''Elk'' was a steam tug that operated 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 ...

, and earlier, from 1880 to 1896, on

Lake Washington Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...

under the name of ''Katherine''.

Career

''Elk'' was originally constructed at Houghton, Washington, and launched under the name ''Katherine''. ''Katherine'' was long, on the beam, and rated at 14.25 registered tons. ''Katherine'' operated on

, and by 1895, was owned by Capt J.C. O'Connor, who had been born in New York in 1846. O'Connor had been involved with steamboats on Lake Washington since 1874, when he had worked on the steamer ''Chehalis'' In 1896, Capt. O.G. Olsen (d. 1924) bought the steamboat ''Katherine''. Olsen was a native of Norway who came to Pacific Coast in 1883. Olsen rebuilt ''Katherine'' as a tug and took the vessel to Puget Sound to operate out of

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

as a tug under the name of ''Elk'', the first vessel of what became the Olsen Tug Boat Company.

Stranding

In 1909, while operating under the Seattle concern of Crosbie Towing Co., ''Elk'' was towing a barge loaded with telephone cable intended for the Kitsap County Telephone Company, ''Elk'' went aground near Restoration Point. As a result, the vessel suffered extensive damage, including breaking the tail shaft, rudder shaft and

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

. ''Elk'' was not a total loss, and the vessel was able to be removed to the King and Winge shipyard in

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of List of neighborhoods in Seattle, neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the List of neighborhoods in Seattle, thirteen districts, Delridge, Seattle, Delridge and Southwest, ...

where repairs were made.

Disposition

''Elk'' is reported to have burned in 1911.Newell, ''Inland Sea'', at 207.

Notes

References

* Newell, Gordon R., ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (1966) * Newell, Gordon R., ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (2nd Ed. 1960) * * * {{Puget Sound propellers 1880 ships Steamboats of Washington (state) Steam tugs Steam tugs of Washington (state) Propeller-driven steamboats of Washington (state)