San Diego 1931

Diesel-electric powered, propeller drives, steel hull. Built in 1931 by Moore Drydock Co. At Oakland, CA Length:191.4  Width:  43.6 Draft: 14.1 Gross Tons-556   3 engines, 350 Horse Power each Drawings courtesy of Johan Iversen.

The  San Diego as she looked while at work for the San Diego -Coronado Ferry Company in the 1950's.  She would spend a long retirement far from home waters before ending up in California again.  Courtesy of Brandon Moser.

The namesake ferry for the city of San Diego has had a long and interesting life.      Built for the San Diego-Coronado Ferry Company in 1931 by the Moore Drydock Company in Oakland, California, the ferry was essentially a larger version of her near sister Coronado.      For decades the San Diego performed her work, shuttling cars to and from the mainland to the island, becoming  the subject of countless postcards and snap shots.       When the bridge put her out of work in 1969, the ferry was purchased by the Olympic Navigation Company of Port Townsend, Washington for service between Whidbey Island and Port Townsend.      From 1970 until 1974 the San Diego worked the run, but the last independent auto ferry company was losing money fast.  By 1974, unable to keep operating, Olympic Ferries Inc shut down after some thirty years of service.      The governor of  Washington State ordered Washington State Ferries to take over the route.  They acquired the docking facilities, but passed up the San Diego and the old wooden ferry Defiance that had also been working the route.      The San Diego ended up in Vancouver, British Columbia for many years, hanging around the waterfront, waiting to be rebuilt as a paddlewheel excursion boat named "Klondike Queen."      In desperate need for ferries after the Hood Canal bridge sank in a storm in 1979, Washington State Ferries went up to Vancouver to inspect the old San Diego for possible use on the Canal.  By that time though, having been neglected for years the State determined it would have been too costly to refurbish the boat.      In 1994 the San Diego made her way back to California and was towed up the Sacramento River.  She was to be converted into a restuarant at Antioch called "Huckleberries" but somewhere along the line in the conversion process ended up catching on fire in the late 1990's.      After hanging around Antioch for a number of years, the ferry was towed up river and moored just off of Spud Island.  Today she has been abandoned and left to decay on the river, looking steadily worse with each passing year.

Passengers seaking to get out of the sun could rest in the open and airy passenger cabin of the San Diego.  Author's collection.

Back to the Defiance Back to San Diego Ferries Or Back to the Forgotten Fleet Home

The San Diego as seen working for Olympic Ferries Inc. of Port Townsend.  The ferry would spend a few short years on the route before heading to Vancouver, B.C. for nearly two decades before being returned to California.  Author's collection.

The San Diego in the spring of 2009.  Abandoned, the damage and decay to the ferry is readily evident. Courtesy of Michael Ellard.