ONE HAPPY CAPTAIN........ 1965

 

Captain Louis Van Bogaert
with his prize of friendship from 
craftsman Ralph Hitchcock, Seattle, 1965.
The steamer Rosalie, his sweetheart.
Original gelatin-silver photograph from the archives 
of the Saltwater People Historical Society©

"Capt. Louis Van Bogaert who retired in 1957 after 54 years on Puget Sound vessels, 
had a special fondness for one boat, the ROSALIE.
      He had gone to work on the ROSALIE as a watchman in 1910. Later he was second mate, then first mate, and finally, in 1914, her skipper. So the captain was especially happy about a gift which he took back to his home in Alhambra, CA, after a recent visit in Seattle.
      It was a bottle with a scale model of the ROSALIE in it. The model was the work of Ralph C. Hitchcock, a past president of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society. Hitchcock had driven from California to Seattle with Captain Van Bogaert and on several occasions, Van Bogaert had wanted to stop and look for a bottle with a shipmodel in it. But Hitchcock always found an objection.

    

Ralph Hitchcock
Ship model maker. 
Photo dated 1965, Seattle.
Gelatin-silver original photo from the archives of
the Saltwater People Historical Society.©

"I'll get you a bottle," Hitchcock kept saying.

But Van Bogaert was surprised when the bottle turned out to have a model which Hitchcock himself had made.

      Hitchcock made the model of the famous Puget Sound passenger vessel FLYER which is in the State Historical Museum in Tacoma, but the ROSALIE is the first model he ever assembled in a bottle.
      The model was in 334 pieces before Hitchcock began assembling it inside the bottle, which has a neck with a diameter only three-quarters of an inch across.
      The ROSALIE, 136 feet long, was built in Alameda, CA in 1893. She carried passengers between San Francisco and Oakland when it cost only a nickel to make the trip.
      Then the ROSALIE came to Puget Sound, but when gold was discovered in Alaska she was put into service between Seattle and the Northland. Among her skippers while she was owned by the Alaska Steamship Co., was Capt. Johnny (Dynamite) O'Brien.
      Much of ROSALIE's service was in the San Juan Islands as part of the Puget Sound Navigation Co fleet. That was where Van Bogaert served aboard her.

Steamer ROSALIE
off the coast of Lopez Island, dated 1907.
click to enlarge.
L.A. Cadwell has marked numbers on the buildings,
the schoolhouse, two churches, the Creamery,
 the Post Office, the Store, and
"part of our orchard", in the foreground.
Original photo from the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society ©

The ROSALIE (L)
Click to enlarge and view the 
 Sidewheeler YOSEMITE
Steaming through the Islands.
Postcard mailed in Eastsound in 1907
Original photo from the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©

1907, July 7.

"When on the Victoria route a few days ago, the steamer ROSALIE won a fine silver service in competition with the steamer VICTORIAN in a voting contest to determine which was the more popular vessel." Good going, Rosalie!
        The ROSALIE's career came to an end 22 June 1918, when she caught fire while tied to a pier of the Duwamish Waterway and was a total loss." 

Words with no byline from the Seattle Times Oct. 1965

❖ WRECKS ❖ Ships T-Z (10) ❖

Wrecks ❖ ❖ SHIPS T- Z (11)

Work in progress.

TOLO (ex-CAMANO)
202970
Built 1906 at Coupeville by Capt. H. B. Lovejoy 
Reg. L 108.9' x 16.9' x 5.1'.
Wrecked: 5 October 1917
Lives lost: Four.
In command this day: Capt. George Benson

Steamer CAMANO took the Name TOLO to the Bottom of Puget Sound

The Whidbey Island steamer CAMANO was renamed TOLO before her 11-year career ended in a tragic collision on 5 October 1917.

     She was not the first steamer CAMANO registered at Pt. Townsend, nor was she the first steamer TOLO to operate in the region.

     The first CAMANO was a sternwheeler built in Wenatchee in 1898 and operated out of Wenatchee until 1901, her customs enrollment during that time was in the District of Puget Sound. 

