J.D.’s father—Claus Spreckels—had early financed. Prior to its becoming associated with Matson, Oceanic had under J.D.’s control owned a total 17 ships, which were the iron ship Alameda (1883), the wood schooner Anna (1881), the iron steamer Australia (1875), the wood brigantine Claus Spreckels (1879), the wood brigantine Consuelo (1880), the wood brigantine Emma Augusta (1867), the wood brigantine John D. Spreckels (1880), the iron ship Mariposa (1883), the two mast schooner Rosario (1879), the wood brigantine Salina, the passenger ship Sierra (1900), the passenger liner Sonoma (1900), the Suez (1876), the Ventura (1900), the wood brigantine W.H. Dimond (1881), the wood brigantine William G. Irwin (1881), and the Zealandia (1875). In October 1877, John Diedrich Spreckels married Lillie Siebein in Hoboken, New Jersey, and together they had four children: Grace (born September 1878), Lillie (born November 1879), John (born April 1883), and Claus (born March 1888). They first lived in the Kingdom of Hawaii and then in San Francisco. In 1887, Spreckels visited San Diego on his yacht Lurline to stock up on supplies. Impressed by the real estate boom then taking place, he invested in the construction of a wharf and coal bunkers at the foot of Broadway (then called "D" Street). That boom ended soon but Spreckels' interest in San Diego would last for the rest of his life. He acquired control of the Coronado Beach Company, the Hotel del Coronado and Coronado Tent City; he bought the San Diego street railway system, changing it from horse power to electricity, in 1892. The Hotel del Coronado was owned by the Coronado Beach Company which was originally capitalized with US$3 million. At the time of capitalization the original company directors were E.S. Babcock, John D. Spreckels, Captain Charles T. Hinde, H.W. Mallett, and Giles Kellogg. The Coronado Beach Company was responsible for numerous other investments in the Coronado, California, area. Before investing in the Coronado Beach Company, Spreckels waited for his close friend—Captain Charles T. Hinde—to join him. They jointly invested and managed new businesses. For a time, Spreckels was owner of the San Francisco Call, then a morning newspaper. While still living in San Francisco, he continued investing in San Diego newspapers, buying The San Diego Union in 1890 and the San Diego Evening Tribune in 1901. He moved his family permanently to San Diego immediately after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Relocation to San Diego In