‘Casino ship’ is scrapped

The life of a decrepit, 85-year-old California passenger steamer that at one time was being considered for use as a floating gambling casino off the coast of the CNMI or other Pacific island groups is coming to an end. The historic, 301-foot SS Catalina, which carried approximately 25 million passengers in 9,807 voyages between the Port of Los Angeles and Catalina Island between 1924 and 1975, is to be cut up into scrap in late January or early February, according to Saipan Tribune sources. Taken out of service in 1975 due to prolonged labor disputes and increased competition from faster, hydrofoil vessels, the Catalina had a succession of owners who tried, unsuccessfully, to turn it into a restaurant, nightclub, or waterborne offshore casino. U.S. gambling interests put forth the suggestion that the Catalina might be renovated and towed to the CNMI or another Pacific location and turned into a maritime casino that would make daily “cruises to nowhere. Other suggested locations for the floating casino included Guam, the Philippines, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Indonesia.

But the presence of contradictory and restrictive gambling laws in these jurisdictions, the age and condition of the SS Catalina which could have made it dangerous for the ship to make a trans-Pacific crossing, and the lack of sufficient funds for the project caused it to be abandoned. When the U.S. Coast Guard threatened to seize the ship because of its rapidly-deteriorating condition, it was towed to the harbor in Ensenada, Mexico, about 95 miles south of San Diego, where a new owner announced plans to turn it into shops, a disco and a restaurant. That plan also foundered, the ship fell into further disrepair and in the late 1980s, it broke away from its moorings in the Ensenada harbor and partially sunk.

Plagued by vandals who critically damaged the Catalina as it lay half-submerged, the ship posed a menace to other vessels navigating the harbor. Also, Ensenada port authorities wanted the Catalina removed to make way for a massive new resort and marina. Efforts to raise funds to refloat the Catalina failed, and in early February Mexican officials said “enough is enough” and announced plans to demolish it and turn it into scrap.

The fabled SS Catalina, known as the “Great White Steamer,” was built by the Wrigley Co., the chewing gum firm that owned much of Catalina Island and was the summer home of the Wrigley Family. Making its maiden, 26-mile voyage from Los Angeles to Catalina on May 30, 1924, it hosted hundreds of motion stars during its career and featured dancing provided by “big bands” such as Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller during its two-hour crossings.

During World War II, it was taken out of passenger service, painted gray, given the number “FS-99,” and turned into U.S. Army transport that carried an estimated 850,000 troops throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, the rusting and forlorn SS Catalina awaits a demolition team that will cut it apart at an estimated cost of $650,000. Nautical historians and many former Catalina passengers contributed to a campaign to save the old ship and turn it into a floating museum, but lack of funds and a survey which showed it might fall to pieces if raised from the Ensenada Bay proved too daunting to keep the Catalina from the dismantlers’ hands. In a few weeks, nothing will remain of the great old ship that many years served as a famous passenger steamer and Army transport ship.

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[I]Frequent Pacific Islands traveler David C. Henley, who visited the CNMI, Guam, and China last year, is a foreign correspondent and former Western U.S. daily newspaper owner who covers international diplomatic, economic and military issues in Asia, Europe and Latin America. A former USC journalism professor, he is a member of the board of trustees of Chapman University in California and serves on the External Advisory Board of the University’s MA degree program in international studies.[/I]