''Alice'' was a

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

steam passenger ship built in 1897. ''Alice'' was later rebuilt into a steam tug, and later converted to diesel power and renamed ''Simon Foss''. As a tug, the vessel was in service until 1963. This vessel should not be confused with the similarly designed vessel ''Alice'', built in 1892, which later became ''Foss 18''.

Career

''Alice'' was built at

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

for Capt. Bradford, who then put the vessel on the route between Tacoma and North Bay. ''Alice'' replaced the steamer ''Susie'' on the run, with ''Susie'' then being sold to a Fairhaven concern, Franco-American Canning Company, for use as a cannery tender.''McCurdy Marine History'', at 20, 82, 402, 424, 491, and 678. In 1900, Bradford sold ''Alice'' to the Petersberg Packing Co. and ''Alice'' was transferred north to Alaska, where the vessel served for over 20 years. In 1902, ''Alice'' was rebuilt as a

cannery tender A cannery tender was a type of commercial fishing vessel operated by salmon canneries in the early to mid- 20th century. Most commonly used in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, cannery tenders transported fish from cannery-owned fish traps to c ...

and put into operation purchased out of

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

by the Todd Packing Co.Newell, ''Pacific Tugboats'', at 28 and 190. ''Alice'' was then returned to Puget Sound, and served as a steam tug for Delta V. Smyth Towing Company.

Rebuild

In 1930, Delta V. Smyth did an extensive rebuild of the ''Alice'' at

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

, and converted the vessel to diesel power. The installed engine was rated at .

Tugboat Annie race

In 1932, ''Alice'' was featured along with a number of other Puget Sound tugboats in the feature film ''

Tugboat Annie ''Tugboat Annie'' is a 1933 American pre-Code film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, written by Norman Reilly Raine and Zelda Sears, and starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery as a comically quarrelsome middle-aged couple who operate a tugboat. Dr ...

''. The film, which was based on a fictionalized version of the life of

Thea Foss Thea Christiansen Foss (8 June 1857 – 7 June 1927) was the founder of Foss Launch and Tug Company, Foss Maritime, the largest tugboat company in the western United States. She was the real-life person on which the fictional character "Tugboat ...

, starred the then very popular comedic actress

Marie Dressler Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. She ...

(1865–1934) in the title role. The film required a staged tugboat "race", which was won by the ''

Peter Foss Peter Gilbert da Conceição Foss KC (born 24 March 1946 in England) is a former Australian politician, who represented the Liberal Party. Elected to parliament in the 1989 state election, he was a member of the Western Australian Legislati ...

'', under the command of Capt. Arthur Hopstead, to whom Marie Dressler personally presented the Tugboat Annie Trophy. ''Alice'' was commanded in the race by Capt. Harold Nelson.

Purchase by Foss

In 1941, Delta V. Smyth sold ''Alice'' to Foss Launch and Tug Co., which renamed the vessel as the ''Simon Foss''. As ''Simon Foss'' the vessel remained in active service until 1963.

Disposition

In 1963 marine historian Gordon R. Newell bought ''Simon Foss'' from the Foss concern, and had the vessel beached at Olympia. He changed the name back to ''Alice'' and stated that the vessel would be used as "editorial headquarters for the preparation of the ''Marine History of the Pacific Northwest.''Newell, ed. ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', at page 678. ''Alice'' was then purchased by the Hargitt family and moved to Anacortes, Washington where she is currently gathering the funding to be restored to her former glory. After several sinkings in her berth, and several repairs made to keep her afloat, she eventually was demolished . Her wheelhouse was saved however.

Notes

References

* Newell, Gordon R., ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (1966) * Newell, Gordon R., ''Pacific Tugboats'', Superior Publishing, Co., Seattle, WA 1957 * Newell, Gordon R., ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (2nd Ed. 1960) Seattle tugboats {{Puget Sound propellers 1897 ships Steam tugs Steam tugs of Washington (state) Steamboats of Washington (state) Propeller-driven steamboats of Washington (state) Steamboats of Alaska