The SS ''Cabrillo'' was a wooden passenger

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

operating in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

, during the first half of the 20th century. The steamship provided transportation between the

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...

and the ports of Avalon and Two Harbors on Santa Catalina Island.

Passenger ferry use

The Banning brothers of Wilmington, who owned the Wilmington Transportation Company and provided the steamships used to deliver tourists from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to the island's city of Avalon, bought the island in 1892. Realizing the need for more luxuriously appointed vessels on the route, the smaller SS ''Hermosa II'' was already under construction, but a decision was reached to next commission a larger ship for the growing number of tourists wishing to visit the island. The SS ''Cabrillo'' was built for the Bannings by shipbuilder William Muller for a cost of nearly $250,000, launched on February 15, 1904, and made her first voyage to Catalina on July 4 of the same year to much fanfare. Nicknamed "The Queen of the South Coast," the 194-foot steamship could carry 1,200 passengers from San Pedro Harbor. Built of Oregon fir and protected by

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

plates, the ''Cabrillo'' hosted 12 state rooms, 10 crew rooms, a social room, teak and mahogany finishes, and the ability to provide food service to guests. While large for a wood-hulled ferry of that era, need would require the ''Cabrillo'' be superseded by the larger, steel-hulled SS ''Avalon'' and SS ''Catalina'' in the Wilmington Transportation Company fleet.

World War II

With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the island was taken over by the U.S. military, and the ships of the Wilmington Transportation Company were conscripted as well. The SS ''Avalon'' was left behind for limited transportation to and from the mainland, while the SS ''Catalina'' and SS ''Cabrillo'' were taken to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

to serve as troop transports for the San Francisco Port of Embarkation. After the war ended, the SS ''Catalina'' was sent back to be used for ferry services to and from the island, while the ''Cabrillo'' continued to be utilized by the U.S. Army, who operated her until around 1947.

Current state

The SS ''Cabrillo'' was put up for sale and subsequently purchased sometime between 1947 and 1950 for use in Northern California as a hospitality establishment, however these plans were unsuccessful. Having been stripped of all machinery and other useful equipment, she was scuttled at Cuttings Wharf on the shores of the Napa River, beginning the final chapter of her life. In the following years, salvage operations continued until the vessel was abandoned, and today, little is left but the hull.

In popular culture

The SS ''Cabrillo'' made a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

appearance, along with Gary Cooper, Broderick Crawford, and David Niven, in The Real Glory, where she was outfitted with a dummy, second smokestack during shooting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabrillo 1904 ships Ferries of California Steamships of the United States Santa Catalina Island (California) SS Cabrillo SS Cabrillo SS Cabrillo