"The past actually happened but history is only what someone wrote down." A. Whitney Brown.

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San Juan Archipelago, Washington State, United States
A society formed in 2009 for the purpose of collecting, preserving, celebrating, and disseminating the maritime history of the San Juan Islands and northern Puget Sound area. Check this log for tales from out-of-print publications as well as from members and friends. There are circa 750, often long entries, on a broad range of maritime topics; there are search aids at the bottom of the log. Please ask for permission to use any photo posted on this site. Thank you.

31 May 2017

❖ USS ARIZONA vs PURSE SEINER UMATILLA at CAPE FLATTERY ❖


Purse Seiner UMATILLA

Lying in the mud at Neah Bay, WA,
where she was towed

after being rammed, 26 July 1934,
near Cape Flattery, WA.

She was cut in two by the USS ARIZONA.
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

The USS ARIZONA was en route from Bremerton, WA to San Pedro, CA on a clear, moonlit night when she rammed the 52-ft purse-seiner UMATILLA, Capt Lucas Plancich,  off Cape Flattery, 26 July 1934. Two fishermen, Lauritz Halsan and John Urosac, were lost from the purse seiner. 
      ARIZONA, Capt. MacGillivray Milne, did not stop to render assistance but proceeded on to San Pedro. The fishermen, including 7 survivors were pulled from the water by another fishing vessel. 

Schenechtady Gazette. 13 November 1934.
"Navy officials disclosed that the loss of 3 grade numbers on the active list was the punishment given Capt. MacGillivray Milne as a result of the collision between the battleship ARIZONA and the fishing vessel UMATILLA, off Neah Bay, WA."

The USS ARIZONA was sunk by Japanese bombers 7 December 1941.
The UMATILLA, owned by Peter Petrich of Dockton, Maury Island, WA  was restored to continue a long life of fishing in Alaska.

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