The S.S. Washington was the ship used by Ramon Bada and Alonso Perez during their search for the treasure contained in the idol of The Broken Ear.
The ship was at the time being used by Samuel Goldbarr, the owner of the idol, while on a holiday. Knowing this, Ramon and Alonso track him to the ship and steal the idol. Tintin had also traced the idol to the ship from the sale records of Simon Balthazar. Tintin confronts the two on board and the two antagonists drown with the gemstone. The idol is eventually recovered and brought back to the museum.