MV Chippewa

The ferry Chippewa in Black Ball Line colors

The *Chippewa,* which consists of four ships within the game, ranges from a passenger steamer to diesel car ferry with either a single funnel or twin smokestack arrangement. She is one of the smaller vessels in the game, making any damage dealt to her or flooding far more critical than larger vessels such as warships or ocean liners. Three versions of the *Chippewa* make up one of four open ended passenger car ferries within the game, the others being the *Peralt*a*/Kalakala*, *Stockton/Klickitat* and *Santa Rosa/Enetai*. All four vessels are representative of long retired car ferries that served on Puget Sound in Washington state, of which only the *Santa Rosa/Enetai* still exists in the real world as a preserved event center for the Hornblower Yacht Association in Oakland, California.

## At a glance

There are four variations of the *Chippewa* available for Floating Sandbox which are meant to represent the vessel throughout its useful lifespan:

* **S.S. Chippewa** : Represents the *Chippewa* as it was in 1907, after beginning service with the Black Ball Line on Puget Sound. This is a closed ended passenger steamship with a proper bow and stern.
* **S.S. Chippewa (Ferry)** : *Chippewa* after her initial 1924 refit into a car ferry. As with other versions of the vessel, she features a car deck totally open to the elements, but retains her steamship features otherwise.
* **M.V. Chippewa (1932)** : This is the appearance *Chippewa* had at her peak, with modern superstructure, portholes on the car deck, a single funnel typical of passenger ships in the late 1920s to early 1940s, and a totally enclosed passenger.
* **M.V. Chippewa (1960)** : This is a representation of how *Chippewa* looked in her final years of service, based on photographs taken of her in 1960. However, she retained this appearance between the transfer from Black Ball to Washington State Ferries in 1951 to the fire in 1968. This is the only version with a significant color variation, sporting the green and white colors of Washington state instead of the red Black Ball colors. This is also the only version which isn't Black Ball.

The *Chippewa* is powered with a single engine. Her upper workings and structure are mostly wood, meaning she is easy to catch fire with heat tools, lightning or all other heat producing destructive items and events. All versions of the ship include fully functional lights, compartments and an engine on/off switch. A telegraph controls orders to the engine. There is also an indicator allowing the user to know if the watertight doors are open or closed, should the switch itself be hard to determine. All models of *Chippewa* feature a bell. The steamship models have a whistle, whereas the diesel ones have a horn.

In the event of a hull breach, *Chippewa* can flood easily if the watertight doors are open. Due to her small size, it is very easy for the ship to be inundated with water and flooded under waves with a height of 8 meters or higher. If the engine room is flooded or damage, all electrical functions, including the watertight doors, cease entirely. In rough weather it is highly recommended the watertight doors remain closed should the vessel be damaged or water enter through the open car deck. Most of the above can be entirely disregarded save for the first sentence, if using the straight passenger steamship model.

The *Chippewa* flies the flags of the Black Ball Line/Puget Sound Navigation Company and the United States naval ensign, which is essentially the exact same thing as the default national flag. The passenger only variation also includes a United States Merchant Marine flag, which is flown sometimes by American civilian vessels to indicate their merchant vessel status. As is the case with most state ferries of her era and steamboats of the early 20th century, *Chippewa* also has wood name boards with yellow painted letters on the pilothouse. The home port of the *Chippewa* is Seattle, Washington.

All models of the *Chippewa* are by default included within current versions of Floating Sandbox.

## Vessel history

### Passenger service

The *Chippewa* was constructed in 1900 at Craig Shipbuilding in Toledo, Ohio for the Arnold Transportation System. Her name was a reference to the Ojibwa people (often referred to as the Chippewa), native to the surrounding region. The word "Chippewa" in the Ojibwa language likely means "puckered", referencing the moccasin shoes worn by the Ojibwa.

She served on the Great Lakes with her sister ship, the *Iroquois.* Both vessels had a single screw with twin funnels, powered by a triple expansion steam engine, with a total length of 212 feet, a beam of 53 feet and a draft of 16 feet, weighing 887 gross tons with a top speed of 15 knots. Ultimately, both the *Chippewa* and *Iroquois* proved greatly unprofitable as passenger steamers in the Midwestern United States and were retired from service, being sold in 1907 to the Puget Sound Navigation Company in Seattle, better known as the Black Ball Line. Both vessels were sent around the horn of South America, through the treacherous Strait of Magellan. After making her way to the east coast of the United States, *Chippewa* left New Jersey on February 18, 1907 and arrived in Seattle on May 8, 1907. During the trip, Chippewa suffered a fire, power failure and a disgruntled crew that threatened to mutiny on at least one occasion.