     The first steamer TOLO was also a sternwheeler, built in Seattle in 1904. She was still in operation on Puget Sound when the later TOLO, a propeller-driven craft, sank in 1917.

     The later steamer, launched as the CAMANO, was built at Coupeville, WA on Whidbey Island in 1906 by Capt. H. B. Lovejoy, the father of Frank E. (Ed) Lovejoy, who founded Puget Sound Freight Lines.

A trio of Lovejoy mariners
I. D. needed.
Joe Williamson photo from
the archives of S.P.H.S.©

     The Lovejoys were sons and grandson, respectively, of Capt. Howard Bentley Lovejoy, a windjammer master and pioneer at Coupeville, who became an early-day pilot for Puget Sound on 4 August 1868.

     The Lovejoy sons went into shipbuilding, and at the turn of the century, Lovejoy Bros. owned a large carpenter shop and shipyard at Coupeville.

     As an owner, operator, master, and builder of steamboats, Capt. H. B. Lovejoy was simply following his normal line of work when he built the CAMANO in 1906.

     After inspection and measurement for customs, the CAMANO was enrolled in the Steam District of Washington in July 1906. Thereafter, she was operated by the Island Transportation Co between Whidbey Island points and Seattle, via Everett.

     As originally constructed, the CAMANO was only 88.9-ft L x 16.8-ft B, and 5.-ft D of hold. In 1908, however, she was rebuilt at Coupeville and her length was increased to 108.9-ft.

     Ed Lovejoy received his introduction to steamboating aboard the CAMANO, and Stanley Craig, the long-time engineer of the VIRGINIA III, IV, and V, obtained his first steamboat job as a fireman on the vessel.

     After Island Tran. Co had the 117-ft steamer CALISTA built at Dockton in 1911, she replaced the CAMANO on the Whidbey Island, Everett, and Seattle routes.

     For a time thereafter, the CAMANO ran between Seattle and Alki Point, accommodating holiday crowds and carrying picnickers to the beaches for a dime.

     Early in 1916, the CAMANO was purchased by Kitsap County Trans. Co and during that spring was rebuilt and renamed TOLO.

     She then ran between Seattle and Bainbridge, leaving Seattle every day at 5:15 PM.

     On 5 Oct. 1917, with Capt. George Benson, the TOLO pulled out of Pier 3 at 5:22 PM, seven minutes behind schedule, and headed out across a bay that was heavy with fog.

     She carried 53 passengers, including W. L. Gazzam, V. P. of the Kitsap County Tran. Co,  and his 10-yr old son, Warren, Jr.

     Also on board was Thomas MacBride, the 5-yr old son of Philip D. MacBride, secretary, and treasurer of the company.

     About halfway between Alki and Restoration Point, Capt. Benson began hearing the whistles of another vessel close by.

     He had reduced speed, but still held his course as he tried to determine the course of the other vessel.

     It was now dark, as well as foggy. As he listened, the tug MAGIC, owned by Pioneer Sand and Gravel Co,  came out of the fog on the starboard quarter.

     Capt. Benson signaled engineer Joseph George for full-speed astern, but it was too late. The MAGIC smashed bow first into the TOLO, just forward of her freight port, ripping through planking and hull timbers. Almost immediately, the TOLO listed to starboard.

     Most of the passengers had been inside the cabin, where it was warm, but there was a mad scramble for the exits now, and many tried to make their way to the upper deck, where the two lifeboats and the life raft were kept.

     Capt. Benson calmed them by explaining that there was ample time to leave the vessel, and excitement might hinder the rescue. As the vessel listed more sharply, however, he had difficulty keeping them calm.

     Life preservers were stowed under the seats and in racks aft of the cabin. These were broken out, so every passenger was provided with one.

     Owing to the list of the vessel, the crew had trouble launching a lifeboat, and even the life raft could be launched only after some difficulty. When the task was accomplished, the raft was loaded with passengers, and the boat was used to ferry passengers to the MAGIC.

