of Seattle in the Kitsap area. The population was 9,200 at the 2010 census....

, and the Keyport Naval Torpedo Station with his wife Mary as steward and purser. After the end of World War II, the Parkers continued to operate the vessel as an excursion vessel all around Puget Sound. In 1948 the Puget Sound Maritime Historic Society (PSMHS) was formed to preserve the Northwest’s marine history. As a publicity event, the PSMHS sponsored a race between the Virginia V and a similar ship, the Grayline Sightseer (formerly the Vashona) to be held on National Maritime Day. “The Great Steamboat Race” began on May 22 at 2PM. At the end of a 5 miles (8 km) course that ran across the Seattle waterfront, the Virginia V won the race by a small margin.

Puget Sound Excursion Lines

In 1954 the Virginia V was sold to Captain Phillip Luther of Puget Sound Excursion Lines. Capt. Luther sold the vessel to Charles McMahon in 1956. McMahon extensively refurbished the vessel, and then continued to operate her as a commercial excursion vessel around Puget Sound. In 1958 James F. “Cy” Devenny purchased controlling interest in Puget Sound Excursion Company and took over operation of the Virginia V along with several other small vessels. Among these was the McNeil Island

McNeil Island

McNeil Island is an island in western Puget Sound, located just west of Steilacoom, Washington, with a land area of 17.177 km² . It lies just north of Anderson Island. Fox Island is to the north, across Carr Inlet. To the west McNeil Island is separated from Key Peninsula by Pitt Passage. The...

federal prison tender J.E. Overlade (ex Arcadia), built in 1928, herself one of the last survivors of the Mosquito Fleet. Devenny renamed her Virginia VI to match her more famous running mate.

Northwest Steamship Company

In 1968 a group of steamboat enthusiasts formed the Northwest Steamship Company, and raised the funds to buy the Virginia V from Puget Sound Excursion Company. The ship was placed on the National Registry of Historic Sites in 1973, but despite her recognition as historically significant, it was increasingly difficult for her owners to maintain the ship as a commercial venture.

Steamer Virginia V Foundation

In 1976 the non-profit Steamer Virginia V Foundation was formed to preserve the Virginia V. The Foundation acquired the vessel on September 30, 1980, for $127,000.

Major Restoration 1995-2001

In 2002, the Foundation was able to put the Virginia V back in service after a six-year, $6.5 million stem-to-stern restoration project. It included a rebuild of the steam engine, construction of a new boiler and rebuild of the superstructure using traditional tongue and groove fir planking. The Foundation was honored in 2001 with the Washington State Historical Society's "David Douglas Award" for the restoration work completed to-date.

Present Day

Since 2002 the Virginia V has been providing public excursions, private charters, and visits to local maritime festivals throughout Puget Sound.

Ship

Length: 125 feet (38.1 m) on deck
Beam: 24 feet (7.3 m)
Draft: 8 feet (2.4 m)
Displacement: Approximately 150 tons
Tonnage: 99 Gross, 67 Net
Official Number: 222170
Callsign: WDD9410
MMSI: 367311060

Engine

The triple-expansion, double-acting, reciprocating steam engine is the original, installed in 1922 when it was taken from the Virginia IV (formerly Tyrus). The parts were cast in 1898 at the Heffernan Machine Works in downtown Seattle as one of two identical engines built for the Army. The first engine was assembled and installed in the US Army Quartermaster Steamer Evan Thomas. The Virginia V’s engine was assembled and installed in the Tyrus in 1904.

Indicated Horsepower: 400
Maximum RPM: Approximately 200
Cylinder Bore (Diameter) 10 ½ inches, 16 ¾ inches, and 28 ½ inches (HP, IP, and LP respectively)
Stroke: 18 inches

Boiler

The original Stoddert oil-fired, water-tube boiler

Water-tube boiler

A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...

was replaced in 2000 with a new Babcock and Wilcox

Babcock and Wilcox

The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...

oil-fired water-tube boiler of similar configuration.

The Virginia V always used oil as its fuel. The ship originally burned heavy bunker fuel. It was converted to burn #2 Diesel fuel in 2002.

Working Pressure: 200 PSI
Capacity: 10000 lb (4,535.9 kg) per hour of steam
Fuel: #2 Diesel Oil
Fuel Consumption: Approx 20 – 50 gallons per hour

Trivia

After the storm of 1934, the Virginia V was refit at the same yard, and at the same time, that the ferry Peralta was being modified into the art-deco ferry Kalakala
Kalakala
The MV Kalakala was a ferry that operated on Puget Sound from 1935 until her retirement in 1967.Kalakala was notable for her unique streamlined superstructure, art deco styling, and luxurious amenities...

.

The current pilot house on the Virginia V is the ship’s fifth one:
- The original was destroyed in the storm of 1934
- Pilot house #2 was replaced with a larger version in the mid 1950s during refurbishment by Charles McMahon
- Pilot house #3 was replaced with a version that more closely resembled the original by the Northwest Steamship Company in about 1970
- Pilot house #4 was replaced during the major restoration 1995-2001 with a house built by students a Seattle Central Community College’s Marine Carpentry program

The Virginia V was built on a beach with no formal plans. Matt Anderson of Anderson & Company Boat Builders worked with Captain Nels Christenson of West Pass Transportation Company to design and build the ship.