Following repairs and repainting, *Chippewa* and *Iroquois* both began services with Black Ball on Puget Sound. This also meant both vessels had become part of the "Mosquito Fleet", a collective name for all the small passenger steamboats on Puget Sound*. Chippewa* operated between Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia until 1911. Another steamer imported from the Great Lakes, the *Indianapolis*, took her place on the run. Afterwards, *Chippewa* was moved to the Seattle and Tacoma route. During the first World War, *Chippewa* was used as a training ship for the United States Merchant Marine. At an unknown point in *Chippewa's* Mosquito Fleet career, her hull was painted white for a short period of time. She was laid up on Lake Union following war's end. This was largely due to the growing popularity of automobile and rail travel in the Puget Sound area, which removed any need for passenger steamers between most cities and towns. *Chippewa* was effectively replaced in functionality by the Pacific Highway (later U.S. Route 99 and Interstate 5) between Seattle and Tacoma.

### Conversion into a car ferry

In 1926, Black Ball made the decision to convert several of their now displaced Mosquito fleet steamers into car ferries, as experiments with ships such as the *City of Seattle* and *Bailey Gatzert* proved there was a large demand for auto ferries to bridge Puget Sound, as it was faster than driving around the Sound through the state capital, Olympia. Taken to the Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, *Chippewa* was heavily rebuilt into a car ferry. Only parts of her lower hull and boat deck remained recognizable following the rebuild. She could now carry 90 cars and 2,000 passengers. Immediately, this made the *Chippewa* the largest car ferry in the western United States. She was also upgraded in status to the flagship of the Black Ball Line, fitted with luxurious wooden interiors to boot. *Chippewa* was then placed on the Seattle to Bremerton run, which connected the big city to the large U.S. Navy Yard across the sound.

Although successful at first, the *Chippewa* began suffering reliability and service issues with her steam power plant. Furthermore, it proved extremely unprofitable and expensive for ferry services. This was also the case on many other converted Mosquito fleet steamers that had received the car ferry conversion treatment. Many of these vessels, which included the *City of Bremerton* (former *Whatcom/Majestic*), *Indianapolis, Quilcene* (former *Kitsap II*) and *Seattle* (formerly the regionally famous *H.B. Kennedy*) were slowly retired and sent to the breakers' yard or disposed of in strange and tragic ways. On the other hand, *Chippewa* was considered large enough that Black Ball reconsidered any thought of retirement.

### Great Depression and conversion to diesel

In 1932, Black Ball once again placed a heavy investment into the *Chippewa*, sending her back to Houghton for a massive retrofit and overhaul. Her forward passenger deck was closed in and made a weatherproof observation deck, her lifeboat and boat deck arrangement changed, Pilothouse replaced, dormitory style windows on the car deck replaced with portholes and her twin smokestacks replaced by a single shorter and wider funnel more indicative of modern vessels. However, the largest change was the complete removal of her triple expansion engine and boilers. In their place was a brand new Busch Sulzer, direct drive diesel engine shipped from St. Louis, Missouri. Her speed was increased to 16 knots as a result. The only drawback was her car carrying capacity had been reduced to 75 cars.

Her interiors were greatly altered as well, with *Chippewa's* passenger accommodations receiving mahogany wood paneling, a lunch counter, gift shop, ladies' lounge and men's smoking room. *Chippewa* even received her own orchestra when she embarked on moonlight cruises on Puget Sound out of Seattle, effectively serving a second role with Black Ball as a cruise ship. The early 1930s marked the arrival of five Wood Electric class diesel ferries from San Francisco Bay, purchased from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. Unfortunately, one ferry had been totally destroyed on the trip up and was used for spare parts. The Wood Electrics could carry well over 100 vehicles each and were a sharp indication of the future ahead. These vessels became the *Chetzemoka, Elwha, Klahanie* and *Kehloken*.

