SS ''Princess Sophia'' was a steel-built

passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

in the coastal service fleet of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

(CPR). Along with , , and , ''Princess Sophia'' was one of four similar ships built for CPR during 1910-1911. On 25 October 1918, ''Sophia'' sank with the loss of all aboard after grounding on Vanderbilt Reef in

Lynn Canal Lynn Canal is an inlet (not an artificial canal) into the mainland of southeast Alaska. Lynn Canal runs about from the inlets of the Chilkat River south to Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage. At over in depth, Lynn Canal is the deepest fjor ...

near

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and t ...

Territory of Alaska The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; th ...

. All 364 persons on the ship died, making the wreck of ''Sophia'' the worst maritime accident in the history of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

and Alaska.

Inside Passage

Beginning in 1901, the

(CPR) ran a line of steamships on the west coast of Canada and the southeast coast of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

. The route from Victoria and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, ran through the winding channels and

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icela ...

s along the coast, stopping at the principal towns for passengers, cargo, and mail. This route is still important today and is called the

Inside Passage The Inside Passage (french: Passage Intérieur) is a coastal route for ships and boats along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific Northwest coast of the North American Fjordland. The route extends from southeaste ...

. Major ports of call along the Inside Passage include

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cava ...

and

Alert Bay Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Stati ...

in British Columbia, and Wrangell, Ketchikan,

, and Skagway in Alaska.

The coastal liner

Many different types of vessels navigated the Inside Passage, but the dominant type on longer routes was the "

coastal liner Coastal Liner is an Australian bus company operating services on the New South Wales Central Coast. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. History Established in 1986 after the acquisition of the Dooralong to Wyong bus run from local op ...

". A coastal liner was a vessel which if necessary could withstand severe ocean conditions, but in general was expected to operate in relatively protected coastal waters. For example, as a coastal liner, ''Princess Sophia'' would only be licensed to carry passengers within of the coastline. Coastal liners carried both passengers and freight, and were often the only link that isolated coastal communities had with the outside world. Originally coastal liners were built of wood, and continued to be so built until well after the time when ocean liners had moved to

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

and then steel construction. After several shipwrecks in the Inside Passage and other areas of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

showed the weakness of wooden hulls, CPR switched over to steel construction for all new vessels. ''Sophia'' was also referred to as a "pocket liner" because she offered amenities like a great

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). C ...

, but on a smaller scale. The ship was part of the CPR " Princess fleet", which was composed of ships having names which began with the title "Princess".

Design and construction

''Princess Sophia'' was a steamship of and , built by Bow, McLachlan and Company at Paisley, Scotland, United Kingdom. A strong, durable vessel, she was built of steel with a

double hull A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is some dist ...

. ''Sophia'' was capable of handling more than just the Inside Passage, as her use on the stormy west coast of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

demonstrated. She was equipped with

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The mos ...

communications and full

electric lighting An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...

. While not as luxurious as her fleet-mates serving the Pacific Northwest, ''Sophia'' was comfortable throughout, particularly in first class. She had a forward observation lounge panelled in

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since ht ...

, a social hall with a piano for first-class passengers, and a 112-seat dining room with large windows for observing the coastal scenery. ''Sophia'' was launched in November 1911 and completed in 1912. She was brought around

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

by Captain Albert Adolphus Lindgren (1862–1916), who had also brought two other CPR coastal liners, and , out from Scotland on the same route. As built, ''Sophia'' burned

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

; however, the vessel was converted to

oil fuel Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), ...

shortly after arrival in British Columbia. At the time of her sinking, Captain Leonard Locke (1852–1918) commanded her, with Captain Jeremiah Shaw (1875–1918) as second in command. Princess Sophia leaving Victoria BC with troops, ca 1915

Princess Sophia leaving Victoria BC with troops, ca 1915

Routes

On arrival ''Sophia'' was put on the route from Victoria to Prince Rupert. The following summer CPR assigned her to run once every two weeks from Victoria to Skagway, Alaska, alternating with ''Princess May'' and stopping in Prince Rupert along the way. Occasionally ''Sophia'' was diverted to other routes, such as an excursion to Bellingham,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States.Newell, Gordon R., and Williamson, Joe, ''Pacific Coastal Liners'', at 139, 140, 178, Superior Publishing, Seattle WA (Bonanza Books ed. 1959) (no ISBN number) When Canada entered the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, early wartime economic disruption resulted in a sharp decline of business for the CPR fleet and a number of vessels, including ''Sophia'' were temporarily taken out of service by November 1914. ''Sophia'' and other CPR vessels transported troops raised for service in Europe. On 12 September 1918, ''Sophia'' struck the United States Bureau of Fisheries

