Vessels Built in Kirkland’s Lake Washington Shipyard

The Lake Washington Shipyard began in the 1870s as a small boat landing in Houghton, WA on the eastern shore of Lake Washington. Owned by boatbuilder Frank Curtis, the boat landing benefitted from the prominent lumber industry and produced its first steamship, the Peerless , in 1901. It was then bought by Captains George Bartsch and Harry Tompkins, who later partnered with investor John Anderson and began a successful business manufacturing passenger steam ships under the name Anderson Steamboat Company. In 1923, the Anderson Shipyard was bought by Alaska Consolidated Canneries, Inc, which renamed the area as Lake Washington Shipyard (LWS) and utilized the area as a winter lay-up for fishing vessels. After the great depression, the shipyard struggled to compete with other maritime construction companies, but maintained its reputation as a formidable shipbuilding enterprise with a highly skilled workforce. It gained notoriety in 1935 as the shipyard that took the burned-out hull of the Peralta and built the famous streamlined ferry MV Kalakala , which later led to important contracts with fishery owners, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

E.W. Kenyon Lake Washington Shipyard photograph collection, 1944-1945

(Houghton/Carillon Point, 1900-1967)

Kirkland’s shoreline plant produced scores of ferries before 1940 and 29 U.S. Navy warships during World War II. Most have vanished, but a handful of hulls – and one fully preserved ferry – still survive in 2025.

1. Ferries

[1] The ferry Leschi makes its last run, ending ferry service on Lake
[2] Hiyu sold: This is what will happen to the aging ferry
[3] Kitsap (I) – – Evergreen Fleet
[4] List of shipwrecks in 1966 – Wikipedia
[5] Bainbridge – – Evergreen Fleet
[6] Norwegian Homefleet – WW II Ships starting with O – Warsailors.com
[7] Lincoln – – Evergreen Fleet
[8] Ferry system begins returning to prepandemic levels, starting Sunday
[9] MV Vashon – Wreck Location Map & GPS Coordinates
[10] Alaska Shipwrecks (V)
[11] History – houghtonlives

Additional Kirkland-built ferries include Atlanta, Aquilo, Rainier, Donna Lane, Quilcene, etc.; all were later either scrapped, scuttled or lost[12].

Houghton is currently incorporated as part of Kirkland and the former shipyards site is now home to the Carillon Point Business Park.

Ferries still extant

MV Hiyu – totally intact, moored on Seattle’s Lake Union as a private event vessel[3][4].
MV Vashon – steel hull lies on its side at Johnson Cove; visible wreck[7][8].
Leschi – wooden hulk on beach near Whittier, Alaska; remains of hull and boiler[9][10].

Hiyu means “many” or “plenty” in Chinook Jargon

All other Kirkland-built ferries have been dismantled, scuttled or have decayed beyond recognition.

| Year | Ferry (length) | Built for / Notes | Ultimate fate | Exists today? |

| 1908 | **Washington** – 160 ft | King Co. side-wheeler for Madison Park–Kirkland route | Abandoned 1938 | No |

| 1914 | **Issaquah** – 114 ft | First Lake Washington auto ferry | Sold to San Francisco Bay 1917, scrapped 1951[1] | No |

| 1914 | **Lincoln** – 147 ft | Madison Park–Kirkland double-ender | Converted to barge 1955, scrapped c. 1957[2] | No |

| 1924 | **Hiyu** – 61 ft | Kitsap Co. Transportation Co. | US Navy range tender 1942-46, now event venue “On the Hiyu,” Lake Union[3][4] | **Yes – afloat** |

| 1925 | **Kitsap** – 178 ft | KCTC Fauntleroy–Vashon | Sank off Cape Tonki, Alaska tow 1966[5] | Wreck broken up |

| 1928 | **Bainbridge** – 178 ft | KCTC Port Blakely route | Rolled and sank in Fraser River 1986, cut up in situ 1986-87[6] | No |

| 1930 | **Vashon** – 191 ft | KCTC Vashon run | Wreck remains capsized in Johnson Cove, Alaska since 1986[7][8] | **Partially – hulk visible at low tide** |

| 1931 (re-build) | **Leschi** – 170 ft | Converted here from side-wheeler to propeller ferry | Abandoned on beach at Shotgun Cove, Alaska 1978, hull remains[9][10] | **Partially – derelict hulk** |

| 1935 (re-build) | **Kalakala** – 276 ft | Streamlined superstructure fabricated at Kirkland yard | Scrapped Tacoma 2015[11] | No |

