Lady of the Lake (1897 steamboat)
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = Lady of the Lake (steamboat).jpg | Ship caption = Lady of the Lake }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = Lady of the Lake | Ship owner = As Ruth: Pacific Tow Boat | Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = Lake Washington | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship completed = 1897 | Ship rebuilt = 1905 as steam tug Ruth | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification = | Ship fate = Destroyed by fire 1916 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = inland steamboat | Ship tonnage = | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|70|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = | Ship height = | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = steam engines (salvaged from steamer Quickstep) | Ship propulsion = propeller | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
Lady of the Lake was a wooden steamboat that operated on Puget Sound from 1897 to 1903. Following a fire in 1903, the vessel was rebuilt as the tug Ruth.
Career
In January 1897, Captain J. L. Anderson let a contract to N. C. Peterson to build a replacement for Quickstep, which burned at her dock earlier that month. The new ship incorporated the engine from Quickstep, which was salvaged after the fire.{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A16A0D0E48ABCB755%40GB3NEWS-1655325FF99B6ABA%402413949-165533015880378E%4014-165533015880378E%40?h=6&fname=&mname=&lname=&kwinc=%22steamer%20quickstep%22&kwexc=&rgfromDate=1897&rgtoDate=1897&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=cfmxvtbgulrujpwnsjsyhwsfatskamal_s093_1584576295432|title=A New Lake Steamer|date=January 24, 1897|work=Daily Intelligencer}} The new ship was christened Lady of the Lake. By June, 1897, Captain Anderson was sailing his old route from Leschi Park to Newcastle to East Seattle on Mercer Island with his new ship.{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A127D718D1E33F961%40GB3NEWS-152DAF46DDC412A1%402414102-152D61DD151A0F11%407-152D61DD151A0F11%40?h=2&fname=&mname=&lname=&kwinc=%22lady%20of%20the%20lake%22&kwexc=&rgfromDate=1897&rgtoDate=1897&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=bljxxpdnlffstmffguzajvqoqoskwtno_s083_1584577398997|title=Steamer Lady of The Lake|date=June 26, 1897|work=Seattle Daily Times}} By August 1897, however, he had sold Lady of the Lake to C. E. Curtis of Whatcom for $4,700, and bought Curtis' old ship, the steamer Effort, for $17.{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A16A0D0E48ABCB755%40GB3NEWS-16558C85EEBB46C4%402414139-16558CCAF8602314%407-16558CCAF8602314%40?h=19&fname=&mname=&lname=&kwinc=Curtis%20anderson%20steamer%20whatcom&kwexc=&rgfromDate=1897&rgtoDate=1897&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&page=1&sid=bpmtslkiywisjptngcfrnhxnnlgozusn_s094_1584658224179|title=Puget Sound Shipping|date=August 2, 1897|work=Daily Intelligencer}} Curtis took the vessel to run on Puget Sound.McCurdy Marine History, at 20, 24, 96, 113, and 270.
In 1903 the steamboat was running on the short commuter route across Elliott Bay between Seattle and West Seattle, and was operated by the vessel's owners, Captains Charles H. Gaffner and J. Holbrook, Chief Engineer Parks, and Purser Greenwood. engaged in a rate war first with the small passenger-only steamer Garden City then more seriously with the steam ferry City of Seattle.Newell, Inland Sea, at 146. There were two collisions between the vessels during the rate war. The owners of Lady of the Lake reduced their fares to five cents, which prompted the ferry operators to allow 40 rides for one dollar.Klein, Ferryboats, at 5 and 146.
1903 fire
June 18, 1903, Lady of the Lake was hauled out of the water in a shipyard in West Seattle when a fire broke out overnight.U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service, 1903 Annual Report, at 23. The origin of the fire was reported to be "not ascertained", with the vessel suffering approximately $3000 in damage. The rate war and the circumstances of the fire caused a rumor that arson was the cause. In any case, the vessel was a total loss. The hull and engines were salvageable however.
Rebuild and final loss
In 1905, King and Winge rebuilt Lady of the Lake into the tug Ruth. In 1916, Ruth was being operated by Pacific Tow Boat Company, when the vessel was destroyed by fire at Ladysmith, BC.
Notes
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References
- Kline, M.S., and Bayless, G.A., Ferryboats -- A legend on Puget Sound, Bayless Books, Seattle, WA 1983 {{ISBN|0-914515-00-4}}
- 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)
- {{cite book|last=Wright|first=E. W. |title=Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_seRDAAAAYAAJ|year=1895|publisher=Lewis & Dryden Printing Company|location=Portland, Oregon}}
- {{cite book|author=United States. Steamboat Inspection Service|title=Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lYpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA23|year=1904|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}
{{Mosquito Fleet}}
{{Lake Washington Steamboats}}
{{Puget Sound steam tugs}}
Category:Steamboats of Washington (state)
Category:Propeller-driven steamboats of Washington (state)