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place (a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and th ...

while ''Auklet'' was moored at

.AFSC Historical Corner: ''Auklet'' and ''Murre'', 1917 Sister Patrol Vessels Retrieved 17 September 2018
/ref> ''Auklet'' suffered significant damage to her

deckhouse A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a deckhouse. Sailing ships In sailing ships, the officers and paying passengers wou ...

Final voyage

On 23 October 1918, ''Princess Sophia'' departed Skagway, Alaska, at 22:10,Report to the Canadian Minister of Marine on the Causes of the Wreck of the Princess Sophia, Victoria, BC, 27 Mar 1919
/ref> more than three hours behind schedule. She was due to stop at Juneau and Wrangell, Alaska, the next day; Ketchikan, Alaska, and Prince Rupert, on 25 October; Alert Bay on 26 October; and Vancouver on 27 October. On board were 75 crew and about 268 passengers, including families of troops serving overseas, miners, and crews of

sternwheelers A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

that had finished operations for the winter. Fifty women and children were on the passenger list, including the wife and children of gold speculator John Beaton. Four hours after leaving Skagway, while proceeding south down

, ''Sophia'' encountered heavy blinding snow driven by a strong and rising northwest wind. Captain Locke navigated the canal at full speed, possibly in an attempt to make up time. Due to the prevailing snowy conditions, the crew was required to use

dead reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. T ...

by blowing the ship's whistle and making calculations as to their location within the canal, based on the time it took for the

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the li ...

of the whistle to return. The ship was at least off course. Vanderbilt Reef Beacon

Vanderbilt Reef

Ahead of ''Sophia'' lay a rock called Vanderbilt Reef, the tip of an underwater mountain that rose from the bottom of Lynn Canal. At

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

the rock might be awash or almost invisible under swells. At low tide it looked like a low table, with its highest point standing above the water at extreme low tide. At the time, Vanderbilt Reef was at extreme high tide and was unlit. The channel at this point was about wide, but the presence of the reef narrowed the main navigation channel to on its east side. This area, with deep waters, strong currents, rocky cliff faces, and narrow fjords is dangerous for ships. Tides regularly bring ships dangerously close to the shore. In bad weather, winds in the canal quickly become

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ). Vanderbilt Reef itself was marked with an unlit buoy, which of course would have been invisible at night. There was a manned lighthouse at Sentinel Island about to the south. The light station on Sentinel Island had an area of sheltered water that was used for the station's wharf. ''Princess Sophia'' passed another manned light station at

Eldred Rock Eldred Rock (also known as Nechraje) is an island in the boroughs of Juneau and Haines, Alaska, United States. Located in Lynn Canal, it is southeast of Kataguni Island and northwest of the city of Juneau. This island is the site of the Eldre ...

, the

Eldred Rock Light The Eldred Rock Light is an historic octagonal lighthouse adjacent to Lynn Canal in Alaska. It is the last of the ten lighthouses constructed in Alaska between 1902 and 1906. It was also the last of 12 manned lighthouses that were started in Ala ...

, 30 miles south of Skagway. Keepers at both light stations kept weather logs, which became useful later in reconstructing the events of the next two days. The dock at Sentinel Island was used as a staging point by the vessels attempting rescue of the ''Princess Sophia'' on 24 and 25 October 1918.

Grounding

Princess Sophia on Vanderbilt Reef 10-24-1918, looking NE

Heading south through Lynn Canal, ''Princess Sophia'' drifted about

off course Off Course was a Japanese folk rock band formed by Kazumasa Oda and Yasuhiro Suzuki. They broke up after a farewell performance at the Tokyo Dome on February 26, 1989. Their most famous songs are "Sayonara" (さよなら), "YES-YES-YES", "Sets ...

