 Berkeley ferryboat andUSS Dolphin atSan Diego Maritime Museum | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Berkeley |
| Owner | Southern Pacific Railroad |
| Builder | Union Iron Works |
| Launched | 18 October 1898 |
| In service | 1898 |
| Out of service | 1958 |
| Status | Museum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 1883 |
| Length | 279 ft (85 m) |
| Beam | 64 ft (20 m) |
| Draft | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Installed power | triple-expansion steam engine 1,450 hp (1,080 kW) |
Berkeley | |
  | |
| Location | San Diego, California |
| Coordinates | 32°43′15″N117°10′26″W / 32.72095°N 117.17395°W /32.72095; -117.17395 |
| Built | 1898 |
| Architect | Union Iron Works |
| NRHP reference No. | 90002220 |
| CHISL No. | 1031[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 14, 1990[2] |
| Designated NHL | December 14, 1990[3] |
Berkeley was one of severalferryboats of theSouthern Pacific Railroad that for sixty years operated onSan Francisco Bay between theOakland Pier and theSan Francisco Ferry Building. Built in 1898 by theUnion Iron Works of San Francisco, she served after the1906 earthquake, ferrying refugees across the bay toOakland.
Berkeley was in regular service beginning in 1898. On October 3, 1900,Berkeley was leaving her dock in San Francisco, when she collided with the coastal passenger linerSS Columbia. Due to a misunderstanding of signals, Captain Blaker ofBerkeley thought that his ship would be able to pass in front ofColumbia while the larger liner was travelling forward at a slow speed towards her dock. When the realization came thatBerkeley would not be able to overcome the massiveColumbia, it was too late. Despite both ships reversing thrust, the two ships collided. The collision resulted in the destruction of one lifeboat onboardBerkeley and badly injuredColumbia's iron bow. The ferryboatNewark took over forBerkeley, while the latter ship was undergoing repairs. The damage caused toBerkeley was less severe than the damage given toColumbia.[4]
In the spring of 1958, she was taken out of service for repairs. She never returned to service, as Southern Pacific decided to end all ferry service on July 29, 1958.Berkeley was put up for sale, and was purchased by the Golden Gate Fishing Company to be used as a whaling processing facility. Before she was put to this use, however, she was sold to ferryboat enthusiast and businessman Bill Conover. Conover hadBerkeley docked inSausalito, a small town on the Bay inMarin County, and converted her into a gift shop called "Trade Fair". However,Berkeley was not well-maintained in her gift shop incarnation and 12 years of serious deterioration took a toll. In 1973, she was sold to theMaritime Museum of San Diego. She was towed out of San Francisco Bay by tug on May 31, 1973, arriving 3 days later inSan Diego where she was subsequently restored. She currently serves as the main "building" of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
Berkeley was notable for having been the first propeller-driven ferry on the west coast. At the time of her launching on October 18, 1898, she became the largest commuter ferryboat in the United States with a 1700-passenger capacity. She was also remarkable for being one of the earliest ferries to be powered by atriple-expansion steam engine.
Berkeley was declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1990 andCalifornia State Historical Landmark No. 1031 in 2000.
During the time she was docked in Sausalito, actorSterling Hayden rented one ofBerkeley's pilot houses as an office while he wrote his autobiographyWanderer (published in 1963).[5]
WhileBerkeley was under construction in 1898, the battleshipUSS Wisconsin (BB-9) was being constructed adjacent to her.
On the evening of April 15, 1899,Berkeley may have carried theStanford Axe from theSan Francisco Ferry Building to Oakland after it was stolen by a group of University of California students following a baseball game against Stanford.[6]
The boilers for the steam engine are no longer operable. One is cutaway so that visitors can see inside it.
Below deck, much of the original machinery is still semi-operational. Compressed air, rather than steam, is used to power the machinery so that visitors may see them in operation.
The aft of the Berkeley contains two workshops: woodworking is done on the main deck and a room for mixing and storing paint is below it.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1900 | |
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