Official Number: 630023 Call Sign: WYR3421 Length: 328'  Beam: 78' 8''  Draft: 16' 6''  Auto Deck Clearance: 16' Horsepower: 5,000   Speed in Knots: 16 Max Passengers: 1200  Vehicles: 124 City Built: Seattle    Year Built/Re-built: 1980 / 1992 Name Translation: Kitsap was a war chief and medicine man under Chief Seattle (see Sealth). The name means "brave." A county is also named after him. Drawing by Johan Iversen.

The Kitsap sitting in for the Issaquah on the Vashon Island run in the spring of 2009.  The ferry often sits in for other Issaquahs at Vashon and Mukilteo, and very rarely in the San Juan Islands..  Photo courtesy of Matt Masuoka.

The Kitsap probably boasts the most notorious event in the Issaquah Class history that actually wasn't mechanical in nature:  a full fledged riot  on board that resulted in some $40,000.00 in damages after some punk rockers got out of hand returning from a concert in Bremerton.      Aside from the riot, the other most notable event for the Kitsap was in 1991. Sailing through  Rich Passage in heavy fog, she managed to bang into her sister ferry Sealth. Five years later she went aground in nearly the same spot.      In spite of these colorful incidents, the Kitsap has lead a relatively sadate life, delivery thousands of passengers to their destinations safely and without mishap.      In early '00  the ferry went to the Lake Union Drydock company to have the main reduction gears replaced and to have the interior redone.  She came back to the Bremerton run in July of '00, looking like a new vessel.     Until the retirement of the Steel Electrics, the  Kitsap has gone into "relief" status, never really serving any particular run for any length of time.  She usually can be found on the Bremerton run, however, but will fill in  She  another Issaquah class when annual maintenance is being done.  As of summer of 2009 the third of the sextet of Issaquah Class ferries is working the Seattle-Bremerton route.

The Kitsap actually retained some of her  "rainbow" color--blue.  Although in the original interior it was a lighter blue than seen here in the galley.  Photo by the author.

Dark green and blue make the Kitsap's interior refurbishment stand out.   Photo by the author.

The ferry system has done a very good job at selecting historic photos for the ferries.  The Kitsap displays some very interesting shots of Bremerton, including one of the Chippewa, a ferry that called the Bremerton route home for decades. Photo by the author.

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