     Unfortunately, as the TOLO lurched further to starboard and settled deeper in the water, someone yelled, "She is sinking."

     This caused a number of people to jump overboard.

     The crew of the tugboat then launched their lifeboat and began pulling people out of the water. One member of the tug's crew, meanwhile, was kept on the tug's whistle cord, sounding the distress signal.

     Aboard the TOLO, one passenger, Mrs. Jennie Anderson, remained in the cabin with two children she was escorting.    

     Fearing they would be trampled, she held them between seats, until all of the passengers had cleared out of the cabin. By then, the deck slanted so they could not walk on it, and water was rushing into the cabin.

     Fortunately, Capt. Benson saw their plight. He climbed over the side, and walked along the outside of the cabin to where they were, kicked in a window, and lifted them out.

     Thomas MacBride was taken off the sinking vessel by the purser, P. G. Henderson.

     The TOLO was settling faster at the stern, and in less than 8 minutes after the collision, she went down stern first.

     The steamer H. B. KENNEDY had left Seattle behind the TOLO, and was heading out on her regular run to the Navy Yard in Bremerton.

     Capt. William E. Mitchell, master of the KENNEDY, heard the distress calls of the MAGIC and immediately headed toward the sound.

     When the KENNEDY came upon the scene, the TOLO had already sunk, and about a dozen people were still in the water. The lifeboats of the KENNEDY were then lowered, and all of the surviving passengers were brought to that vessel.

     One of those taken from the water was 76-yr  J. P. Panchot, of Venice,  Bainbridge Island. He had swum to the raft but was suffering from hypothermia. Efforts were made to revive him, aboard the KENNEDY, but he died.

     Two women were missing. Mrs. A. D. Marshall and her mother Mrs. John Johnson, are both from Seattle. 

     The TOLO carried a crew of eight, including a Portuguese cook known only as Castro. It was believed that he leaped into the water soon after the TOLO was struck. His loss brought the total number of deaths to four.

     This vessel had been named for a community on the west side of Bainbridge, but the name was no longer a popular one for Puget Sound steamers. The last to carry the name TOLO now rests beneath 120 fathoms of water.

Text by Roland Carey,  Marine Digest, 23 April 1983

Courtesy of a donation by Capt. Jack Russell, Seattle,  2013.

TRANSPORT

ON 145833

Blt 1899, Olympia, WA.

Capt. Myres

Wrecked 1911

Lives lost: one

The TRANSPORT

courtesy of Cregan Marmont, 

grandson of Engineer Wm. A. Marmont.

Marmont and Harry Barlow 

were co-owners of the freighter.

“The old freighter TRANSPORT, a familiar craft among the islands, was burned between Smith’s Island and Cattle Point, San Juan Is. The boat was bound from Roche Harbor to Seattle with a cargo of 1,800 barrels of lime, which is supposed to have caught fire by spontaneous combustion, caused by the lime getting wet. The accident resulted in the death of the second engineer. The mate of the boat gave the following account of the mishap:

      ‘We had known for half an hour that there was a fire in the vessel’s hold and were attempting to make Cattle Point when suddenly she burst into flames amidships,’ said mate Allenby. ‘Water seemed only to add fuel to the flames, and the boiling lime gave off an intense heat. Captain Myres and Quartermaster Skagen were in the bow of the steamer and were out of danger for the moment, as the flames were forced aft by the heavy wind that was blowing. There was nothing for the rest of us to do but pile into the lifeboat, and this we did. We did not attempt to make shore for fear the lifeboat would swamp, with its heavy load of fifteen men, so we stayed in the light made by the burning vessel in the hope we would be picked up. We had been giving signals of distress which had brought no answer, but the light from the burning vessel attracted the attention of campers on the bluff above Burrows Bay and the launch RAINIER was sent to our rescue. The boat we were in was plunging and dipping and in great danger of sinking when the launch came alongside. One of the first to leap for the launch was Second Engineer Snyder. He missed his footing and, falling overboard, was carried away in the heavy seas.’"

