Service originally began with a rented ferry, the
Ellen. A new ferry, the
Charles Van Damme, began operating most service in 1916. It was named for the financier of the venture, an uncle of one of the founders. The
Charles Van Damme was joined by the
City of Richmond in 1921 and the
City of San Rafael in 1924. All three were built by James Robertson of Benicia. The secondhand
Sonoma Valley entered service in 1927, with the
Charles Van Damme relegated to secondary use. It ran between Vallejo and Mare Island in the late 1930s, and between Martinez and Benicia from 1943 to 1956.
Ex-Southern Pacific ferries |builders=
Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco |operators=*1924–1938:
Southern Pacific Transportation Company *1938–1956: Richmond–San Rafael Ferry Company |class_before= |class_after= |subclasses= |built_range=1924 |in_service_range=1924–1956 |total_ships_building=3 |total_ships_planned= |total_ships_completed=3 |total_ships_canceled= |total_ships_active= |total_ships_laid_up= |total_ships_lost= |total_ships_retired=3 |total_ships_preserved= }} |hide_header= |header_caption= |type=auto/automobile ferry
Klamath A steamship ferry named for
Klamath County, Oregon, it carried as many as 1,000 people and 78 cars. It was powered by a 1,400-horsepower, triple-expansion steam engine that drove two cast-iron propellers, 10 feet in diameter, one on each end. The
Klamath (documentation number 224401) was launched on December 27, 1924, and delivered to Southern Pacific Railroad on January 26, 1925. The ferry ran auto routes between Oakland and the
San Francisco Ferry Building until 1929, and later between
Sausalito and
San Francisco's Hyde Street Pier from 1929 to 1938. With the construction of the
Golden Gate and
Bay bridges, ferry traffic plummeted. The boat was sold to the Richmond–San Rafael Ferry Company and carried prison inmates between
Point Molate and
San Quentin for 18 years (1938–1956), until the arrival of the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, which put an end to its role as a passenger vessel in 1956. After nearly a decade, vacant in the
Oakland Estuary,
Klamath was acquired at auction in 1964 by
Landor, and Associates.
Walter Landor had the boat refurbished and
moored it at the old San Francisco Pier 5, where it served as the design firm's headquarters through the remaining 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. During this time, it was a cultural hub for artists, musicians, actors, and writers, among them
Andy Warhol,
Tom Wolfe, and
Marshall McLuhan. In 1992, fire log creator Duraflame, Inc bought the ferryboat and relocated her to Ferry Harbor, a deep-water port of the
Port of Stockton, docked for corporate meetings and private events. The
Bay Area Council paid $1.85 million for the vessel, plus tax, and signed a 15-year lease on July 13, 2021, with the
Port of San Francisco, to serve as its floating headquarters. With renovations, it was to provide about 20,000 square feet of office space totaling about 40,000 square feet along with other improvements accommodating corporate meetings and events. As the last major steamboat of its kind to operate on the bay, the vessel would also serve as a conference center and be open to the public. ==References==