, and at 02:00 on 24 October 1918, ''Princess Sophia'' struck ground hard on Vanderbilt Reef, south of Skagway. A letter later recovered from the body of a passenger, Signal Corps Private Auris W. McQueen, described the scene on board just after the grounding: "Two women fainted and one of them got herself into a black evening dress and didn't worry about who saw her putting it on. Some of the men, too, kept life preservers on for an hour or so and seemed to think there was no chance for us."

First distress call sent

The

operator on ''Princess Sophia'' sent out a distress call immediately. Wireless was weak in those days. The distress signal could not reach much farther than Juneau. The message did reach Juneau however, and by 2:15am the local CPR shipping agent was awakened with the news. He immediately began organizing a rescue flotilla from the boats in the harbor.

Stranded on the reef

High tide came at 06:00 on 24 October. The wind had lessened, but ''Princess Sophia'' was still stuck fast on the

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic processes—deposition (geology), deposition of ...

. Low tide came at about noon. The wind and waves forced ''Princess Sophia'' even farther up onto the reef, but fortunately the vessel's double hull was not breached. At low tide on the reef the entire hull of ''Princess Sophia'' was completely out of the water. The

barometer A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...

was rising, which indicated a possible improvement in the weather. With the next high tide at 16:00, and the seas so rough that any evacuation would be hazardous, Locke chose to wait to see if he could get the vessel off. This proved impossible. Without a

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, or more likely two or three tugs, ''Princess Sophia'' could never be taken off the reef. Worse yet, the passengers could not be evacuated from the vessel without life-threatening danger. At low tide ''Princess Sophia'' was surrounded on both sides by exposed rock. At high tide, the rock was awash, but the swells were such that a lifeboat would strike the rocks as the waves pounded up and down.

Similar wrecks

While there had been many shipwrecks and groundings over the years, and it was the rare vessel that did not run aground or have some problem of this nature, two shipwrecks would have been foremost in the minds of Captain Locke and his officers, as well as other senior captains and officers among the rescue vessels, like Captains Ledbetter of and Miller of . These two wrecks, of in 1904 and ''Princess May'' in 1910, showed well the dilemma faced by Captain Locke in making a decision whether to evacuate ''Princess Sophia''. In fine weather and smooth seas on 5 August 1910, , another CPR steamship, grounded on Sentinel Island within sight of Vanderbilt Reef. All aboard were evacuated to the nearby light station, and the vessel itself was later removed from the rock with relatively minor damage. It was ''Princess May'' that CPR dispatched on hearing of the grounding of ''Princess Sophia'' to pick up her passengers who they presumed would be soon evacuated. While ''Princess May'' grounding had been in early August, and not late October, still there were other vessels with ''Princess Sophia'' grounding and the stranded ship seemed to be secure. The disaster of ''Clallam'' showed the dangers of a premature evacuation of people from a vessel into lifeboats. ''Clallam'', a new vessel when she foundered, was sunk in a storm on what should have been an ordinary voyage across the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

to Victoria, British Columbia. ''Clallam'' (168 feet, 657 tons), was a smaller vessel than ''Sophia'' and built of wood. Like ''Princess Sophia'', ''Clallam'' was driven by a single propeller turned by a compound

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

. En route to Victoria on 8 January 1904, ''Clallam'', under the command of Captain George Roberts, encountered severe weather conditions. At about 3:30 p.m., with water rising on board apparently from a broken

porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehicles ...

and improper pumping procedures, ''Clallam'' seemed as if it would soon sink. Captain Roberts ordered the lifeboats lowered, and into them placed mostly women and children. All three boats capsized or failed to properly launch, drowning all 54 people aboard them. ''Clallam'' stayed afloat long enough for rescue vessels to reach her and evacuate the people left on board. Newell, Gordon R., and Williamson, Joe, ''Pacific Steamboats'', at 84-85, Bonanza Books, New York, NY 1958 (no ISBN number)Newell, Gordon R., ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', at 136-142, Binford and Mort, Portland, OR (2nd Ed. 1960) (no ISBN number)"The SS ''Clallam'' founders in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on 8 January 1904, with a loss of 56 lives", HistoryLink.org
/ref>"Clallam Founders – Fifty-six lives lost as result of Friday’s Terrible Storm" ''Port Townsend Morning Leader'', 10 January 1904
/ref>Kline, M.S., and Bayless, G.A., ''Ferryboats – A Legend on Puget Sound'', at 69-71, Bayless Books, Seattle, WA 1983 "Steamer Clallam Breaks Down in Strait – Has Not Been Reported as Sighted Up Till One O’Clock This Morning", ''Port Townsend Morning Leader'', 9 January 1904
/ref>

Decision not to evacuate

Princess Sophia on Vanderbilt Reef 10-24-18 looking east

Locke warned off James Davis, captain of the fishing vessel ''Estebeth'', who attempted and then abandoned an effort to reach ''Sophia'' in a

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have deve ...