Above text from The Islander Newspaper. August 1911.

From 30 November 1906 until 1909, Capt. Harry Barlow was a partner with Marine Engineer Wm. A. Marmont, operating under the name of the Transport Steamship Co. In 1909 they purchased the Star Steamship Co. and added the TRANSPORT to their fleet. Mr. Marmont was president of the company and Capt. Barlow was vice president and general manager.

      Their lost freighter, TRANSPORT, was 162 gross with 111 net tons register. She was built in 1889 at Olympia, 111-ft long with a 21-ft beam.

      The next year, 1912, Capt. Barlow sold his interests in the Star company to Mr. Marmont and Barlow devoted himself exclusively to the development of the marine elevator. The first elevator was installed in the freighter FIDALGO of the Star fleet and proved such a success that it immediately commanded wide attention. The second elevator was installed in 1912 on the north side of the Colman Dock. In 1913 the Barlow marine elevator attracted the attention of Capt. J. W. Troup of the C.P.R. and he ordered the equipment installed in 18 of their various terminals.

      Capt. Harry and his brother Capt. Sam Barlow were from the early Barlow family of Lopez Island, WA.

Freighter TRANSPORT, 1905.

Engineer Wm. A. Marmont,

 far right.

Hank Howell on left.

Photo courtesy of 

grandson Cregan Marmont.

T. W. LAKE 
All Hands Lost in Rosario Strait in Heavy Blow—

T.W. LAKE
145700
Built 1895
original photo from the
Saltwater People Historical Society ©

Bodies Brought to Friday Harbor for Identification

"One of the worst marine disasters in the vicinity of the San Juan Islands to have occurred in recent years happened during the wind storm which swept the county Wednesday when the old freighter T. W. LAKE was lost with all hands [15.]
            The first news of the disaster reached Friday Harbor about 10 o’clock Thursday morning when it was reported to the county authorities that a corpse with a T. W. LAKE life preserver had been picked up on the east shore of Lopez. Sheriff Gerard left immediately to take charge of the body, and the finding of several other bodies led to the conclusion the freighter had been lost. Under his direction and that of Deputy Sheriff Sam Bridges, a search was instituted and that evening four of the bodies of the crew of the vessel were recovered and brought to Friday Harbor for Identification. They reported the wreckage of the vessel was scattered for a distance of four miles along the shore from Waughtmough Bight to Lopez Pass.
            An examination of the watches on two of the dead seamen revealed that one of the watches had stopped at 7:13 and the other at 7:20, indicating that the disaster occurred sometime at about 7:00 o’clock that evening. The craft had eight tons of canned salmon and had taken a cargo of 700 barrels of lime from the Dalley kilns near Roche Harbor and left in the early forenoon for Fidalgo Island Packing Company at Anacortes. Various theories are expressed as to the cause of the accident, but the conclusion that seems to prevail is that when the vessel passed through Lopez Pass she was unable to buck the heavy tide and became unmanageable and foundered or broke to pieces by the overwhelming seas.
            Nine bodies have been found which were picked up on the southeast Lopez shore, on Center Island, the east side of Decatur, and on James Island, which would indicate that the vessel had got through Lopez Pass and had started across Rosario Strait.
            Four of the bodies brought to Friday Harbor were identified by Fred Marvin, manager of the Merchants Transportation Company and owner of the lost vessel, who arrived in town to assist in the search. The freighter T. W. LAKE was built over 20 years ago at Ballard for Captain T. W. LAKE, father of Mrs. G. B. Driggs of Friday Harbor. For many years she has been a familiar craft among the San Juan Islands, engaged principally in freighting lime to up-Sound ports. She was 101 feet long, 26-foot beam, and had a freight capacity of 150 tons. In 1918 she was practically rebuilt; her steam power was replaced with two 45-HP Fairbanks-Morse engines. She was valued at $20,000.
            Captain E. E. Mason had been master of the vessel for eight or nine years and was highly regarded as a careful navigator and master of good judgment.” 
Above text from: Friday Harbor Journal, Dec. 1923.
        According to the official investigation findings the T. W. LAKE had been in drydock at Dockton, WA, two months earlier for routine maintenance. The owner of the yard, A. J. Stuckey, had kept the vessel in fine condition for fifteen years. The evidence from the report listed winds at 72-mph from the southeast when the vessel was lost somewhere between Shannon Point and Decatur Island, San Juan County.
From the information submitted by T. Hughes, a descendent of Capt. E. E. Mason:

