''Peter Iredale'' was a four-masted steel

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

that ran ashore October 25, 1906, on the

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

coast en route to the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

. She was abandoned on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens in Warrenton about four miles (6 km) south of the Columbia River channel. Wreckage is still visible, making it a popular tourist attraction as one of the most accessible

shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

of the

Graveyard of the Pacific The Graveyard of the Pacific is a somewhat loosely defined stretch of the Pacific Northwest coast stretching from around Tillamook Bay on the Oregon Coast northward past the treacherous Columbia Bar and Juan de Fuca Strait, up the rocky wester ...

Namesake

The ship was named after Peter Iredale, who not only owned the vessel as part of his shipping fleet, but was also a well-known figure in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where his business was headquartered. The ship was built in

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...

in June 1890, by R. Ritson & Co Ltd for P. Iredale & Porter. She measured 2,075

net register ton Net register tonnage (NRT, nrt, n.r.t.) is a ship's cargo volume capacity expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated by subtracting non-revenue-earning spaces i.e. spaces not available for carrying cargo, ...

s and was 87 meters (285 ft) in length. The vessel was fashioned from steel plates on an iron frame. She had royal sails above double top and

topgallant sail On a square rigged sailing vessel, a topgallant sail (topgallant alone pronounced "t'gallant", topgallant sail pronounced "t'garns'l",C.S. Forester, ''Beat to Quarters'', Chapter VI. is the square-rigged sail or sails immediately above the topsa ...

s, and was the largest vessel built by Ritson. The ship was originally commanded by Captain G.A. Brown and later by Captain H. Lawrence.

Wreck

Sailing from

Salina Cruz Salina Cruz is a major seaport on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the state's fourth-largest city and is the municipal seat of the Municipalities of Oaxaca, municipality of the sa ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, on or about September 26, 1906, ''Peter Iredale'' was bound for

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, Oregon with 1,000 tons of ballast and a crew of 27, including two

stowaway A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus. Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other c ...

s. The voyage up the coast was unremarkable until the night of 25 October, when Captain H. Lawrence sighted the

Tillamook Rock Light Tillamook Rock Light (known locally as Terrible Tilly or just Tilly) is a deactivated lighthouse on the northern Oregon Coast of the United States. It is located approximately offshore from Tillamook Head, and south of the mouth of the Columbi ...

house at 3:20 a.m. local time. The crew altered course first east-northeast and then northeast to enter the mouth of the Columbia River in thick mist and a rising tide. Under strong winds out of the west, an attempt was made to

wear Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology. Wear in ...

the ship away from shore, but a heavy northwest squall grounded ''Peter Iredale'' on Clatsop Sands (now called Clatsop Spit). High seas and wind drove the ship ashore. A lifeboat was dispatched from Hammond, Oregon and assisted in evacuating the sailors, who were tended to at Fort Stevens. No casualties occurred in the accident. A Naval Court inquiry was held in Astoria on November 12 and 13, 1906, by the British Vice-Consulate to determine the cause of the wreck. After investigating, no blame was placed on Lawrence and the crew for the loss, and he and his officers were commended for their attempts to save the ship. There was little damage to the hull and plans were made to tow the ship back to sea, but after several weeks waiting for favorable weather and ocean conditions, the ship had listed to port (left) and become embedded in the sands. The salvage rights to the ship were sold in 1917, though the wreck was never actually broken up. All that remains is the bow, a few ribs, and a couple of masts. Captain Lawrence's final toast to his ship was: "May God bless you, and may your bones bleach in the sands."

World War II

The Oregon Coast saw action on the night of June 21, 1942 from Japanese submarine ''I-25'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when several shells were fired at Fort Stevens. Though the wrecked ''Peter Iredale'' was in the line of fire, no damage was done to it. The next day, rolls of

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

were strung from Point Adams southward to hamper a potential invasion of the United States

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (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 no official boundary exists, the most common ...

, especially after

Kiska Kiska (, ) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is required to visit it. The island has ...

and

Attu Island Attu (, ) is an island in the Near Islands (part of the Aleutian Islands chain). It is one of the westernmost points of the U.S. state of Alaska. The island became uninhabited in 2010, making it the largest uninhabited island that is part of th ...

s in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

fell under Japanese hands two weeks earlier. ''Peter Iredale'' was entwined in the

wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

and remained that way until the end of the war.

Today

Over a century since it ran aground, the remains of ''Peter Iredale's'' rusted bow and masts are still visible jutting out of the sand and are a popular tourist attraction. The wreck is contained within

Fort Stevens State Park Fort Stevens was an American military installation that guarded the mouth of the Columbia River in the state of Oregon. Built near the end of the American Civil War, it was named for Civil War general and former Washington Territory governor, I ...

, which is part of

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (including the former Fort Clatsop National Memorial), located in the vicinity of the mouth of the Columbia River, commemorates the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Administration of the park, which includ ...

References

External links