SS ''Pacific'' was a wooden sidewheel steamer built in 1850 most notable for its sinking in 1875 as a result of a collision southwest of

Cape Flattery Cape Flattery () is the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States. It is in Clallam County, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. It is also part of the Makah Reservation, and ...

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 ...

. ''Pacific'' had an estimated 275 passengers and crew aboard when she sank. Only two survived. Among the casualties were several notable figures, including the vessel's captain at the time of the disaster, Jefferson Davis Howell (1846–1875), the brother-in-law of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The sinking of ''Pacific'' killed more people than any other marine disaster on the West Coast at the time.

Design and construction

''Pacific'' was commissioned by Major Albert Lowry, Captain Nathanial Jarvis, and her builder, William H. Brown. She was built in Brown's shipyard at the foot of Twelfth Street on the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Que ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Her hull was oak and live oak timbers fastened together with iron and copper nails. ''Pacific'' had a

vertical beam A marine steam engine is a steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. This article deals mainly with marine steam engines of the reciprocating type, which were in use from the inception of the steamboat in the early 19th century to their ...

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 ...

generating . Her engine had a

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infi ...

with a stroke. She had two coal-fired boilers. Her machinery was manufactured by the Archimedes Iron Works run by H. R. Dunham of New York. ''Pacific'' sailed with as many as 546 passengers aboard in two classes of service. Passengers purchasing individual cabins would dine in the ship's salon, while steerage passengers had berths in common areas and ate in a separate mess. She was launched at high water on September 24, 1850. The next day she had a gala

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

. Captain Jarvis was in command. Also aboard were William Brown, her builder, H. R. Dunham, who supplied her machinery, General Jose Antonio Paez, exiled President of Venezuela, several other steamship captains, and other invited guests. As ''Pacific'' headed down the

, the new steamship ''Franklin'' and the new

Cunard Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Ber ...

steamer ''

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

'' raced the ship. She easily passed both ships hitting a speed of just over . A cold lunch was served underway. The ship arrived back at her berth in the East River a 5:45 P.M. after an trip.

Panama service (1850–1851)

''Pacific'' sailed from New York on her first commercial voyage on October 11, 1850. She had 80 passengers aboard. She was bound for

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

and finally

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Chagres, Panama for the

Pacific Mail Steamship Company The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett (American consul ...

. Her schedule connected her with the company's ships sailing to San Francisco (via Panama) and New York (via Havana). The California gold rush was in full swing at the time, and the quickest way to and from the goldfields was through Panama. Thus, ''Pacific'' had its share of dramatic cargoes. She left Chagres with 470 passengers and about $200,000 in gold dust on December 12, 1850, bound for Havana and New Orleans. Her previous trip had been even richer. She left Chagres on November 11, 1850 with $287,000 of California gold dust and 353 passengers including

Prince Paul of Württemberg Prince Paul of Württemberg (Paul Heinrich Karl Friedrich August; 19 January 1785 – 16 April 1852) was the fourth child and second son of King Frederick I and his wife, Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Early life Paul was born in S ...

. In 1850 there were no overland communications routes across North America, so news and mail from California reached the eastern United States through the steamship links at Panama. The news of Western United States brought to New Orleans by ''Pacific'' was frequently the first word of events to reach the wider world. The news was telegraphed across the country from New Orleans. While this might have been the fastest method of receiving California news, it was a slow process. For example, the most up to date newspapers that reached New Orleans aboard ''Pacific'' on February 6, 1851 were dated January 1, 1851.

Nicaragua service (1851–1855)

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

made his fortune in regional steam boating in the New York area. When the California gold rush made shipping through Panama profitable, he saw an opportunity for improvement. He believed that a route across Nicaragua, which was closer to the United States, would prove a quicker and cheaper path to the gold fields of California. He was unable to secure financing for a canal as he had hoped, but used instead a route including the San Juan River and

Lake Nicaragua Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada ( es, Lago de Nicaragua, , or ) is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua. Of tectonic origin and with an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world (by area) and the t ...

. The transit time from New York to San Francisco on the new Nicaragua route was variously reported to be two to five days faster than the Panama route. Vanderbilt began buying and chartering ocean-going ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific to make the Nicaragua route a reality. He chartered ''Pacific'' from Brown for the Nicaragua to San Francisco section. She sailed under Captain David G. Bailey. ''Pacific'' left New York on March 18, 1851 to take up her new charter. She sailed to San Francisco with a stop in

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

, Chile. ''Pacific'' departed San Francisco on her first voyage as part of the new Nicaragua route on July 14, 1851. She stopped for coal in

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has ...

on July 23, and reached

San Juan del Sur San Juan del Sur is a municipality and coastal town on the Pacific Ocean, in the Rivas department in southwest Nicaragua. It is located south of Managua. San Juan del Sur is popular among surfers and is a vacation spot for many Nicaraguan ...

