''Carlisle II'' is a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

operating on

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. ''Carlisle II'' was built in 1917 as part of the

Puget Sound mosquito fleet The Puget Sound mosquito fleet was a multitude of private transportation companies running smaller passenger and freight boats on Puget Sound and nearby waterways and rivers. This large group of Steamboat, steamers and sternwheelers plied the wat ...

, a loosely organized fleet of privately owned ferries that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since 1936, she has operated as a passenger-only ferry on the

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard ...

–

Port Orchard Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passag ...

route. ''Carlisle II'' is one of two former Mosquito Fleet vessels in operation, along with the ''Virginia V''. In her current role, ''Carlisle II'' serves as the backup vessel for the Bremerton–Port Orchard route's current operator,

Kitsap Transit Kitsap Transit is a public transit agency serving Kitsap County, Washington, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The system is based in Bremerton and operates bus service on 40 fixed routes, a foot ferry, a vanpool system, worker-driver serv ...

. The main vessel on the route is the MV ''Waterman'', which entered service in 2019.

History

''Carlisle II'' was built in Bellingham in 1917 by Lummi Island Navigation Company, and first carried freight and passengers between Bellingham and the Carlisle Packing Company's salmon cannery on Lummi Island. Original power was from a

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Founded in 1823 as a manufacturer of weighing scale, weighing scales, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinder ...

Type "C-O" Heavy Duty Marine Oil Engine. It was a three-cylinder hot bulb (or "semi-diesel") engine rated 75 horsepower at 340 RPM. In 1923 she was rebuilt as a car ferry and ran from Gooseberry Point to Lummi and Orcas islands. Horluck Transportation Co., under Captain Willis Nearhoff, purchased ''Carlisle II'' in 1936 and converted her back to passenger vessel use for the short run between Bremerton and Port Orchard across Sinclair Inlet. The service was heavily used during the war years by personnel commuting to and from the

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

in Bremerton. Eventually Mr. Nearhoff's daughter, Mary Lieske, became manager and then owner of the company. She was also reportedly the first woman ferry captain. Seattle businessman Hilton Smith bought out Horluck in 1995 and invested almost $300,000 in repairs and upgrades to ''Carlisle II''. In 2008,

purchased ''Carlisle II'' from Smith and continues to use her as needed on the Bremerton-Port Orchard run. The vessel underwent a major, two-year renovation that cost $1.3 million and was completed in 2021. The renovation included replacing the engine, generator, ventilation, and propeller, along with repainting of the exterior and seating areas.

Current status

''Carlisle II'' remains in operation, acting as a backup vessel for service between

and

, Washington. The MV ''Waterman'', a hybrid diesel-electric ferry, is the primary vessel for the service. ''Carlisle II'' has been designated a "Floating Museum" by the Washington Commission for the Humanities, and her interior is decorated with numerous photos and information about her and other Mosquito Fleet vessels.

Books

* Kitsap County Historical Society, ''Port Orchard (Images of America)'', Arcadia Publishing, 2012, page 112, * Follansbee, Joe, ''The Fyddeye Guide to America's Maritime History'', Fyddeye (Publisher), 2010, page 68, * Neal, Carolyn, and Janus, Thomas Kilday, ''Puget Sound Ferries'', American Historical Press, 2001, pages 59, 80

References

External links

* {{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919) Museum ships in Washington (state) Ferries of Washington (state) Motor vessels of Washington (state)

History

Current status

Books

See also

References

External links