❖ CAPTAIN WILLIAM P. THORNTON ❖

Capt. William P. Thornton (L),

veteran Puget Sound mariner.

With him, the well-known writer Gordon Newell 

who learns the history of the Duwamish, in the 

background, first placed in service as a coal-burning 

steamer 49 years before this photo was taken in 1959.

The men were preparing for a presentation for the 

annual waterfront reunion and banquet sponsored

by the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society 

at the Hotel Edmond Meany.

Original photo from the Marine Salon collection 

dated 29 Sept. 1959 from the archives 

of the Saltwater People Historical Society©

Captain William P. Thornton was one of the first ferryboat skippers on Puget Sound. He began his maritime career at 12 years old, after moving to Friday Harbor from the midwest. He spent the rest of his professional life in marine activities and became prominent on the waterfront. He was a member of the crew of the Lydia Thompson when the vessel went aground off Orcas Island in 1898.

The crew of the S.S. Lydia Thompson
that ran aground on Barrel Rock,
off Orcas Island, 
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
15 December 1898
Here they were camped with the ship's wheel,
at the old Guthrie Place 
near Grindstone Harbor, Orcas Island.
 They were hauled off
the rocks on 27 December 1898.
Standing L-R: Whitlies, sailor; Charlie Mickelson, fireman;
Capt. E.V. Ruger; Clay, cook; Wait, messman; Fred Hall, sailor;
Red Shuler, fireman; William P. Thornton, stevedore.
Sitting, front row.
Casey, sailor; Clarence Kline, sailor;
Bats, asst engineer; Millard Hutchinson, first mate.
Photo from the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©

      Shortly thereafter he obtained his captain's papers and commanded a Revenue Service ship on the Sound.
      Capt. Thornton also skippered ships in the Alaskan trade and "mosquito fleet" ships, small passenger vessels for Puget Sound Navigation Co. In 1906 he scored a first by agreeing to take a Stanley Steamer aboard his vessel at Hoodsport and take it to Seattle. It was the first automobile to be ferried across the Sound.
      Capt. Thornton was a port captain in Seattle for the PSNC from 1914 to 1923. He then had his own tugboat business and later operated the Seabeck-Brinnon Ferry Line on Hood Canal until retiring in 1932.
      He left retirement during WW II to serve as a captain in the Army Transport Service, commanding a gunnery -- training ship out of Seattle.
      He also commanded the "Welcome Home" ship that greeted troop ships returning from the war.

Captain Thornton was a member of the Puget Sound Maritime History Society.

Text by the Seattle Times. 1959