*Chippewa's* days as the company flagship were numbered, following Black Ball's purchase of the destroyed ferry, *Peralta*, from the Key System Transportation Company in 1934. Black Ball planned on rebuilding the burned out remains into a new flagship more appropriate for their needs, which was intended to look like a larger version of the *Chippewa* and was to be renamed *Willapa.* However, the *Chippewa* would continue to serve on the Seattle-Bremerton route, supplementing the new flagship.

*Peralta's* pathetic remains*,* almost entirely devoid of her superstructure, arrived in Seattle as planned and was brought to Houghton to be totally rebuilt. However, what came out of Houghton was not the previously planned *Willapa*. Arriving at the Colman Dock (Black Ball's main ferry terminal in Seattle), the former *Peralta*, now called the *Kalakala*, looked more like an art deco spaceship with large portholes and a silver aluminum painted superstructure. Following her inaugural run in 1935, *Kalakala* took over as the company flagship and replaced Chippewa on moonlight cruises. Despite this, *Chippewa* was still a much needed vessel on the Bremerton run.

Throughout the Depression, *Chippewa* and *Kalakala* were not only running mates, but developed a bad habit of crashing into other vessels, as well as the Colman Dock. This often meant *Chippewa* needed extensive repairs, though the Colman Dock itself was the worst damaged of the three objects. *Kalakala*'s hull and superstructure were strong enough, she largely only suffered scratches and dents. The day finally came in 1940, where the two accident prone vessels collided with each other. *Kalakala* had lost her bearings in dense fog and accidentally turned too far to port when attempting to enter the Colman Dock. *Chippewa* was preparing for a run to Bremerton, the opposite way from which the *Kalakala* was arriving. Suddenly, the *Kalakala* appeared out of the fog, barreling down on the much smaller *Chippewa*. Despite evasive actions taken by the *Kalakala's* crew, the larger art deco ferry collided with the *Chippewa*, suffering only a dent. On the other hand, *Chippewa* was horrifically damaged, with part of her wooden superstructure being reduced to splinters. While *Kalakala* was able to resume service the next day, *Chippewa* had to be brought in for extensive rebuilding and repairs.

Further modernization of the Black Ball fleet was achieved with the arrival of four Steel Electric class ferries from San Francisco, which were renamed the *Klickitat, Illahee, Quinalt* and *Nisqually.* As the similarity in their class name to the Wood Electric class implies, these vessels were former Southern Pacific ferries as well. The remaining two Steel Electric ferries arrived shortly afterward, being rebuilt into large single ended ferries, similar in arrangement and function to *Kalakala* and *Chippewa*. Now renamed the *Willapa* and *Enetai*, the two new ferries joined *Chippewa* and *Kalakala* on the Bremerton run. This was desperately needed as tensions were building in Europe and the Pacific, threatening to start another "Great War". Following Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939, the European situation erupted into the beginning of World War II.

### World War II

By 1941, the United States was vastly arming itself for a possible involvement in the war against either Germany, Japan or both nations at the same time. Preparations on the west coast included modernizing and moving the Pacific fleet to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. However, the far greater and more able shipyard owned by the Navy was in Bremerton. Many of the American capital ships, which mainly included aircraft carriers and battleships, began arriving in Washington regularly for overhauls and inspections. About the same time the British were hunting down the German battleship *Bismarck* in the north Atlantic, the flagship of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the USS *Arizona*, arrived in Bremerton for such purposes, often crossing paths with the *Kalakala, Chippewa, Enetai* and *Willapa*. Many sailors from the *Arizona* would take the ferries while on shore leave to visit Seattle. This would also be the last time *Arizona* visited Washington state, as unbeknownst to the country, she would be destroyed several months later by a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, ironically enough, while preparing for a return to *Bremerton* for extensive repairs after a collision with the battleship USS *Oklahoma.*

America's entry into the second World War meant the Bremerton ferries were worked extensively, carrying up to 2,000 shipyard workers a day in the case of the *Kalakala*. Due to the construction of several naval vessels and repairs to the Pearl Harbor battleships as well as the U.S. carriers following Midway and other engagements, the traffic demand on the route once again necessitated the addition of extra ferries, despite the fact it was already being served by three large ferries and one small ferry. Throughout the war, the *Malahat* and *City of Sacramento* would arrive, once again from California, to suppliment the ever increasing traffic between Seattle and the Navy Yard. During this time, *Kalakala* and *City of Sacramento* had even challenged each other to a race, in which the latter won, resulting in the *Sacramento's* captain being fired for "embarassing the company flagship". Following the end of the war, *Malahat* and the *City of Sacramento* were withdrawn from the route, once again leaving *Chippewa*, *Kalakala, Enetai* and *Willapa* alone on the run. In 1947, *Kalakala* relinquished her title as Black Ball's flagship, following the completion of the sleek and modern designed *Chinook*, effectively giving the floating spaceship the same treatment she'd delivered to *Chippewa* years earlier.