"Those Believed Dead"
Capt. E. E. Mason (1862-1923), Master; Regents Park.
Singne O. Uddenberg (1890-1923), First Mate, Gig Harbor.
Joseph L. Larson, Chief Engineer, Seattle.
Lars Drupping, Assistant Engineer, Seattle.
E. E. Fields, Purser, Tacoma.
Edwin V. Abbott, Cook, Tacoma.
Alfred (Al) Mason (1889-1923), Quarter Master, Tacoma.
W. Banks (1873-1923), Quarter Master, Tacoma. Buried in Valley Cem., San Juan Island.
Charles Pearson, Stevedore, Tacoma.
George Elbert, Stevedore, Tacoma.
H.  Skinner (1905-1923), Deck Hand, Tacoma.
J. Dunn, Deck Hand, Tacoma.
Walter H. Skillman (1905-1923), Deck Hand, Tacoma.
George Coffin (1893-1923), Deck Hand, Tacoma.
Robert "Oklahoma" Young (b. date unknown) was Buried with a headstone in Valley Cem., San Juan Island.

VASHON

ON 126766

Built in Aberdeen, WA., 1891

Capt. Robert Fredericks

Lost: November 1911

Lives lost: none.

 

Sternwheeler VASHON

Original photo from the Marine Salon Collection, Seattle.

From the archives of the S. P. H. S. ©

"Fire, presumably caused by spontaneous combustion, totally destroyed the steamer VASHON in Guemes channel. The vessel, owned by Mackie Bros. of Everett, and was an occasional visitor to this port [Friday Harbor], was a total loss. Captain Robert Fredericks and the crew barely escaped with their lives.

      The VASHON had just arrived in Anacortes from Seattle and was tied up to the Great Northern dock when the fire started. The steamer was one of the oldest on Puget Sound. For years she has plied out of Seattle on the Bremerton and Port Orchard route. Recently she has been on the Seattle-LaConner route and also made trips to the San Juan Islands. On this final passage, she was making a trip for the Island Belt Co. to load salmon at Lummi Island. She was valued at $20,000, with $5,000 insurance."

Text from the San Juan Islander. 1 December 1911

VAZLAV VOROVSKY
Capt. J. Tokareff
374-ft Russian Steamship
Lost on Peacock Spit, WA
3 April 1941
Lives lost: none.

VAZLAV VOROSKY
Click to enlarge.
Undated original 5" x 7" photo from
the archives of the
Saltwater People Historical Society©

VAZLAV VOROVSKY
3 April 1941
Peacock Spit, WA.
Bottom photo was collected
by Joe Williamson,
Marine Salon Photo Shop, Seattle.
Original photo from the
Saltwater People Historical Society©

The only Russian ship ever claimed by the sands of the Columbia bar was the VAZLAV VOROVSKY, pounded to pieces after stranding 3 April 1941, while outbound with a $1,750,000 cargo of heavy machinery for Vladivostok.

      It was midnight when the Russian commenced her ill-fated voyage. As she moved toward the open Pacific, a driving forty-mile gale moved in from the south. The vessel rolled and pitched and so rough was the sea that the ship was forced back and attempted to gain calmer waters. Her steering mechanism jammed and both anchors were dropped in an effort to keep her from drifting. The anchors, however, were no match for the seas and the vessel drove on the spit, southeast of the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.
      Three motor lifeboats went to the aid of the stricken freighter and successfully removed the crew of thirty-seven, two of whom were women. The survivors were taken to the CG station at Pt. Adams.
      The VOROVSKY's master, Capt. J. Tokareff, refused to leave his ship and signaled the lifeboat to shove off.

