SS ''San Mateo'' was a steamship ferry operating on the west coast of the

United States 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 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Launched in 1922, she served until 1940 in

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

, operated by the Southern Pacific Golden Gate Ferries. In 1941 she was acquired by the Puget Sound Navigation Company, and then 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 ...

until its retirement in 1969. At the time of her retirement she was the last operating vehicular steam ferry in the United States. After attempts to restore her for display in a Seattle waterfront park, she was acquired by a Canadian businessman and towed in 1992 to the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The vessel became part of a small collection of derelict ferries. There she was partially scrapped; portions of her hulk are still visible in the river, and readily apparent on satellite photos, as of 2021. A photo at the dock in July 2021 shows her hulk partially or fully aground, and leaning toward the former

BC Ferries British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., Trade name, operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, State-owned enterprise, publicly owned Canadian c ...

MV ''Queen of Sidney''. The ship was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1971.

References

External links

* Buildings and structures completed in 1922 Ferries of California Ferries of Washington (state) Historic American Engineering Record in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Seattle Steamships of the United States Washington State Ferries vessels {{Washington-NRHP-stub