. Davis

moored A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''an ...

his vessel by tying up to the Vanderbilt Reef marker

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of ya ...

, which was then in the

lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

of ''Princess Sophia'' and protected from the worst force of the weather. The desperation of the situation was obvious to Davis and the other captains of the small boats at the scene. ''Princess Sophia'' had been seriously damaged striking the reef, with a hole in her bow that water ran in and out of at a rate that Davis estimated at 200 or 300

gallons per minute The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: *the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austr ...

. With no apparent way to evacuate passengers, and ''Princess Sophia'' stuck fast on the reef, the only thing that Davis and the other rescue boats could do was to wait to see if the weather would moderate enough to attempt an evacuation. Captain Locke, of ''Sophia'' was confident enough of his own vessel's safety to tell, via

megaphone A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped acoustic horn used to amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. The sound is introduced int ...

, ''Estebeth'' and ''Amy'', which were taking a pounding in the weather, that ''Sophia'' was safe and they should take shelter in a harbor. Capt. J. W. Ledbetter, commander of the

United States Lighthouse Service The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of th ...

lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lightho ...

USLHT ''Cedar'', performing

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

service as the

USS ''Cedar'' at the time, did not receive word of the grounding until 14:00 on 24 October. Then away, Ledbetter got in wireless contact with Captain Locke and set out with his ship to the rescue. Ledbetter asked Captain Locke if he wanted to try to evacuate some of the passengers that night. Locke told Ledbetter that the wind and the tide were too strong and it would be better for the rescue ships to anchor and wait until daylight. When Ledbetter arrived at 20:00 on 24 October he found three large vessels, including the fishing schooner ''King and Winge'' which had arrived at 18:20 and about fifteen smaller fishing vessels at the scene, arriving towards the evening on the 24th. Meanwhile, wireless reports of the grounding had reached James W. Troup, superintendent of CPR steamship operations in Victoria. He and other CPR officials were initially not too alarmed. It appeared that the passengers would be taken off soon, and the question would be one of finding accommodation for them ashore.

Communications problems

Cable communications to

had been lost on 21 October 1918, and partly as a result of this, the wireless operators were having to contend with a rush of messages, which made it difficult to transmit essential messages relating to the grounding of ''Princess Sophia''. Efforts to clear non-essential traffic were frustrated by the international character of the disaster. Word of the grounding only reached ''Cedar'' eleven hours after the grounding. Whether this was because ''Cedar'' was out of range or because wireless channels were jammed with non-essential traffic is not clear. The delay was unfortunate, as ''Cedar'' was the largest all-weather ship in the area, which could readily have taken on all of ''Princess Sophia''s passengers and crew. No one knows what ''Cedar'' might have been able to do had she been alerted earlier. The delay could have been significant, as the late notice to him was still well recalled 45 years later by Captain Ledbetter. Of all the rescue ships, only ''Cedar'' had wireless, and her not being on the scene earlier deprived the rescue effort of this resource, if no other.

Rescue effort begins Friday morning

Ledbetter, having the only ship with wireless, and thereby able to keep in ready contact with ''Princess Sophia'', organized the rescue effort. The rescue plan, although dangerous, and perhaps even desperate, was to wait until high tide at 5:00 covered the reef with at least a few feet of water. This it was hoped would be enough to launch ''Sophias boats and use them to take the people from ''Princess Sophia'' to the rescue ships. ''Cedar'' had anchored in the

of a nearby island for the night. ''King and Winge'', under captain J.J. Miller, had circled ''Princess Sophia'' all night, the only vessel to do so. On arrival at 20:00 on Thursday, Ledbetter ordered

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular dir ...

s shined on ''Princess Sophia''. What he saw convinced him that no boats could be then launched. Waves were breaking hard against the trapped steamship's hull, and the wind was rising. Meanwhile, the stranded ship remained fixed firmly in the grip of the rocks. Ledbetter, Miller, and Locke all agreed that the passengers would be safer aboard ''Princess Sophia'' and postponed any attempt to take them off by boat.

