Delta King

Delta King

Delta Kingmoored in Sacramento
History
Ordered	1924
Builder	William Denny & Brothers California Transportation Company
Cost	$875,000
Christened	20 May 1927
General characteristics
Tonnage	1837 (gross)
Length	285 ft (87 m)
Beam	58 ft (18 m)
Draft	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Installed power	2,000 hp (1,500 kW) Compound steam
Propulsion	Sternwheel
Delta King
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Sacramento, California
Coordinates	38°34′58″N121°30′25″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1923
Architect	California Transportation Co.
NRHP referenceNo.	78000797
Added to NRHP	31 March 1978

Delta Kingis a 285-foot-longsternwheel steamboat(87 m) and the sister ship ofDelta Queen,built in Glasgow, Scotland and Stockton, California for the California Transportation Company's service betweenSacramentoandSan Francisco,California.She entered service in 1927 and continued until 1940. After wartime service with the United States Navy,Delta Kingserved as an accommodation ship atKitimat,British Columbiain the 1950s and then returned to California for static use at Old Sacramento where she remains as a hotel, restaurant and venue.

Design and construction

The steel hull, up to the underside of number 2 deck and steam engines was ordered in April 1924 as Yard No.1168 from theWilliam Denny & Brothersshipyard on theRiver Levenadjoining theRiver ClydeatDumbarton,Scotland,and shipped on 8 November that year.The paddle wheel shaft and cranks were supplied byKrupp Stahlwerke AG,Germany. Denny persuaded the owners to adopt the builder's own structure for steel girders, allowing traditionalhog chainsto be dispensed with.Delta Kingwas shipped in pieces toStockton, Californiain November 1924 for assembly and completion by California Transportation at their yard at Banner Island, Stockton.

As designed, the hull ofDelta Kingmeasured 1,150GRT,anddisplaced1,700 tons. She was 250 feet (76 m) long, 77.1 feet (23.5 m) wide, 11.8 feet (3.6 m) and drew 7.0 feet (2.1 m), though this would have changed when the additional wooden decks and stern-wheel were added.A pair of two-cylinder compound horizontal engines (Denny's Special Order 1090-1091) were designed to produce 1,500ihp,and steering was by four rudders; the stern wheel was constructed offir,with 28 arms and paddles.At Stockton the upper decks were completed and the ship fitted out. Above a main deck ofSiameseironwoodwere two further decks constructed fromoak,teak,mahoganyandcedar.Cabins were opulent and equipped withair conditioningand heating. The lower decks also carried freight and cars.

History

When they entered service in 1927 on California Transportation Company's regular 10-hourSacramento Riverservice between San Francisco and Sacramento, and on excursions to Stockton on theSan Joaquin River,Delta KingandDelta Queenwere the most lavishly appointed and expensive sternwheel passenger boats ever commissioned. In the 1930s ownership passed to River Lines Inc.Driven out of service by a newhighwaylinking Sacramento with San Francisco in 1940, the two vessels were laid up and then purchased byIsbrandtsen Steamship Linesfor service out ofNew Orleans,though this plan was abandoned when theUnited States Navyrequisitioned the ships.

In November 1940 the two vessels were commissioned by the Navy for duty as a receiving ships for naval reservists inSan Francisco Bayas USSDelta King(YHB-6) and USSDelta Queen(YHB-7) respectively.On 5 July 1944 she was redesignated YFB 55 as a naval ferry in the San Francisco area and on 17 April 1946 struck from naval service.

The Delta King Hotel at dusk.

In the 1950sDelta Kingwas towed to serve as home to hundreds of men who were employees of the being constructedALCANAluminum plant and theKemano Dampower project in the early 1950s in Kitimat on the northern coast of British Columbia. The ship was used as a bunkhouse for the single men as the townsite was literally carved from the wilderness. After changing hands several times, and while owned by Gus Skarakis et al. and berthed nearRio Vista, California,Delta Kingwas listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesin 1978. By then the engines and paddle wheel had been scrapped and much of the interior stripped.

In 1981 she sank for unknown reasons while laid up inRichmond, Californiain the San Francisco Bay area.When raised a year later, it was later found the damage was minor, and she wasraisedand began a five-year restoration costing $9 million. Returned to Sacramento, she was re-opened on 20 May 1989.

Current uses

Today,Delta Kingis permanently moored in Sacramento, California, and is home to a 44-room hotel, award-winningrestaurant and Capital Stage, a resident professional theater company. "Delta Kings" and "Delta Queens" are the mascots ofStagg High Schoolin Stockton, California.

See also

• List of ships built by William Denny and Brothers

References

• "California - Solano County".State listings.National Register of Historic Places.Retrieved2012-10-08.
• Cereghino, Edward J. (30 June 1977)."National Register of Historic Places—Nomination Form / Delta King"(pdf).National Park Service.Retrieved2012-10-08.
  • "Accompanying Photo"(pdf).National Park Service.Retrieved2012-10-08.

Further reading

• Garvey, Stan (1995).King & Queen of the river: the legendary paddle-wheel steamboats Delta King and Delta Queen(1st ed.). Menlo Park, CA: River Heritage Press.ISBN0964251337.

External links

• "Delta King Hotel".
• Dake, Shawn (27 June 2010)."The DELTA KING California's Monarch".Maritime Matters.
• "Delta King Sacramento, CA".steamboats.org.