PUGET SOUND MOSQUITO FLEET

H.B. Kennedy

Built expressly for the Port Orchard Route, the H.B. Kennedy’s launching coincided with Seattle’s Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. She was large, fast, and luxurious, carrying 1,000 passengers at 17 knots, making the Bremerton-Seattle run in 45 minutes. The competition to elect a sponsor for her christening helped to drive ticket sales and anticipation of the new vessel. In about 1918, H.B. Kennedy was renamed Seattle. She was converted to a car ferry in 1924. She worked as such until 1937, her last service on the Seattle-Suquamish run.

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Map of the Bremerton–Seattle route, with Kitsap County shaded green
Postcard of the S.S. Seattle with its red-topped smokestacks

A postcard of the (at the time) premier ferry to Bremerton: the S.S. Seattle. Author’s collection, colorized.

The rusting hulk of the former H.B. Kennedy in shallow water
The ferry H.B. Kennedy on Puget Sound, about 1910 to 1925
Postcard of the steamer H.B. Kennedy on the Seattle–Bremerton run, crowded with passengers
Postcard of the S.S. Seattle, the renamed H.B. Kennedy

Renamed Seattle to complement the Tacoma, the steamer also received a livery change.

Interior of the steamer H.B. Kennedy, 1911