A List of Boats Built in Sitka

Here is a list of boats built in Sitka.

These come from several sources: the main one is the annual Merchant Vessels list, published by the government of every registered vessel in the United States. Vessels over 5 net tons (capacity) have to be registered, that’s something like 30 feet for a motorized vessel. That list has the use, the size, the material, the power, the owner, how many crew, and the place and year it was built.

Individual records, which used to be in Juneau, have more information like the name of the builder. I found cards for many boats there.

Other boats that were too small to require documentation were called Number Boats, because they had their commercial fishing number on them instead of a name. That would be the original old time trollers. A lot of the old wooden trollers now were built as seiners or long liners.

Another source was newspapers, but Sitka didn’t have a newspaper for all the years when boat building was happening, especially the late teens.

A main source was interviews I did with fishermen and boatbuilders and their relatives, in 1988 and the early 1990s. Herman Kitka had an incredible memory. Of everyone I talked to, his information was corroborated completely by other sources.

I would love more information, more boats, details and corrections. More information about the builders are in Boatbuilding Part 2 and Boatbuilding in Sitka Part 3 on this blog.

Boat name              year         register    builder

                                doc.         length

Lulu                                         1916?              John Bahrt for John Sarvela?

St Louis                                                           Hope, Scotty Jennings?

Storm King                                                     Simpson and Willard for Willard

Kingfisher                                                       Hope

Bumble Bee                            1922                Bob and Percy Hirst

Bubbles                                   1920s?             John Bahrt

Anita                                       1928                T. F. Demidoff for self and son-in-law

William                                    1909    34        Peter Simpson for Rudolph Walton

Dreadnaught                           1915    34.5     Simpson for Geo. T. Myers Co., for James Kuenz

Necker Bay                             1915    35.5     John Young Sr. and Frank Kitka sank 1964

Nicholai                                   1915    32       

Active                                     1917    44        Andrew Hope, George Howard for themselves and               sons

Albatross                                 1917    39        Simpson for John Cameron sank Necker Bay 1930               or 31

Alms                                        1917    36.2    

Billy G.                                   1917    36.2     owned Bill Grant

Baranoff                                  1918    37.5     Simpson for Ralph Young, Sr.

Dora B.H.                               1918    33.8    

Elsie                                        1918    34.4

Esther                                      1918    38

John D.                                    1918    35

Moonlight                               1918    41        Simpson for Deep Sea, Edward Grant bought   boat              still fishing

Olympic                                  1918    37.6     Frank Kitka for self

Zingo                                       1918    35.1     Frank Kitka for John Joseph, Deep Sea                                  Salmon Co. burned 1954

Busy Bee                                 1919    35.5     Frank Kitka for George T. Myers (cannery) 

Dermott I                                1919    29.6     William Grossman for self

Eagle                                       1919    34        Simpson for Frank Joseph, Pyramid Packing                         abandoned 1965

Katharine                                1919    39.6     Simpson for Deep Sea Salmon Co., Dick Harris

Louise                                     1919    37

Mary Ward                             1919    37        Simpson for Deep Sea Salmon Co, George Ward

U and I                                    1919    36.2     George Howard for George Davis rebuilt 1947 still fishing?

Margaret P.                             1919    36.2    

Hudson                                   1929    40

Smiles                                      1929    32        Simpson for Ralph Young, Sr.

Atlas                                        1922    39.7     Frank Kitka for self, only big boat

Carrie                                      1922    31.9     Kris Norholm for George Rice (plumber)

Mary J                                     1922    36       

Lituya                                      1922    30

Lornty                                     1923    33.3

Progress                                   1923    43.2     Hope, Howards for themselves still around?

Janice                                      1924    32.3

Laeso                                       1924    30        owned George Banvard (store owner)

Comet                                     1926    37        Peter Kitka rebuilt (original from Puget Sound)                    abandoned 1957

Optimist                                  1926    37.1                

Biorka                                     1927    42        Hope built for Rudolph Walton, Pyramid Packing   

Persevearance                          1927    39        Johnnie? Lawson, owned Thomas Sanders, burned 1944

Valo                                        1927    33.9     burned 1949

Starlight                                  1927    39.2     Hope for Peter John, Pyramid Packing  wrecked 1955

OK                                          1929     40       Johnnie Lawson for David Davis        sank 1966

Pyramid                                   1929    38        Hope for Pyramid Packing

Trosky                                     1929    34        Hope

Chatham                                  1929    38        Hope?

