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1915 PANAMA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION

ightseeing cruises on San Francisco Bay began in Crowley was happy to be the leader by filling that void. He FAR LEFT: This double-decker
1915 to accompany the Panama-Pacific International offered sightseeing cruises out to the US battleship Oregon, passenger boat, the Crowley No.
SExposition, a world’s fair held to commemorate the which was moored in the Bay, as well as tours up and down 17, was one of the first two vessels
completion of the Panama Canal. Hosted in San Francisco, the San Francisco coast. Two new vessels were constructed Crowley acquired exclusively for use
on sightseeing tours; its pair was the
the fair was also seen as a chance for the city to show off for this purpose, built with passenger enjoyment in mind. The Crowley No. 18. The boats made their
its remarkable recovery from the 1906 earthquake that 250-passenger Crowley No. 17 and Crowley No. 18 were both debut at the 1915 Panama-Pacific
had nearly leveled the area just ten years earlier. Crowley’s gas-powered, double-decker boats with lots of windows and International Exposition.
involvement with the fair began as early as 1913, when he plenty of room on the observation decks so that passengers
secured contracts to use his ever-expanding fleet of vessels could enjoy the beautiful sights of the Bay. LEFT: A postcard encourages
citizens to tell their congressmen to
to haul materials and equipment to the fairgrounds to aid in Just under nineteen million people visited the Exposition, vote for the proposed Pan-Pacific
construction. Crowley recalled, “We worked down there at an astonishing number during an era when the population of International Exposition.
the Exposition from the beginning. We brought in sand, San Francisco was still below 450,000. Through his business
gravel, lumber, and every conceivable thing . . . ” connections, Crowley was able to secure an exclusive contract OPPOSITE, clockwise from
Never one to sit still, once construction was completed, the to provide the event’s maritime tours, becoming an integral top left: Eager passengers crowd
innovative Crowley pivoted to satisfy another need: passenger part of the experience for tourists and hometown visitors alike around the Crowley booth at Howard
Street Wharf. • One of the Crowley
transport. The influx of visitors and tourists to the fair provided and planting the seed for the future business model of the Red sightseeing boats (center) is parked
a huge audience for tours of the area and its landmarks, and and White Fleet. in the Yacht Harbor of the fair. •
This map of the Exposition includes
an advertisement (bottom left) for
Crowley’s new sightseeing tours of
the Golden Gate (before the bridge
was built) and the US warship fleet.

40 • Red and White Fleet Milestones • 41