      As the wind whistled across the sea, it became increasingly apparent that the vessel was in a dangerous position and was working hard on the bar. Tugs stood by the wreck but abandoned thoughts of refloating the freighter when she began to break up.
      Twenty-four hours after the stranding, Tokareff signaled the shore station with blinker light, that he was ready to quit his ship, and the surf boat promptly went out to rescue him.
      The following day the vessel folded like an accordion, with two giant cracks buckling her steel hull. One break was fully eight feet wide. The local fishermen had a holiday picking loot from the wreck but the water was too shallow for larger vessels to salvage any heavy machinery.
      By the summer of 1950, only a few of the frames of the ship were visible on the low tide.
From: The Pacific Graveyard. Gibbs, James A., Jr. Binfords & Mort. (1950)

Message from a postcard regarding 
VAZLAV VOROVSKY wreck.
Some news accounts mentioned the great 
quantity of lard that washed ashore.
Click image to enlarge.
From the archives of the
Saltwater People Historical Society©

VAZLAV VOROSKY wreck
The buckets of lard
on the beach in top photo.
The lower in this duo shows the 
Lifeboat crews alongside, 
trying to rescue the mariners.
Two original photos from the S.P.H.S.©

One photo by Wesley Andrews
Two others possibly by North Beach
photographer C. Fitzpatrick.

WHIDBY

Built 1907 at Coupeville by Capt. H. B. Lovejoy for the Coupeville-Everett 
run by the Island Trans. Co.

110.4' x 21.7'

Capt. Arnold

Burned 1911

Lives lost: 
Joseph Parker and Manue Silva

  

Steamer WHIDBY
Lost to fire 1911, Whidbey Island, WA.
Original photo from the archives of 
the Saltwater People Historical Society©

      The passenger steamer WHIDBY of the Island Transportation Co was totally destroyed by fire at Whidbey Island early on the morning of 9 May. Joseph Parker, a fireman, and Manuel Silva, a deckhand, were killed. The oil tanks exploded and the fire spread with such rapidity that the rest of the crew escaped only with great difficulty. The WHIDBY was tied up for the night and Capt. Arnold, her master, was at his home ashore. The burning steamer was cut loose to save the dock, drifting across the harbor where she stranded and burned to the water's edge. Only her machinery was salvaged, going into the steamer CALISTA, which was built the same year to replace her.

Below text by Dorothy Neil and Lee Brainard
 By Canoe and Sailing Ship They Came,
Spindrift Publishing, 1989.

" ...the boat met a fiery finish in Oak Harbor Bay in 1911. Lillian Maylor Grubb, a young girl at the time, tells it:
'One cold winter night almost at dawn we were awakened by the clanging of bells and a shrill whistling. From the front window (of the Maylor home just above the store) we could see flames leaping up the side of the steamship WHIDBY at her berth at the end of our dock. There was no fire department and every man in town rushed to the scene where the frantic crew was grappling with ropes to release the burning ship. She floated out into the channel, and then to the horror of everyone a figure appeared from the hold, arms crossed over his breast. The figure hesitated, then fell, or jumped, into the cold water. It was the fireman of the WHIDBY. His body was never recovered. Papa and Uncle Joe took the shivering crew up to our store and fitted them all out in warm clothing. It was a night to remember. The blackened hull of the little WHIDBY lay beached on the shore off Uncle Alfred's farm many years."

YOSEMITE
The famous Sacramento River side-wheeler.
Wrecked: 9 July 1909.
Capt. Mike Edwards.
Lives lost: None.

YOSEMITE
Excursion to East Sound,
Orcas Island, San Juan Islands, WA.
(above)

YOSEMITE
Port Orchard Narrows.

