San Rafael

San Rafael was a steamboat that operated on San Francisco Bay from 1878 to 1901. The components of the vessel and a sistership were manufactured in Brooklyn then shipped to San Francisco where the ships were assembled. San Rafael remained in service, primarily as a ferry, until the vessel was sunk in a collision with a ferry on November 30, 1901. Although San Rafael sank rapidly, quick action by the crews limited the loss of life to five persons or fewer. Subsequent litigation established negligence on the part of both captains as the cause of the collision. Design and construction San Rafael and a sistership, Saucelito were built to the same specifications in components at Greenpoint, New York, now a part of Brooklyn. The builder was Benjamin C. Terry. The components were then shipped to the west coast either by rail or ship. Terry himself traveled west to supervise the assembly of the vessels. Once complete, San Raphael was said by a newspaper, the San Francisco Call, to be "by far the prettiest boat that ever cleft the waters of San Francisco Bay". Both vessels were built as shallow draft-steamboats, which required a light-weight hull. To strengthen the hull, these vessels were built with a "hog truss", a bridge-like structure arching fore-and-aft along both sides the vessel with the function of stiffening the hull. Operations San Rafael and Saucelito both ran for the San Francisco and Sausalito ferry line, and were classified as ferries, even though neither was a double-ender. They were considered to be well-fitted and very speedy. Sausalito burned 1884 at the San Quentin wharf. By 1901, San Rafael was probably the last California steamboat in operation to have been built with the hog truss. Wreck San Rafael sank near Alcatraz Island on November 30, 1901, following a collision in the fog with the steam ferry Sausalito. Both vessels were owned by the same company, the North Pacific Coast Railroad. San Rafael was bound across San Francisco Bay, from San Francisco to Sausalito. Both vessels were proceeding slowly and ringing fog bells. Both captains realized the other ship was near, and had ordered the engines reversed, but it was too late to prevent a collision. Sausalito struck San Rafael broadside and penetrated ten feet into the dining room, then occupied by many passengers.