Rising winds force abandonment

By 09:00 on 25 October, the wind was rising towards gale strength. Ledbetter was having difficulty keeping ''Cedar'' on station, and the smaller rescue boats that had run for shelter on the evening of 24 October were unable to return to the reef. Ledbetter decided he would try to

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ...

''Cedar'' about

downwind Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...

of the reef, shoot a line to ''Princess Sophia'' (possibly using a

Lyle gun A Lyle gun was a line thrower powered by a short-barrelled cannon. It was invented by Captain David A. Lyle, US Army, a graduate of West Point and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and were used from the late 19th century to 1952, when ...

), and then evacuate the passengers by

breeches buoy A breeches buoy is a rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one place to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harne ...

. This would have been extremely hazardous and it would have been unlikely that over 300 people could be removed by this method, but it seemed the only thing that could be done. Ledbetter twice tried to drop anchor, but each time it failed to catch on the bottom. Locke could see this effort was failing, and radioed to Ledbetter that it was no use; they would have to wait for low tide when perhaps conditions might be better. There was nothing else that could be done. The conditions grew steadily worse, and by about 13:00 on the 25th both ''Cedar'' and ''King and Winge'' were having difficulty keeping on station. Ledbetter radioed Locke, and asked him for permission to retire to a more protected area. Locke assented. ''Cedar'' and ''King and Winge'' then went to the lee of Sentinel Island, where Miller, captain of ''King and Winge'', came aboard ''Cedar'' to discuss a rescue plan with Ledbetter. They agreed that ''King and Winge'', which carried a anchor cable, would anchor near the reef. Meanwhile, ''Cedar'' would stand off to

windward Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...

of ''King and Winge'', creating a "lee", that is, a calm (or at least calmer) spot by blocking out the wind with the bulk of the ''Cedar''. ''Cedar'' would then launch her lifeboats to pick up people from ''Princess Sophia'' and ferry them to ''King and Winge'', thus eliminating the need and the hazards of using the boats of the stranded ship. This plan however could not work unless the weather conditions improved. Given that ''Princess Sophia'' had withstood so far some heavy pounding and still remained fixed on the rock, Ledbetter and Miller felt the better course was to wait for the next day to attempt their plan.

Last call for assistance

Just as Miller was disembarking from ''Cedar'' to return to ''King and Winge'', at 16:50 on 25 October, ''Princess Sophia'' sent out a wireless message: "Ship Foundering on Reef. Come at Once." Ledbetter immediately prepared to steam out to the reef. He signaled Miller on ''King and Winge'' to follow him with two blasts of the whistle, but Miller did not at first understand the signal. Ledbetter then drove ''Cedar'' alongside ''King and Winge'' and shouted out to Miller: "I am going out there to try to locate him. If the snow should clear up, you come out and relieve me." Miller replied: "I will give you an hour to find them." One of the last distress messages, at 5:20pm by wireless operator David Robinson, stated, "For God's sake hurry, the water is coming into my room". Aware that ''Princess Sophia'' had weak wireless batteries, ''Cedar'' wired the passenger linke "We are coming. Save your batteries." ''Princess Sophia''s operator radioed back: "Alright I will. You talk to me so I know you are coming." This was the last wireless message from ''Princess Sophia''.

Search in the storm

''Cedar'' left the protected harbor at Sentinel Island and was immediately blasted by the wind and blowing snow. Conditions were so bad that from the lighthouse, the station's light could not be seen and the

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

could not be heard. For 30 minutes ''Cedar'' moved slowly towards Vanderbilt Reef. Green water was breaking over the bow of ''Cedar''. Without knowing precisely where she was, the rescue ship herself was in extreme danger of running onto the reef. The chief inspector of the lighthouse service district was on board ''Cedar'' at the time. He conferred with Ledbetter and they agreed that with ''Cedar'' herself in danger, and nothing to be found in the conditions, the only thing that could done was to run for shelter. Ledbetter turned ''Cedar'' back towards Sentinel Island. Unable to see anything, he had the foghorn sounding. At Sentinel Island, Captain Miller on ''King and Winge'' heard the blasts of ''Cedar''s foghorn, and sounded his own to guide them in. David Leverton of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia told the CBC that the captain's barometer predicted an improvement in the weather and suggested to rescuers that they try the next day. "They had seven different rescue ships ready to come to the aid of the ship if it foundered off the reef. But what ended up happening was that it settled down on the reef" until approximately 5p.m. when it was lifted off the reef.

