| Sierra (motor ship) | |
|  Sierra | |
|     | |
| Location | 1401 Sargent Blvd., Aberdeen, Washington | 
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 46°58′31″N 123°48′02″W / 46.97528°N 123.80056°W | 
| Built | 1916 | 
| Built by | G. F. Matthews | 
| Architect | George H. Hitchings | 
| NRHP reference No. | 78002745[1] | 
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Motor ship | 
| Length | 218 ft (66 m)[2] | 
| Beam | 42 ft (13 m)[2] | 
| Depth | 15 ft (4.6 m)[2] | 
| Propulsion | Motor | 
| Added to NRHP | March 29, 1978 | 
Sierra is a historic motor ship used to transport lumber. Built in 1916, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[3]
History
Sierra was built at Matthews shipyard in Hoquiam[4] for E. K. Wood Lumber Company[2] and was the first motor ship built on Grays Harbor.[5] The ship's engines were made in Sweden[6] by Bolinder, which sent a representative to oversee their installation.[3] Senator Miles Poindexter attended the ship's launch on August 30, 1916.[7]
Its first long voyage was to Valparaíso, Chile.[2] Sierra was able to complete the round-trip without refueling.[3]
Sierra was used to ferry lumber between Bellingham, Washington and Hoquiam, Washington.[3] In one month in 1920, Sierra carried a shipment of 1,200,000 feet of lumber out of Bellingham.[8]
On Feb 7, 1923, Sierra was badly damaged after colliding with the steamship Wilhemina in dense fog near San Francisco; damages were estimated at $135,000.[9]
In 1926, Sierra caught fire at Berth 77 in the Port of Los Angeles, the first fire fought by the fireboat Los Angeles City No. 2.[10]
Sierra was sold in 1927 and equipped with refrigeration equipment to carry reindeer meat from Alaska for the Arctic Transport Company.[11] During World War II, the U.S. Army operated Sierra as a training ship.[3] After the war, Sierra was assigned to the Maritime Commission reserve fleet at Olympia, Washington, then later sold and transferred to Lake Union.[11]
In 1964, the new owner began restoring Sierra to its original, lumber-carrying configuration.[3]
References
- ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Motorship. Miller Freeman. 1921. p. 642.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: SIERRA (motor ship)". National Park Service. 4 Nov 1976. Retrieved October 23, 2019. With 2 accompanying pictures
- ↑ "On the Shores of Grays Harbor". Pacific Marine Review. J.S. Hines. 16: 141. 1919.
- ↑ "Hoquiam". Anacortes American. 14 Sep 1916. p. 6.
- ↑ "Machinery Arrives for the Steamer Sierra". Aberdeen Herald. 8 Sep 1916. p. 8. Retrieved 16 Nov 2019.
- ↑ "Lumber Town for Poindexter". The Seattle Star. 31 Aug 1916. p. 8.
- ↑ "Bellingham". The Timberman. M. Freeman Publications. 21: 85. March 1920.
- ↑  "Pacific Ports". Vol. IX, no. 4. Pacific Ports, Incorporated. April 1923. pp. 53, 55. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help)
- ↑ "South Bay History: Fireboat No. 2, the Ralph J. Scott, served the Port of Los Angeles with distinction for 78 years". Daily Breeze. 2019-05-20. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
- 1 2  The H.W. McCurdy marine history of the Pacific Northwest, 1966-1976. McCurdy, H. W. (Horace Winslow), 1899-1989., Newell, Gordon R., Seattle Historical Society. Seattle: Superior Pub. Co. 1977. pp. 387–388, 546, 554. ISBN 0875642209. OCLC 2646126.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

