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6 unusual facts about Mosquito Fleet


Indianola, Washington

It was originally established as a summer community and was a stop for Mosquito Fleet ferries until the 1950s.

In the early 20th century, most transportation on Puget Sound was by steamer, and a community’s dock was often its only lifeline to the outside world.

Mosquito Fleet

They also played a role in lightering grain to load larger vessels offshore in deeper waters, the most famous example being to windjammers off Port Victoria, Spencer Gulf, which until 1949 marked the start of the Great Grain Race.

#The name of a United States Navy "squadron detachment", commanded by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, that fought against the Mexican fortresses at Tuxpan and Villahermosa during the Mexican-American War.

The term "Mosquito Fleet" also refers the the fleet of small ketches and schooners operating in the shallow coastal and gulf waters of South Australia, from the colony's establishment in 1836 until 1982.

Among the last surviving ketches are the 1883 Nelcebee (owned by the South Australian Maritime Museum) and the 1919-built Falie.



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Fragaria, Washington

Fragaria was built around a pier that served as one of several ports for the boats of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet such as the steamship Virginia V which used the port between 1922 and 1938, the Virginia V is one of the last ferrys from the Mosquito Fleet era that is still operable in this region and it is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.

Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet

As a modern reminder of the little ships, in 2001, Kitsap County inventoried all the many landings and docks of the Mosquito Fleet on Bainbridge Island and the Kitsap Peninsula, and developed the Kitsap County Mosquito Fleet Trail for bicycles and foot traffic.