### Washington state ferry years

In 1950, following tensions relating to a ferry workers' strike causing Black Ball management to shut down the entire ferry system in spiteful retalliation, the state of Washington and its residents reacted by passing legislation, effectively allowing the state to seize control of the company in 1951. What remained of Black Ball reorganized and operated in permanent exile over in British Columbia, establishing the ferry system there. What remained in Washington state now became the government owned and operated Washington State Ferries system. As a result, all the Black Ball ferries were re-upholstered and repainted, removing all evidence they had ever been Black Ball vessels, now sporting the the white black and green colors of the state which now owned them. *Chippewa* was no exception to this rule, now sporting a new livery.

Despite the change in ownership and *Chippewa* now being 51 years old, the state of Washington still saw a use and need for the ferry. During the final years of the 1940s, *Chippewa* had been moved to serve the San Juan Islands from Anacortes on Whidbey Island. During the transition from Black Ball to WSF in 1950, she was moved to the Seattle-Winslow run, which had now picked up demand, follwing the construction of a new highway bridge connecting Bainbridge Island to the Olympic Peninsula. Her former running mate, *Kalakala*, had likewise been re-assigned during the summers, this time becoming the international ferry between Port Angeles and Victoria, BC, after once again being replaced as the system's flagship in 1954 by the new purpose built ferry, *Evergreen State*. The *Kehloken* and *Klahanie* joined *Chippewa* on the Bainbridge Island run, along with the *Evergreen State*. From 1953 to 1956, she spent the winter months once again servicing the San Juan Islands, where her smaller size was a good fit for the small traffic loads.

As the years drew on, cars effectively doubled in size from their 1920s and 1930s counterparts. *Chippewa's* capacity could now only fit 52 cars, over her present configuration's original 75. Nevertheless, she remained in service throughout the remainder of the 1950s, being moved back to the Bremerton run full time in 1956, once again sailing alongside the *Kalakala*, which still ran the route in winters. Beginning in 1960, *Chippewa* was moved back to the San Juan Islands during the summer months and was used on the Anacortes to Sidney, BC run during the fall. Following the end of the 1963 season, the ferry was relegated to reserve, only needed in emergencies or other situations. She made her last sailing for Washington state on September 19, 1964.

### Retirement and fate

An inspection in drydock revealed 28 areas in her overall structure that were potential hazards and needed immediate restoration or reconstruction. Due to the ferry now being 64 years old and inadequate for the state's needs, she was retired permanently from service and sold to Foss Launch and Tug in 1965. Her new owners left her laid up on Lake Union, before selling her to a man named Donald Clair in Oakland, California in 1968. *Chippewa* was towed south to Oakland around the same time *Kalakala* had also been sold and rebuilt as a seafood processor, sailing north to her new home in Alaska. The two long time running mates would never see each other again.

While under going restoration and refurbishment into a maritime museum in Oakland, an arsonist set the *Chippewa* on fire, totally destroying the upper decks of the ferry on June 28, 1968. The burned out ferry was towed to Stockton up the Sacramento River, tied to the Paradise Point fishing resort pier. In 1970, everything above the car deck was razed, with the plan of converting the *Chippewa* into a full scale replica of the legendary San Francisco steamboat *Chrysopolis*, which had ironically been destroyed by a fire in 1940. This never happened and the hull was moved to Collinsville, California, down river. She was used as a stationary sewage treatment plant until the long neglected and rusted 70+ year old hull finally gave out and sank into the river, near the Collinsville Fishing Resort. The restort was bought in the 1980s and razed, leading some experts and history buffs to believe this was also the end of *Chippewa's* existence, although no records exist indicating she was scrapped. However, as late as 2020, satellite photos of the area show an unnatural shape on the bottom of the Sacramento River at the site, roughly matching the dimensions of the *Chippewa*, meaning her hull may have survived, even if as a shipwreck.

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Chippewa - Evergreen Fleet - *Accessed September 17, 2022*