"The loss of the YOSEMITE on the beach at Port Orchard Narrows, into which she crashed at full speed in broad daylight has remained something of a maritime mystery. In command of Capt. Mike Edwards, the big steamer left Pier 6, Seattle, in the early afternoon for a trip to the Navy Yard and a cruise around the Sound. At 6:20 pm as she was at the entrance to the Narrows, about two miles from Bremerton, without warning she veered sharply toward the shore and at about 13 miles an hour crashed onto the rocks, breaking her back, shortly going to pieces. Capt. Edwards' only explanation for his remarkable exploit was that 'he expected the current to strike her on the port side and throw her over to starboard, and instead it struck her on the starboard and threw her on the rocks.' The steamer had recently been sold to real estate promoter C. D. Hillman (for whom the Hillman City district in south Seattle is named), who later was sent to prison, and it was widely believed the YOSEMITE was deliberately wrecked for her insurance."
Above excerpt from H.W. McCurdy's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, G. Newell, editor. Seattle; Superior Pub. 1965.

Inspectors Cancel Master's License

"After considering the evidence submitted at the investigation of the loss by stranding of the excursion steamer YOSEMITE, local US Inspectors Whitney and Turner have permanently revoked the license of Capt. Michael E. Edwards. In arriving at their decision the inspectors made the following comment:
      'The evidence shows that the weather was clear and moderate, but a strong flood tide was running which according to the testimony of the master and quartermaster on watch, was the cause of stranding. The evidence of other witnesses shows that the vessel, which on account of her size, should have been kept in the middle of the passage, was kept close to the starboard shore, which no doubt was the cause of the accident. According to the evidence, this vessel had safely navigated this passage many times before, and she had others more difficult.
      She had made headway, making about 13 knots, and struck with the engine working at normal full speed ahead. The master's contention is that the ship's head was swung four points toward the shore by the swift current. We hold that if the vessel had been kept in the middle of the passage, as cautious navigators would have done, she could have been kept clear of the reef despite the tidal whirls.
      The board finds Michael Edwards, master, guilty of careless navigation as charged and under the authority of section 4450 we hereby revoke his license as master and pilot, No. 32348 issued in this district 8 Jan. 1907."

From an unknown Puget Sound newspaper filed in a scrapbook compiled by W. Thorniley.

YUKON (ex-M. F. PLANT, ex-CUBA)
Built by Leafie & Levy, Philadelphia, PA in 1899.
5,863 G.t. / 3,638 N.t.
Pilot: Capt. Amego Soriano
Capt. Christian Trondsen
Wrecked: 3 February 1946,
Johnston Bay, AK.
Lives lost: Eleven

M.F. PLANT
undated photo from the S.P.H.S.

A steamship destined to establish a great reputation as a "hoodoo" appeared on the West Coast in 1904. She had been purchased by the Oregon Coal & Nav Co for freight service between San Fran, CA and Oregon ports. 
Later she was purchased by H.F. Alexander's Alaska Coast Steamship Co. 

Amego Soriano, age 30.
One of two pilots of SS YUKON
at time of loss.
Original photo from S.P.H.S.©

YUKON
Two original photos from the archives of
the Saltwater People Historical Society©

