Passengers wait at the Tacoma Municipal Dock to board the streamlined "Kalakala" for the last ferry ride across the Narrows on July 2, 1940. Additional passengers boarded at Point Defiance and Gig Harbor ferry landings on the boat's voyage toward Bremerton. Because the ferry was nearly an hour late in departing, it was decided to not dock at Bremerton. The decision did not seem to bother the raucous 1,440 revelers who celebrated with music and dancing sponsored by the Young Men's Business Club. (T.Times, 7-3-40, p. 3). TPL-1369
Kalakala (Ferry); Marine terminals--Tacoma; Tacoma Municipal Dock; Crowds--Tacoma; Celebrations--Tacoma--1940-1950; Ferries--Tacoma;
Easter Service for Coast Guard. In April of 1943, men who were unable to leave the base to spend Easter with their families were able to invite their wives and sweethearts to attend services held at the Coast Guard patrol base in Tacoma. C. Lyle Rich, acting chaplain, conducted the service with Herbert Ford who sang solos and led hymns. Coast Guard Headquarters was located in the Municipal Dock Building. (T. Times, 4/26/43, p.8)
World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--Tacoma; Religious services--Tacoma--1940-1950; Easter--Tacoma;
Men unable to leave the base for the holidays invited wives and sweethearts to attend Easter Services, 1943, at the US Coast Guard patrol base in Tacoma. Coast Guard headquarters were located in the Municipal Dock Building during World War II. (T. Times, 4/26/1943, p.8.)
World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--Tacoma; Religious services--Tacoma--1940-1950; Easter--Tacoma;
The U.S.S. Laffey was on display at Tacoma Municipal Dock after being hit by five Japanese kamikaze planes and four bombs in an attack 30 miles north of Okinawa. The crew suffered 103 casualties--32 dead and 71 wounded. The destroyer, "riddled like a sieve above the water-line"--the hull and superstructure twisted by the impact, was drydocked at Todd Shipyards for repairs. In 1946, she participated in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini. (T.Times, 5/26/1945, p.1; Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. IV, pp. 16-19).
U.S.S. Laffey (Ship); 11th Street Bridge (Tacoma); Vertical lift bridges--Tacoma; Ships; World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations; Piers & wharves--Tacoma; Municipal Dock (Tacoma);
Destroyer U.S.S. Laffey at 11th St. The USS Laffey was on display at Municipal Dock. The destroyer survived an attack by six Japanese suicide planes and two bombs sixty miles off Japan. The hull and superstructure were grotesquely twisted by the impact. (T.Times, 5/30/1945, p.9)
U.S.S. Laffey (Ship); 11th Street Bridge (Tacoma); Vertical lift bridges--Tacoma; Ships; World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations; Piers & wharves--Tacoma; Municipal Dock (Tacoma);
Destroyer U.S.S. Laffey at 11th St. Miss Marie Ruedin and Miss Doris Long inspect the battle-scarred aft gun turret of the U.S.S. Laffey. The destroyer was on display at the Tacoma Municipal Dock after it was hit by six Japanese suicide planes and two bombs. F 1/C Maurice Miller, showing the damaged gun to the women, was on the forward deck gun when Laffey was struck. One of his companions was killed, one wounded. (T.Times, 6/1/1945, p.1)
U.S.S. Laffey (Ship); Ships; World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations; Ruedin, Marie; Long, Doris; Miller, Maurice;
Steel band packaging operations at Erdahl Brothers facilities with workmen strapping stacks of plywood. The stacks of plywood are fitted carefully into a frame at the back of the assembly-line system with men in the foreground tightening the straps with specialized tools. Lorentz and Arthur Erdahl were the owners of the trucking firm located at the site of the former Municipal Dock. Ordered by Brainard Steel Company.
