The MV Kalakala story began in 1933, when the ship that made up most of the hull, the Peralta, was torched in an arson fire. The superstructure of the ship was a total loss, but the hull was fine, so between 1934-35, the new superstructure that was to make up a new ferry was constructed. The aluminum structure, complete with it’s Art Deco styling, became a Seattle trademark years before the Space Needle went up in 1962. In 1946, Kalakala received the first FCC license for a commercial radar system. In 1967, the ferry was retired after 32 years of service and was shipped to Alaska, where it was used as a crabbing ship, then a beached shrimp processing facility.
In 1984, the hulk of the ferry was rediscovered, and in 1998, it was refloated and towed back to Seattle. Lots of grand plans were laid out for the Kalakala‘s restoration, including turning it into a floating restaurant, repowering the vessel and using it for specialized tours and so forth, but in short order it became clear that there was no funding to complete those projects, or to even keep the vessel moored at Union Bay in Seattle. After a quick move to Neah Bay (and quicker eviction by the Makah Tribe), the ferry ended up in Hylebos Creek waterway in Tacoma, where it has sat since 2004. In 2010 the ship started to develop a list, and in 2011 the Coast Guard determined that it was a hazard to navigation. After lengthy court battles by former owner Steve Rodrigues, the ship ended up in the hands of Karl Anderson, who,has come to the decision to have the Kalakala scrapped in late January. The state of the hull is so bad that the ship is in imminent danger of sinking, and it would cost at minimum $50 million dollars to bring the Kalakala to a useable state, so begrudgingly, the ship will be towed to a shipbreaker on the Blair Waterway on January 22nd. 
(Courtesy: Kitsap Sun. Lead Photo: Tacoma News Tribune)
A sad end just because it looked cool? Nah, Mopar guy here; form follows function.
Want the REAL tragic story of this? Go find out how many tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars were used to prop up this turd over the years. Good luck tracking how the private investors were connected to the state and local politicians…
50 years of used followed by 30 years of rot. Clearly time to put an end to it.
don’t let this get you down the boat has been misshandled for to long
and has a hole in the haul big enough to drive a chevy van through below the waterline it is done
it’s time has come and went now it’s just a blight/ hazard fifty feet from a major fuel terminal
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was watching youtube videos about this boat last night. Lots of history, too little too late to save it. Carried a lot of people through its history, and the stories of it hitting shit are classic. Also FCC licence number 001 for the first commercial vessel to have radar. You old bastards on here are really haters and need to find a new hobby.
This was big news when it got towed back to Seattle. They just couldn’t get one of the local Billioniars to fund it. Was ahead of its time back in the day.
Heck, Bill Gates has so much money he could fund its restoration by himself and not even miss it.
He’s too busy funding poorly written and useless gun control laws
Not to mention treating shit water for human consumption….
And I’m sure he has his own private water system so he doesn’t have to drink it.