2. Warships

During WWII the yard (then Lake Washington Shipyard) shifted to steel and turned out 29 combatants and 400+ auxiliary craft for the U.S. Navy[13][14]. Principal classes:

Barnegat-class seaplane tenders (AVP 23–33, 35–57) – 22 completed at Kirkland, e.g.
– USS Absecon (AVP-23)[15]
– USS Bering Strait (AVP-34)[16]
– USS Castle Rock (AVP-35) to US Coast Guard/Republic of Vietnam[17][18]
– USS Valcour (AVP-55/AGF-1) – Persian Gulf flagship 1965-73[19]

Motor-torpedo-boat tenders (AGP-6 Oyster Bay, AGP-7 Mobjack, AGP-8 Wachapreague, AGP-9 Willoughby)[20][21][19]

Aloe-class net tenders (AN-6 Aloe, AN-7 Ash, AN-8 Birch, AN-9 Butternut)[12]

Survey ships Pathfinder (AGS-1, ex-OSS 30) and Robert Gray (OSS 28)[12][22]

Post-war careers & present status

Most Kirkland-built warships served into the 1960-90s with the U.S. Coast Guard or foreign navies (Philippines, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Italy) before final disposal:

Representative vessel Later service Final disposition

Absecon → USCGC Absecon → RVNS Pham Ngu Lao Vietnam People’s Navy 1975-2005 Deleted c. 2006, scrapped[23][24]

Wachapreague → USCGC McCulloch → BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8) Philippine Navy flagship 1976-85 Scrapped 1990[19][25]

Oyster Bay → Italian Pietro Cavezzale Italian special-forces tender 1957-93 Scrapped 1996[20][26]

Orca → Ethiopian Ethiopia (A-01) Training ship 1962-91 Scrapped 1993[27][28]

No Kirkland-built Navy combatants remain in commission or as museum ships. A few stripped hulls linger as breakwaters or sunk targets, but none are publicly accessible.

3. Summary

Ferry legacy: At least 15 Lake Washington ferries emerged from Kirkland between 1908-1937. Only one, the MV Hiyu, is still fully operational as a floating venue. Two larger steel ferries (Leschi, Vashon) survive only as remote Alaskan wrecks.

Warship legacy: Between 1941-46 the yard built 29 frontline auxiliaries (seaplane tenders, MTB tenders, net tenders, survey vessels). All saw long service; the last foreign-flag survivors were stricken or scrapped by the mid-2000s. None remain afloat in 2025.

Thus, while Kirkland’s once-prolific yard no longer echoes with riveting hammers, a few tangible relics – most notably the lovingly restored Hiyu – still keep the city’s shipbuilding heritage above water.

[1] The ferry Leschi makes its last run, ending ferry service on Lake …

[2] Hiyu sold: This is what will happen to the aging ferry – KIRO 7

[3] Kitsap (I) – – Evergreen Fleet

[4] List of shipwrecks in 1966 – Wikipedia

[5] Bainbridge – – Evergreen Fleet

[6] Norwegian Homefleet – WW II Ships starting with O – Warsailors.com

[7] Lincoln – – Evergreen Fleet

[8] Ferry system begins returning to prepandemic levels, starting Sunday

[9] MV Vashon – Wreck Location Map & GPS Coordinates

[10] Alaska Shipwrecks (V)

[11] History – houghtonlives

[12] Lake Washington Shipyard – Shipbuilding History