WRECK; GENERAL M.C. MEIGS~~ 1972

 GENERAL M. C. MEIGS

Lost 9 January 1972
US Navy troop transport ship.
7-mi south of Cape Flattery, WA.
Unmanned.

GENERAL M. C. MEIGS 

wreck, 1972

Near Tatoosh Island, WA.

Photo by Roy Scully 

Original photo from the archives of the 

Saltwater People Historical Society

Early 9 January 1972, the San Francisco tug BEAR put out to sea from the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the face of gale warnings, towing the 622-ft troop transport GEN. M. C. MEIGS, formerly in layup at the Olympia Reserve Fleet and en route to the remaining West Coast reserve fleet at Suisun Bay near San Fran. No sooner had the tug and tow rounded Tatoosh Island than the wind and seas tore the big two-stack transport loose and drove her ashore 7 miles south of Cape Flattery. Soon afterward she broke in two against a murderous cluster of pinnacle rocks. Although unmanned, the MEIGS was carrying much material from the Olympia Reserve Fleet, including a steel harbor tug chained on a deck forward [visible in photo].

Burning wreckage from the 

GENERAL M. C. MEIGS, 1972
"Smoke rose from a pile of burning driftwood 

and timbers as USN enlisted men mop-up oil 

washed ashore from ruptured tanks 

on the MEIGS.
 The Navy is burning oil-soaked timbers 

and shoveling globs of the tar-like substance

into bags. the beach is owned by 
the Native Makah tribe.
The MEIGS was carrying 116,000 gallons and 

only about 5,000 have appeared." 

Seattle Times 1/1972.

      

The loss of the MEIGS and her valuable cargo aroused numerous questions in maritime circles, aside from the basic one of why the GEAR, under contract to the US Navy, proceeded to sea in defiance of a Force 8 gale. Several experienced mariners reported seeing the tug headed out with the transport on a short towline and an inadequate hitch. The Coast Guard does not investigate accidents involving naval vessels unless asked to do so, and the Navy made no such request, leaving many questions unanswered to the present day. Naval personnel were dispatched to the scene to clean up the spill of heavy bunker oil and to guard the wreck, although no effort was made to salvage anything from it. Subsequent winter storms have torn the ship into many pieces, with only a section of the bow and a mast remaining visible [at press time].
Above text: The H. W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest (1966-1976). Gordon Newell, editor. Superior, 1977.