Neptune                                  1930    36        Hope and William Pavloff

Buddy                                     1931    28        Hope – his troller

Two Brothers                          1934    35        Simpson for grandsons

New England                          1935    38.3     George Howard Jr. for George Ward    burned 1963

Sophia                                     1936    36        Adolph Thomsen for self

SJS                                          1937    42.8     Peter Simpson and Rudy James later called Miss                  Linda

Admiralty                                1938    44.1     Hope for George James

Eros                                         1938    38.6     Adolph Thomsen for self

Fin Fin                                     1938    30.8

Betty K.                                  1940    34.2     George Howard started

Roamer                                    1940    33.9     Louis Johanson at Goddard

GGK                                       1941    33.      

Sisu                                         1941    32.4

Laverne                                   1942    31.4     Hope?

Neva                                        1942    40.6     Hope with Herman Kitka, for Todd, later his boat

Princeton-Hall                         1942    61.7     Hope, Kitka, Howards, SJ students

Tamara San                             1942    49.8     Hope for Hans Peterson

Hope                                       1944    41.5     Hope for Henry Yrjana

Martha K

(North Cape)                           1944    43.3     Kitka

Sally                                        1944    38

SJS II                                      1944    49.4     Hope for Presbyterian Board of Home Missions

Allanah                                    1945    51.1     Hope, Richard Peters, Al Rotluff for Fred Brandes

Denny Jo                                 1945    50        George Howard started, finished Stanley Sutton for John Townsend

June K                                     1945    43.4     George Howard for Charles Bennett, Hood Bay

Minnie R                                 1945    34        A.F.Rowley and sons

Polaris                                     1945    37       

Her-Highnes                            1946    32        Earl MacDonald, at his home

Junior                                      1946    38.1     Sitka Marine Railway for Emil Taug

Laverne II                               1946    39        Richard Peters

Martha K

(Empress)                                1946    45.7     Hope for New England Fish Co.

Mom                                        1946    37

Myrth                                      1946    37        Sitka Marine Railway for Rudy and Myrth Sarvela

Pop Rowe                               1946     31.1    (Pop Rowe sold salvaged sawmill to SJ and ran it a  year)   

Shirley M                                1946    37        Sitka Marine Railway

Skeeter                                    1946    37        Dave Hallock on Baranof Street

WRJ                                        1946    37        Sitka Marine Railway for Wally and Earl Johnson

Alrita                                       1947    38.7     Sitka Marine Railway for Albert Wallace

Jenny                                       1947    33.4     George Howard and Andrew Hope

Patricia Mae                            1947    45.1     Hope for John Young

Pt. Cravens                              1947    38.1     Sitka Marine Railway for Jimmy Walton

Sharon-Ann                             1947    35.9     Rowley?

Sonja                                       1947    45.1

Gota                                        1950    36.6     Hope, George Howard, Richard Peters for Pete                     Anselm, then Oscar Isaacson

Satchem                                  1952    30.9     Hope, Herman Kitka for Cap Anderson

Chuck A Nan                          1955    35.8     Sitka Marine Railway (Al Rottleff and Herman                    Kitka) for Earl MacDonald (originally the                             Stephanie)

Vali                                         1961    31.2     Hope, Herb Hope, David Howard for Roger Lang                (Hope=s son-in-law)

C-Rae                                      1962    45?      Paul Morgan

Wendy                                    1965    33.9     Howard Brothers

Peril Strait                               1967    32        Harry Jimmy for self

Chancy                                    197?    45        Gary Erb

Annette                                                           Harry Jimmy

Amanda Rose                                                  Gary Erb and Jack Rheinwaller

Andrew Hope (center) poses at the bandsaw, probably in the shop of Scotty Jennings just north of the ANB Founders Hall in Sitka. Jennings’ shop was a former hand-pack cannery. Image from a glass slide in the collection of the Sitka Historical Society.