Loss of the ship

With no survivors and no witnesses to the actual sinking, what happened on ''Princess Sophia'' to drive her off the reef is a matter of reconstruction from the available evidence and conjecture. Based on the evidence it appears that the storm, blowing in from the north, raised water levels on the reef much higher than previously, causing the vessel to become

buoyant Buoyancy (), or upthrust, is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of a partially or fully immersed object. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus the pr ...

again, but only partially so. The bow of the vessel remained on the reef, and the force of the wind and waves then spun the vessel almost completely around and washed her off the reef. Dragging across the rock ripped out the ship's bottom, so when she reached deeper water near the navigation buoy, she sank. This process, based on the evidence, seems to have taken about an hour. There appears to have been no time for an organized evacuation. Many people wore lifejackets, and two wooden lifeboats floated away (the eight steel lifeboats sank). There were about 100 people still in their cabins when the ship sank. It is hard to know why, if the ship took half an hour to sink, so many people were below decks, but there could be many reasons. It was believed that seawater invaded the ship, the

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

exploded, buckling the deck and killing many people, but divers to the wreck have found all three boilers intact. Oil fuel spilled into the water, choking people who were trying to swim away. ''Sophia'' had been equipped with extra flotation devices, on the theory that people could cling to these in the water awaiting rescue. These were worthless, as the cold seawater would kill a swimmer long before rescue could arrive.

Wreck located

The next morning, 26 October, it was still snowing, but the wind had died down somewhat. ''Cedar'', ''King and Winge'' and other rescue vessels returned to the reef. Only the

foremast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...

of ''Princess Sophia'' remained above water. The rescue vessels cruised around for three hours looking for survivors. They found bodies, but no living people. ''King and Winge'' took the bodies to Juneau. ''Cedar'' also returned to Juneau. When he arrived, Captain Ledbetter sent out a wire which stated: "No sign of life. No hope of survivors." When the watches on bodies in the water were examined, they were noted to have stopped at 5:50 p.m. The sole survivor of the wreck was an English setter dog found in Auke Bay, outside Juneau.

Aftermath of wreck

For months after the wreck, bodies washed up for as much as thirty miles to the north and south of Vanderbilt Reef. Wreckage and the passengers' belongings were also found, including toys of the children who had died on the ship. Many of the bodies were scarcely recognizable as human remains, being covered with a thick coat of oil. Among the dead was

Walter Harper Walter Harper (1893 – October 25, 1918) was an Alaska Native mountain climber and guide. On Saturday, 7 June 1913, he was the first person to reach the summit of Denali (Mount McKinley), the highest mountain in North America. He was followed ...

, the first person to reach the summit of

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thi ...

, the highest mountain in North America. Most of the bodies recovered were taken to Juneau, where many of the local citizens volunteered to help identify the remains and prepare them for burial. The bodies had to be scrubbed with gasoline to remove the oil. Teams of women prepared female bodies, and teams of men handled the males. The volunteers were particularly affected by the bodies of the children. Divers at the wreck site recovered about 100 bodies. Many were floating in cabins for months after the wreck. The families of passengers brought legal action against Canadian Pacific, but these failed.

Evaluation of the decision not to evacuate

Many people believed that the decision not to evacuate the ship was a grave error by Captain Locke, and that most or even all of the passengers could have been saved. The Ministry of Marine reached a similar conclusion in 1919 after hearing the evidence from first hand witnesses. Later, the courts ruled that right or wrong, the decision was within the reasonable range of judgment of the captain. Captain Ledbetter of ''Cedar'' stated that in his opinion, he never saw conditions that would have permitted evacuation of the ship, but he was careful, even almost 50 years later, to state that this was as far as he could tell from when he arrived at the reef, which was at 20:00 on 24 October. As early as 10:20 on 24 October there were enough rescue vessels at the reef to have accommodated all of the people on ''Princess Sophia'', and there would be four or five hours until the wind began to rise. Also ''Princess Sophia'' had eight lifeboats built of steel, not wood, which would presumably have fared better on wave-washed rocks. On the other hand, Captain Locke could not have known the weather would worsen, and there seem to have been signs that it would improve. Historians Coates and Morrison speculate that the memory of the wreck of ''Clallam'', when everyone in the lifeboats died after a premature abandonment of the vessel, may have played a role in Locke's decision.

