Ocean Wave was a steamboat that was operated from 1891 to 1897 on the Columbia River, from 1897 to 1899 on Puget Sound and from 1899 to 1911 as a ferry on San Francisco Bay.

Ocean Wave is perhaps best known for transporting summer vacationers from Portland, Oregon to seaside resorts near Ilwaco, Washington during its service on the Columbia River.

[8] The engines were designed to generate 190 nominal horsepower, turning the side wheels at twenty-two to twenty-five revolutions per minute.

[8] The steam engines coupled to the stern wheels were expected to be readily capable of driving the boat at a speed of 18 miles per hour.

[6] Others who served on Ocean Wave on the Ilwaco route were Charles T. Kamm, as master, and Joseph Hayes, as chief engineer.

Passengers rushed ashore to get good seats in the narrow coaches, while freight and baggage from the boat was tumbled on the dock.

Quickly, before an ebbing tide could ground it, the boat hurried off, and the train whistled shrilly and clattered away with its load of passengers.

On Saturday, August 15, 1891, Ocean Wave was chartered for an excursion by the Signal Corps of the First Regiment of the Oregon Native Guards.

[12] A band was embarked on the steamer, and played a tune, “Out on the Ocean Wave”, as several thousand people gathered along the river to witness the boat's departure.

[12] Ocean Wave arrived at Astoria, Oregon at 9:00 a.m. the next day, and disembarked some of the passengers, then proceeded to Ilwaco, where the steamer met the narrow gauge train at the dock.

[12] On the afternoon of June 13, 1893, Ocean Wave came downriver from Portland, Oregon to Astoria, and then crossed across the Columbia to Ilwaco, Washington.

[17] On the same day, the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and the White Collar Line reached an agreement whereby there would be two steamers, Ocean Wave and T.J. Potter, running twice daily between Astoria and Portland.

[10] If the lien had remained in place, it would have forced Ocean Wave to be tied up during the entire summer season when the boat would otherwise be at its most profitable.

[19] The editor of the Daily Astorian looked forward to such an event, which would generate a rate war among the steamboats supplying service between Portland and Astoria.

[6] Other sources state or suggest[1] that the reason for the sale was to permit Ocean Wave to be used in the shipping boom triggered by the Klondike Gold Rush.

[24] Ocean Wave saw some service running from Puget Sound to Vancouver, British Columbia under Gary (or Cary) W. Cook (b.1862).

[24] In December 1898, Ocean Wave was taken from Tacoma to the Fraser River in British Columbia to be placed in lay up for an indefinite time.

[25] By 1899, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad had completed its transcontinental line with its western terminus at Point Richmond.

[1] To complete the final part of the line to San Francisco, the railroad needed a steamer to carry its passengers across the bay.

[26] At 9:30 pm, on Saturday, May 20, 1899, Ocean Wave departed Port Angeles, Washington under the tow of the powerful ocean-going steam tug Richard Holyoke.

[29] However, difficulties in completing the rail line to Point Richmond prevented Ocean Wave from being immediately placed into this service.

[26] In May 1908, the Santa Fe Railroad arranged to have Ocean Wave take a number of excursion trips around San Francisco Bay to view the arrival of the Great White Fleet.

For nearly two hours, each trip, the steamer Ocean Wave steams slowly up and down the rows of battleships, cruisers and torpedo boats, giving passengers an excellent opportunity to view the beautiful vessels from every side.

[32] On Sunday night, August 18, 1895, at 11:30 pm, Ocean Wave while en route from Ilwaco to Portland, ran into and sank a pleasure yacht with five people on board.

[35] On September 6, 1897, deck hand Dell Elbon fell overboard from Ocean Wave as the steamer was passing through the Burnside Bridge.

[36] Elbon was 21 years of age, and had been working as non-union employee during a wage dispute on the Ocean Wave when he fell from the boat.

[37] On November 27, 1901, a cylinder head blew out on Ocean Wave while the ferry was on the 8:00 a.m. run, causing a deckhand to be slightly scalded by escaping steam.

[38] The engines became useless as a result, but the tug Reliance towed Ocean Wave to and from Point Richmond on the day of the incident, so there as no delay or inconvenience in the ferry service.

[38] During a severe wind storm on February 25, 1902, Ocean Wave was blown off its moorings at Point Richmond and drifted about one-half mile into shallow water where it was grounded.

[40] Erickson was thought to have fallen into the bay from the paddle wheel housing where he had been working when the ferry left San Francisco bound for Point Richmond on the afternoon of the 8th.