1959: The Start of Regular Operations for a Ferry Traveling Between Canada and the United States

December 29, 1959

The MV Coho, a ferry operated by the Black Ball Line between Victoria in the Canadian province of British Columbia and Port Angeles in Washington State, first went into regular service. This 341.5-foot (104.1-meter)-long ferry was designed by the Seattle-based firm Philip F. Spaulding & Associates and built by Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company (likewise located in the Emerald City). The vessel owes her name to the coho salmon, a species of fish that can be found in abundance in the Pacific Northwest.

R.J.M. Acheson, the president of the Black Ball Line, had nothing but praise for the construction of the MV Coho. “The builders did a job on the Coho even beyond our expectations,” he said. “She’s perfect, a good se boat that handled well under any circumstances we encountered.”

On the day before regular round-trip operations began for the Coho, she made a ceremonial voyage from Port Angeles to Victoria. (The next day’s edition of the Port Angeles-based Peninsula Daily News asserted that this trip “was strictly a ‘hands across the border’ event with all the trimmings.”) The national news agency Canadian Press (CP) reported, “On her inaugural run to Victoria, the trim grey and white vessel glided smoothly into the inner harbor at 10:34 a.m. instead of 10:45 as scheduled.”

Accompanied by several fellow dignitaries, Mayor Percy B. Scurrah of Victoria showed up at the Black Ball Wharf a few minutes after the Coho had arrived there. They formally welcomed Acheson and the dozens of government, civic, and business officials from Washington State who were aboard the ferry.

These visitors were also greeted at the wharf by kilted members of the Victoria Girls’ Pipe Band, who — as confirmed by reporter Norman Cribbens of the Victoria-based Times Colonist — “skirled out a merry welcome” to this party from the Evergreen State.

The following day, the first commercial run of the Coho transported a total of 72 passengers and eight automobiles from Port Angeles. Captain Henry C. Grandy, the skipper for this trip, was given a Canadian Red Badge by Scurrah after the ferry arrived at Victoria.   

The Coho remains in service today. (The attached photo of this vessel departing from Port Angeles was taken in 2021.) The ferry makes anywhere from two to four round trips on a daily basis. Each of these crossings averages approximately 90 minutes and covers 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers), with the Coho routinely carrying passengers and various modes of surface transportation. These modes include automobiles, trucks, semi-trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.

Photo Credit: Gordon Leggett (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:GRDN711) / Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) / CC-BY-SA-4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

For more information on the MV Coho, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Coho