Letters recovered from the lost passengers

The passengers and crew on ''Princess Sophia'' realized their extreme danger. Many wrote letters to loved ones. At least two of these were later recovered. The letter of John R. "Jack" Maskell, found on his body, was widely printed in newspapers at the time: Jack Maskell was buried in Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery amidst 66 other victims of the ''Princess Sophia'' tragedy. Most lie near East 41st Avenue and Prince Edward Street in the Jones 37 section.

Timeline

Wednesday 23 October 1918

* 08:15 Snow starts falling at Sentinel Island Light Station ("LS") 58 miles south of Skagway; continues falling until 06:50 on 24 October. * 11:10 Snow starts falling at Eldred Rock LS, 30 miles south of Skagway, continues falling until 06:00 on 24 October. * 16:33

Sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spr ...

(at Juneau); twilight begins * 17:14

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this ...

ends (at Juneau); night begins * 19:01

Moonrise Moonrise and moonset are times when the upper limb of the Moon appears above the horizon and disappears below it, respectively. The exact times depend on the lunar phase and declination, as well as the observer's location. As viewed from outside ...

( phase: waning

gibbous Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...

(79% of Moon's visible disk illuminated)) * 22:00 ''Princess Sophia'' departs Skagway, Capt. Locke in command. * 23:00 ''Sophia'' passes Battery Point, 16 miles south of Skagway; weather worsens, wind gusting to 50 miles per hour.

Thursday 24 October 1918

* 02:10 ''Princess Sophia'' grounds at Vanderbilt Reef, 54 miles south of Skagway and 46 miles north of Juneau. * 02:15 Word of stranding reaches Juneau by wireless distress call . * 06:00 High tide on Vanderbilt reef; ''Sophias hull pounds on rocks; storm lessens but vessel cannot get free; first rescue ship arrives; snowfall stops at Eldred Rock LS, 24 miles north of Vanderbilt reef; weather remains clear at this light station until 13:00. * 06:12 Dawn twilight begins * 06:50 Snowfall stops at Sentinel Island LS, 4 miles south of Vanderbilt Reef; weather remains clear at this light station until 12:10. * 06:53 Sunrise * 09:00 U.S. harbor boat ''Peterson'' arrives at Vanderbilt Reef. * 10:00 Mailboat ''Estebeth'' arrives at Vanderbilt Reef. * 10:20 ''Amy'' arrives at Vanderbilt Reef; rescue vessels at scene now have capacity to take off at least 385 people, more than are on board ''Sophia''. * 12:00 Low tide on Vanderbilt Reef * 12:10 Snow begins falling again at Sentinel Rock LS, continues falling until 03:40 on Sunday, 27 October. * 13:00 Snow begins falling again at Eldred Rock LS, continues falling until 08:00 on 27 October. * 14:00 Wireless message from Juneau alerts Captain John Ledbetter, of lighthouse tender ''Cedar'', then 66 miles south of Vanderbilt Reef; ''Cedar'' proceeds immediately to Vanderbilt Reef, arrives six hours later at 20:00. * 15:00 Wind begins rising at Vanderbilt reef * 15:30 Ferry boat ''Lone Fisherman'' arrives at Sentinel Island (does not proceed to reef). * 16:00 High tide on Vanderbilt Reef; ''Sophia'' cannot break free; sea conditions rough and waves pound at hull as tide rises; when ''Sophia'' not heavily damaged, Captain Locke advises ''Amy'' and ''Estebeth'' to seek harbor; they do; ''Sitka'' arrives at reef. * 16:30 Sunset * 17:11 Twilight ends; night begins * 18:20 ''King and Winge'' arrives at reef, stays on station until 13:00 on 25 October. * 19:00 ''Elsinore'' arrives at reef. * 20:00 ''Cedar'' arrives at reef. Wireless communication now possible between rescue vessels on scene and ''Sophia''. * 20:15

