Potlatch (steamship)

Potlatch was a steamship which was operated on Hood Canal from 1912 to 1917, on Puget Sound from 1917 to 1937, although the vessel was little used after 1917.

History
Name	Potlatch
Owner	Puget Sound Navigation Co.
Route	Hood Canal
Completed	1912
In service	1912
Out of service	1937
Identification	US registry #210378
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Type	inland steamboat
Length	150 ft (45.72 m)
Beam	26.8 ft (8.17 m)
Depth	16.8 ft (5.12 m) depth of hold
Installed power	compound steam engine; cylinder bores 15 in (38.1 cm), 24 in (61.0 cm)and 38 in (96.5 cm); stroke 24 in (61.0 cm)

Design and construction

Following the loss of the nearly-new but wooden steamship Clallam in 1904, Joshua Green, president of the Puget Sound Navigation Company, owner of the Clallam and the dominant Puget Sound shipping concern, announced that the company would replace its wooden steamships with ones built of steel. As part of this effort, the steel steamers Potlatch and Sol Duc were built simultaneously in Seattle by the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company. Potlatch was specifically designed for the Seattle – Hood Canal route.

Potlatch was 575 gross tons in overall size, 150 ft (45.72 m) long, with a beam of 26.8 ft (8.17 m) and depth of hold of 16.8 ft (5.12 m). Power was supplied by a triple-expansion compound steam engine with cylinder diameters, from high pressure to low pressure, of 15 in (38.1 cm), 24 in (61.0 cm)and 38 in (96.5 cm), with piston strokes on all cylinders of 24 in (61.0 cm). Steam was generated by two oil-fired boilers at 200 pounds (per square inch) pressure, with the overall power plant generating 600 horsepower (450 kW).

Operation

Potlatch replaced the old sternwheeler State of Washington on the Hood Canal route. In 1917, Puget Sound Navigation Co. terminated its Hood Canal service, and Potlatch was sold.

Disposition

Potlatch was little used following the termination of the Hood Canal service and its sale. In 1937, Potlatch was sold by the Georgia Company, a Puget Sound towing company, to Otis Shively who was doing business as the Shively Tow Boat Company. In 1938 the vessel was scrapped.

References

• Newell, Gordon R., ed., H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (1966)
• Newell, Gordon R., Ships of the Inland Sea, Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (2nd Ed. 1960)