The principal marine disaster of the year 1946 was the loss of the Alaska Steamship Co liner YUKON on the night of 3 February; this wreck claimed a total of 11 lives. The 47-yr old steamship was southbound from southeast AK ports and laboring in a heavy storm when she struck the jagged rocks off Johnstone Bay, 40 miles SE of Seward. In charge of Capt Christian E. Trondsen and Pilot Amego Soriano, the YUKON was carrying 371 passengers, many of them returning servicemen, and a crew of 124. Soon after the vessel struck, the stern section was wrenched off by huge seas and overturned, the remainder of the wreck remaining on the rocks. The fuel and water tanks were ripped open, the boilers put out of commission and most of the food supplies were lost or damaged within a short time, and survivors were forced to huddle in the forward section or the wave-swept wreck in freezing weather without food, heat or water. Although a number of rescue vessels appeared on the scene (the USCG cutter ONONDAGA, lighthouse tender CEDAR, S.S. NORTH HAVEN, S.S. HENRY S. FAILING, Navy salvage tug CURB, and patrol boat No. 107), the conditions at the scene of the wreck made rescue operations slow and extremely hazardous. Sheer cliffs and the icy face of Johnstone Glacier rose 300 feet above the wreck and heavy seas swept the narrow beaches below the cliffs. Rescue efforts had to be concentrated on the seaward side of the wreck, and it was 48 hours after the stranding before diminishing seas and the calming effects of the large quantities of oil released from the liner's ruptured fuel tanks made it possible to begin taking off passengers.

S. S. YUKON 
Jagged cliffs lining Johnstone Bay near Seward, AK. 
The ship was pounded by heaving surf and broke apart 
just forward of the funnel. 
Photo by D. Dellenback, a passenger.
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

      Although many individuals distinguished themselves during rescue operations, both among officers and crew of the YUKON and of the rescue vessels, the most outstanding work was done by Jimmy (Screaming Swede) Johnson, a Seldovia, AK commercial fisherman then serving as a private in the US Army. While conditions were still such that the larger craft could not approach the wreck, Johnson took an Army BSP alongside and began taking the passengers, which he transferred to the ONANDAGA. With a line from the cutter made fast to the power barge, he rammed his craft ashore, picked up survivors from the beach, and was towed back into deep water by the cutter. By the evening of 5 Feb, 485 persons had been safely removed from the broken hulk. Although all the survivors suffered the most intense hardships, only those killed when the after section of the YUKON broke off and capsized were lost. The town of Seward displayed typical AK hospitality, its citizens staying up all night to provide food, clothing and shelter for the exhausted and half frozen survivors. Sensational newspaper charges of drunkenness and looting by members of the YUKON crew subsequently overshadowed the quiet heroism of Jimmy Johnson, of the unnamed seaman who swam into a flooded stateroom to find shoes for a barefoot child whose feet were freezing on the icy deck, and of the steward who waded in to the galley in neck-deep ice water to find bottled water for a sick and thirsty baby. Some charges of theft were substantiated, one fireman being jailed in AK when he attempted to sell a pair of earrings to a jeweler who remembered having recently made them to order for one of the YUKON's passengers, but the remarkably small loss of life under most adverse conditions would indicate that there were far more heroes than rogues at the wreck of the steamship YUKON." Text only from the H. W. McCurdy Marine History of the PNW. Editor, Gordon Newell. Seattle' Superior Publishing Co. 1966.

YUKON
An exclusive photo by passenger D. Dellenback,
shot before the ship broke in two
5 February 1946
Original photo from the archives of S.P.H.S.©

 

The ship's pilot was first charged with negligence but later exonerated of all charges. 

YUKON
February 1946
This line from the halved vessel
meant escape from
the YUKON by breeches-buoy
leading from the ship to the
spot on the shore indicated
by the circle, at left.
Photo from the archives of
the Saltwater People Historical Society©

ZAMPA
ON 28110
Blt at Port Madison in 1887
Stranded 17 July 1904
Capt. Kellenberger
Lives lost: none.

ZAMPA
28110
Ocean Park, WA.
Original photo from the archives of
Saltwater People Hist. Society©

      The US schooner stranded on Pt. Leadbetter, just south of Willapa Harbor entrance, 17 July 1904. The schooner was buffeted by a gale off the Columbia and lost her rudder. She commenced drifting at the mercy of the wind and was carried through the breakers. Grounding on the sands, the vessel was 300' from the water when the tide ebbed. Capt. Kellenberger, his wife, and the crew of nine were all saved. For several months the schooner remained on the beach, and after being given up for lost on several occasions, was finally refloated and towed to port for repairs. After a hectic career, the ZAMPA was lost in 1926, near Honolulu.