( phase: waning

(69% of Moon's visible disk illuminated)) * 20:30 Light and heat lost on ''Sophia'', causes temporary belief on ''King and Winge'' that vessel has sunk. Loss of power causes loss of wireless communications.''Sophia'' had storage batteries for wireless use in the event of power failure, but there appear to have been some problems with them. * 19:00 ''Cedar'' departs at Vanderbilt Reef. * 23:30 ''Princess Alice'' departs

Vancouver, BC Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

bound for Juneau to pick up passengers who are anticipated to be evacuated from ''Sophia''.

Friday, 25 October 1918

* 04:35 ''Cedar'' returns to Vanderbilt Reef; ''King and Winge'' has been there all night. Rescue effort postponed because of sea conditions. * 06:14 Dawn's first light * 06:55 Sunrise * 08:00 Electrical power and steam heat restored on ''Sophia''; wireless communication possible again. * 09:00 ''Cedar'' attempts to anchor and evacuate passengers by

. Attempt to anchor fails. * 10:00 Locke radios Ledbetter, tells him to abandon attempt to anchor, wait until next low tide. * 13:00 Worsening weather conditions force ''Cedar'' and ''King and Winge'' to leave the reef, after first receiving assent from Locke. * 13:45 ''Cedar'' and ''King and Winge'' reach relatively protected water in lee of Sentinel Island. Exhausted wireless operators on ''Cedar'' and ''Sophia'' agree not to communicate until 16:30 to give themselves time to rest. * 16:47 Sunset * 16:50 ''Sophia'' radios ''Cedar'': "Ship foundering on reef. Come at once." ''Cedar'' proceeds to area of Vanderbilt Reef, but cannot locate the vessel. * 17:09 Twilight ends; night begins * 17:20 Last wireless message from ''Sophia'' * 17:50 Most watches recovered from ''Sophia'' victims stop. It is presumed that by this time, ''Sophia'' had sunk and the victims were forced into the water. No one on board survives.

Saturday, 26 October 1918

* 06:16 Dawn's first light * 06:58 Sunrise * 07:21 ''Cedar'' departs Sentinel Island to return to reef to search. * 08:30 ''Cedar'' arrives at reef and sees only the foremast of ''Sophia'' above the water on south side of reef.

Notes

External links

''Princess Sophia'' (City of Vancouver historical page)
- City of Vancouver 's Mountain View Cemetery page on the shipwreck. Includes list of 66 people from wreck buried in Mountain View Cemetery and list of crew of ''Princess Sophia''.
This website from the University of Victoria examines the loss of the Princess Sophia in the context of the Great War.

Has images and capsule histories of ''Princess Sophia'', ''Princess May'' and other CPR steamships
Kalafus, Jim, "The Loss of the Princess Sophia" Gare Maritime
- Article on loss of ship, with two illustrations beyond those on Wikipedia or Wiki commons
Ricketts, Bruce "The Princess Sophia Disaster", Mysteries of Canada
Summary and two photos of wreck.
Vancouver Maritime Museum — Bell of ''Princess Sophia''
The bell of the ''Princess Sophia'' was recovered in salvage efforts and in 2004 found its way to the Vancouver Maritime Museum. It has been certified as a national treasure of Canada. {{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Sophia, SS 1911 ships 1918 in Alaska Juneau, Alaska Klondike Gold Rush Maritime incidents in 1918 Shipwrecks of the Alaska coast Ships of CP Ships Ships lost with all hands Troopships of Canada October 1918 events Ships built in Scotland

Inside Passage

The coastal liner

Design and construction

Routes

Final voyage

Vanderbilt Reef

Grounding

First distress call sent

Stranded on the reef

Similar wrecks

Decision not to evacuate

Communications problems

Rescue effort begins Friday morning

Rising winds force abandonment

Last call for assistance

Search in the storm

Loss of the ship

Wreck located

Aftermath of wreck

Evaluation of the decision not to evacuate

Letters recovered from the lost passengers

Timeline

Wednesday 23 October 1918

Thursday 24 October 1918

Friday, 25 October 1918

Saturday, 26 October 1918

See also

Notes

External links