Archives West Finding Aid

The Alice was a square-rigged ship with a tonnage of 2,509. She was known as a French "bounty-earner" because she received generous subsidies from the French government so that she could continue to operate through slack cargoes and economic depression, which provided extreme cost competition to other ships. She was lost on January 15, 1909, in a gale near Ocean Park, Washington. She was carrying 3,000 tons of cement, which when wrecked hardened around her mast, keeping it upright. The crew was quickly rescued and there were no fatalities. The Alice became a landmark until 1930 because her mast and rigging remained visible in the tide, anchored by the cement.Caption on photograph: Life savers going throug[h] the surf to the wrecked ship Alice, Ocean Park, Jan. 15 '09.

The U.S. Dredge Chinook wrecked in Oregon's Coos Bay on April 12, 1907. The attempted dismantling of the dredge for parts after the wreck was unsuccessful and signified a $35,000 loss for the Riverton Lumber Company. The Chinook's wreck began a series of mishaps for the company, which included the loss of its famed boat the Tug Wizard.

The Daisy Freeman was a lumber vessel owned by S.S. Freeman of San Francisco weighing 613 tons. She wrecked on October 11, 1912, on a Columbia River sand bar when she was hit by a swell. Her rudder was damaged and her deck load was washed away. She was so waterlogged that only her masts and smokestack were visible. She drifted until she anchored and then was towed to Astoria, Oregon the next day.

The four-masted British barquentine Galena was traveling from Junin, Chile, to Portland, Oregon, when it ran aground on November 11, 1906, due to poor visibility. Built in 1890 for owner Thomas Shute of Liverpool, the steel Galena had a tonnage of 2,169 and was captained by John Howell when it wrecked.

The British steel square-rigger the Glenesslin was built in Liverpool in 1888 for C.E. Dewolf & Company. Captained by Owen Williams, it wrecked on the rocks of Mount Neah-Kah-Nie in Oregon under suspicious circumstances on October 1, 1913, while sailing from Santos, Brazil, to Portland, Oregon. Witnesses on the scene said that the rescued crew and captain all appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the wreck and speculated that the ship had purposefully been crashed to collect the insurance money. The outdated Glenesslin faced major competition from the invention and popularity of steam engines and was worth more wrecked than functioning. An investigation conducted after the wreck found that the Glenesslin was captained with "great negligence," resulting in the suspension of Captain Williams' certification and the insurance company's refusal to pay the claim.

The four-masted schooner Helene was built in 1900 for Allen & Robinson, weighing 927 tons. Captained by O. Lemke, the Helene ran aground at Point Hudson, near Port Townsend, Washington, in March of 1918. After $4,000 in repairs, it was sold to Matson Navigation Company.

The 493 ton, three-masted Klikitat was built by John Kruse in 1881 at the Simpson Yard in North Bend, Oregon. She set a speed record in 1896 for finishing the voyage from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Port Townsend, Washington, in 9 days and 16 hours. This record for sailing vessels stood until 1909. The Klikitat was stranded on Honlii Point, Hawaii, on November 9, 1912, while being operated by the Puget Sound Commercial Company.

The S.S. Maverick was a gas tanker built for Standard Oil of New York. It was later used in World War I as part of the Hindu-German Conspiracy, which sought to overthrow the British Raj in India. The tanker sank in 1917 under unclear circumstances.

The German ship Mimi was built in 1893. She ran aground on February 13, 1913, off the coast of Oregon. The first mate claimed to have dreamt of the wreck the night before and cautioned the crew to abandon ship. He, along with the captain Ludwig Westphal and two other crew members, survived the wreck while the 18 men who remained on board died during several unsuccessful salvage missions conducted by Fisher Engineering.

The passenger ship the S.S. Northwestern was launched in 1889 by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works. It immediately gained a reputation for trouble after several unsuccessful missions. Eventually, the S.S. Northwestern was docked in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to serve as housing for U.S. Navy troops. It was often covered in ice during cold winter months, as seen in this photograph. On June 4, 1942, the S.S. Northwestern was hit by a Japanese bomb and rendered unfit for housing. The steamship was deliberately sunk in 1946 in Captain's Bay, Unalaska.

The schooner Oshkosh was built in 1909, weighing just 145 tons. While making for the Umqua River, it struck bottom and capsized near the Columbia River Jetty on February 13, 1911. Only the engineer George May survived out of the seven man crew, which included Captain Thomas Latham.

Caption on photo: Rough weather in Bering Sea near Nome, Str. Porter.

The coastal liner Princess May was built in 1888, weighing 1717 tons. In her years of service, she was owned by several different companies and known under several different names. Owned by Canadian Pacific Railway at the time, the Princess May was southbound from Skagway, Alaska, with about 100 passengers, a crew of 68, and a shipment of gold on August 5, 1910. She was cautiously moving down Lynn Canal in a heavy fog when she struck a reef, driving up onto the rocks, so that at low tide she lay high and dry with her bow at a 23 degree angle. This image of the perfectly balanced Princess May was widely circulated after the event. She was returned to service in 1911 after costly repairs to her badly damaged hull. She was deliberately sunk in the 1930s.

The Rosecrans was built in 1883 as a passenger and cargo vessel, weighing 2,681 tons. She was converted to a tanker in 1903 and was purchased by the Associated Oil Company of San Francisco.The ship ran aground at Peacock Spit on the Columbia River Bar during a storm on July 1, 1913.

The steam schooner Washington was built in 1906 for the Washington Marine Company with a tonnage of 539. While traveling from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco, California, the Washington ran aground in the Columbia River on November 12, 1911. Captained by George Winkel, with a crew of 23 and a passenger load of 25, the Washington sat stuck in the river being battered by the current. Several rescue missions were attempted but none could approach the Washington without getting stuck themselves. It was widely reported in newspapers that the schooner was certainly doomed. After a day, the steel steam tug Tatoosh and her captain, Buck Bailey, arrived on the scene and was able to successfully tow the Washington to shore. The Tatoosh and Captain Bailey were known for previous rescue missions and saving the Washington from seemingly certain peril bolstered that reputation.