Delta King

Delta King
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Delta King moored in Sacramento.
Nearest city:	Sacramento, California
Coordinates:	38°34′58″N 121°30′25″W / 38.58278°N 121.50694°W / 38.58278; -121.50694Coordinates: 38°34′58″N 121°30′25″W / 38.58278°N 121.50694°W / 38.58278; -121.50694
Area:	less than one acre
Built:	1923
Architect:	California Transportation Co.
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	78000797[1]
Added to NRHP:	March 31, 1978

The Delta King is a 285-foot-long paddlewheel steamboat (87 m). The Delta King is the sister ship to the Delta Queen, both christened May 20, 1927, traveling between Sacramento, California and San Francisco, California on 10-hour trips.

History

The hull, first two decks and steam engines were ordered in 1924 from the William Denny & Brothers shipyard on the River Leven adjoining the River Clyde at Dumbarton, Scotland. The King and her sister boat Delta Queen were shipped in pieces to Stockton, California in 1926. There the California Transportation Company assembled the two vessels for their regular Sacramento River service between San Francisco and Sacramento, and excursions to Stockton, on the San Joaquin River. At the time, they were the most lavishly appointed and expensive sternwheel passenger boats ever commissioned. Driven out of service by a new highway linking Sacramento with San Francisco in 1940, the two vessels were laid up and then purchased by Isbrandtsen Steamship Lines for service out of New Orleans. During World War II, they were requisitioned by the U.S. Navy for duty in San Francisco Bay as USS Delta King (YFB-55).

In November 1940, the Delta King was converted by the Navy into a receiving ship for naval reservists. In the fall of 1941 the Delta King returned to Stockton, but instead of returning to its regular passenger service it was sold to the Isbrandsten Steamship Co. of New York. The Delta King was to be towed to the East Coast through the Panama Canal for use as excursion boats on the Hudson River. The Delta King served as home to hundreds of men who were employees of the being constructed ALCAN Aluminum plant and the KEMANO Dam power project in the ealry 1950's 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. The Delta King was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

In 1981 she sank for mysterious reasons while laid up in Richmond, California (SF Bay Area). It was later found the damage was minor, and she was raised and towed to her current location.

Current Duty

Today, the Delta King is permanently moored in Sacramento, California, and is home to a 44-room hotel, award-winning^{[citation needed]} restaurant, and Capital Stage, a resident professional theatre company.

References

• http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/CA/Solano/state.html

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 

External links

• http://deltaking.com
• http://capstage.org
• http://maritimematters.com/2010/06/the-delta-king-california%E2%80%99s-monarch-by-shawn-j-dake/
• http://www.steamboats.org/steamboat-pictures/delta-king.html