AH-WR-0737

Burton

Passenger Steamboat · United States · Lost 1924 · Puget Sound & Discovery Bay

A 1905 Puget Sound mosquito-fleet steamer that raced rival ferries between Tacoma and Vashon Island before burning at her Gig Harbor moorings in 1924.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Burton was built in 1905 at Tacoma for the Tacoma and Burton Navigation Company, running a competitive passenger route to Vashon Island against the rival steamer Norwood. She was sold to the Kitsap County Transportation Company in 1912 and continued in Puget Sound ferry service. By 1924 she had been retired and laid up in Gig Harbor, where a fire broke out aboard and destroyed the vessel. Her remains are known to South Puget Sound divers as the Steamship Burton wreck site.

Vessel

Built: 1905
Builder: Not established
Yard: Tacoma, Washington
Material: Wood
Length: 93 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, propeller (later diesel)
Owners: Tacoma & Burton Navigation Co.; Kitsap County Transportation Co.

Loss

Date: January 1, 1924
Cause: Fire
Location: Gig Harbor, Washington
Water: Puget Sound
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 47.33° N 122.58° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Gig Harbor, Washington
Region: Puget Sound & Discovery Bay

Wikipedia (citing Ferryboats: A Legend on Puget Sound) states Burton was laid up and burned in Gig Harbor in 1924; coordinates given are the general charted position of Gig Harbor, as no specific berth or wreck-site position was found.