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HISTORY
Kalakala was and
always will be a one of a kind vessel. She was originally
built in 1927 as the steam ferry SS Peralta for the Key
System Transit Company of San Francisco, California. Her
sister ship was Yerba Buena. For a few years, Peralta
travelled the route between San Francisco and Oakland, until
a fire destroyed her in 1932. Due to her being damaged
beyond repair and the constructions Golden Gate Bridge (US
101) as well as the Oakland Bay Bridge (US 40/50 and now
I-80) made ferry operations illegal in San Francisco Bay.
Peralta had all of her superstructure scrapped and was left
to rot.
In 1933, she was
purchased by Arthur Peabody, owner of the Black Ball Line
ferry company in Seattle, Washington. Peralta rather than
being scrapped as most people would expect, was towed up to
Seattle by the tugboat Creole. Between 1934 and 1935, the
Peralta was completely rebuilt into a brand new and unusual
vessel, redesigned by Louis Proctor, a Boeing engineer. The
Kalakala (Chinook Indian for "Flying Bird") became the
flagship of the Black Ball Line and the second most popular
icon in the world. It almost beat the Eiffel Tower and was
more popular than the Statue of Liberty and Empire State
Building! The Kalakala Flying Bird Orchestra, a big band
throughout the 30's and 40's, performed aboard Kalakala on
midnight cruises, and their music was broadcast worldwide.
Kalakala became immortalized in the Bing Crosby song "Black
Ball Ferry Line" around this time.
During World War II,
Kalakala was a vital component to the Bremerton Naval Yard,
delivering workers to and from their via Seattle. After the
war, Kalakala remained extremely popular and became the
first commercial vehicle of any kind to ever have radar. A
Raytheon unit sporting FCC License Number 001, which was
active at least until January 22, 2015. The radar dish
itself along with a few other Kalakala relics still exist
today preserved in Port Angeles, Washington.
In 1951, following a
union and state government conspiracy, the Black Ball Line
was in a sense stolen from its rightful owners and became
Washington State Ferries (which it still is today). Kalakala
changed routes to operate between Port Angeles and Victoria,
Canada in the 1950's after a reformed Black Ball Line
operating in Canada bitterly cut off the route in anger
towards Washington state. It was also around this time the
Kalakala was re-bladed with a 5 bladed propeller, reducing
the infamous vibration her misaligned engine caused by 40%.
Kalakala continued to serve the state as a popular Seattle
icon and ferry into the 1960's, being the second biggest
attraction at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair/Century 21
Exhibition. The most popular of course being the new Space
Needle. Sadly, time was catching up to the old flying bird.
With the increase in car traffic and car size, Kalakala
became inferior to other ferryboats with its small car
carrying capacity. It was replaced by the superferry Hyak
(still in operation today) in 1967. She was sent to Alaska
where she became a sea food processing factory, was
eventually landlocked as a "building" and abandoned for 20
years.
A Seattle man named
Peter Bevis brought her back to Seattle in the 1990's and
was restoring her in Lake Union when he somehow lost
ownership of her. The new hippie run Seattle forced Kalakala
to leave in 2004. She was sent to Tacoma where a man named
Steve Rodrigues tried to fix her up, but ultimately had the
vessel stolen from him by the Coast Guard forever sealing
her fate. Rodrigues wasn't able to fix her fast enough
resulting in her almost sinking in 2011. Karl Anderson took
over ownership in 2012 and though he owned facilities that
could house Kalakala, he didn't have enough money to restore
her, nor was his drydock available. By the time the drydock
was open, Kalakala was too badly corroded. On January 22,
2015, Anderson scrapped the Kalakala in a move which spurred
major controversy and broke the hearts of millions. She may
be gone, but Kalakala's spirit will live on forever so long
as she's remembered.
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