''State of Washington'' was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet, later transferred to the Columbia River.

Career

''State of Washington'' was built in 1889 by John J. Holland in

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, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

. From 1889 to 1902 the vessel was placed on the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

- Bellingham route. From 1902 to 1907, the vessel was operated as a standby boat on the Tacoma-Seattle run. Later, the vessel was assigned to the

Hood Canal Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,Columbia River to be operated by the Shaver Transportation Company. In 1915 the vessel was converted to a

towboat A pusher, pusher craft, pusher boat, pusher tug, or towboat, is a boat designed for pushing barges or car floats. In the United States, the industries that use these vessels refer to them as towboats. These vessels are characterized by a squar ...

. In 1921, the vessel was destroyed by a boiler explosion. Six crewmen were injured and one man was killed.

References

* Affleck, Edwin L, ed. ''A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska'', Alexander Nicholls Press, Vancouver, BC (2000) * Findlay, Jean Cammon and Paterson, Robin, ''Mosquito Fleet of Southern Puget Sound'', (2008) Arcadia Publishing 1889 ships Steamboats of Washington (state) Steamboats of Oregon Passenger ships of the United States Sternwheelers of Washington (state) Puget Sound Navigation Company Shaver Transportation Company {{ferry-stub