, the Pacific end of the Nicaragua route, on July 27, 1851. Her arrival in Nicaragua was coordinated with the sailing of Vanderbilt's ''Prometheus'', which left New York for Nicaragua, also on July 14, 1851. This inaugural run of Vanderbilt's new route did not go as planned. A $40 or $50 "transit charge" levied in Nicaragua was twice what passengers had been promised, and the mule trains which carried baggage between the steamships were likewise more expensive than advertised. Worst of all, they spent three weeks, "among the vermin, filth, and disease of Nicaragua." The outraged passengers went so far as to form a committee to publish a scathing review of the new service, although they commented favorably on ''Pacific''s Captain Bailey. Captain Bailey died unexpectedly while ''Pacific'' was in port at San Juan del Sur during the fall of 1851. Captain Jarvis was restored to command of the ship, at least through February 1852. The transit problems in Nicaragua were reduced and ''Pacific'' continued her shuttles between San Francisco and San Juan del Sur for several years. In 1853, through rates leaving San Francisco on ''Pacific'', crossing Nicaragua, and sailing to New York on another Vanderbilt steamer were: $225 for deck staterooms, $200 for staterooms opening onto the dining salon, $150 for a cabin on the lower deck, and $75 for steerage. Her cargoes were even richer than on her Panama trips. In September 1853 she left San Francisco with 460 passengers and $1.5 million in gold. The government of Nicaragua was not strong, which may explain how Vanderbilt got his license to cross the country in the first place. By 1854, this weakness brought about threatening forces. A town near the western terminus of the Nicaragua crossing tried to collect "port fees" and impose other controls on Vanderbilt's operations which were not called for in his charter from the national government. When these demands were rebuffed, armed men from

San Juan del Norte San Juan de Nicaragua, formerly known as San Juan del Norte or Greytown, is a town and municipality in the Río San Juan Department of Nicaragua. History San Juan del Norte was founded by the Spanish and was a small fort and customs station. ...

seized one of Vanderbilt's employees. The U.S. Consul attempted to negotiate the matter and was wounded in the face when a broken bottle was thrown at him. Matters escalated and the bombarded the defenseless town for an hour and thirty-five minutes, destroying it. While the outcome at San Juan del Norte favored Vanderbilt's interests, the civil war that broke out in Nicaragua in 1854 did not. The national government recruited American mercenary William Walker to defend it from the rebels. He and his band of 30 mercenaries took control of the country. He seized Vanderbilt's assets in Nicaragua in March 1855, likely in collusion with Vanderbilt's erstwhile partner, Charles Morgan. ''Pacific'' continued to sail into this confusing situation until at least August 1855.

Pacific Northwest service (1858–1869)

''Pacific'' was "withdrawn" from the Nicaraguan service in early 1856. She falls out of contemporary accounts at that point. It may be that her charter was not renewed in the confusion that overtook Vanderbilt's operations after the seizure of his Nicaraguan properties. In the fall of 1858 she reappears sailing for the

between San Francisco,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

, and

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. T ...

. Part of her business, and perhaps the reason for her reactivation was to ferry miners from California to the

Fraser Canyon Gold Rush The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's ...

. She also carried troops amid escalating border tensions in the

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core o ...

with British forces. In January 1858 she embarked 260 enlisted men and 13 officers in San Francisco for

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of the ...

on the Columbia River. In 1859 ''Pacific'' was purchased by the

California Steam Navigation Company The California Steam Navigation Company was formed in 1854 to consolidate competing steamship companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. It was successful in this effort and established a profitable near- ...

which continued to sail her between San Francisco, Portland, Puget Sound, and Victoria. Much of her freight was agricultural. For example, she sailed from Portland to Victoria on November 15, 1861 with, "2,889 sacks flour; 991 boxes apples; 74 lbs butter; 19 boxes eggs; 28 sacks bacon; 3 barrels cider; 9 coops chickens". View from Fort Tongas

''Pacific'', under the command of Captain George W. Staples, sailed from Portland down the Columbia on July 17, 1861, headed for San Francisco. At 2 A.M. she hit Coffin Rock. At the time she was making through the water and had a current with her. The rock stove in her bow and flooding was immediate and serious. Captain Staples attempted to reach Astoria, but the flooding was too severe. ''Pacific'' continued downstream for about and was beached on the

side of the river. When she came to rest, her stern was submerged to her second deck. There were 70 passengers aboard at the time. There were no deaths, but much of the cargo was destroyed. ''Pacific'' was refloated on August 2, 1861 and beached at Astoria for repairs. By the end of the year she was back in service, plying her regular route. Steamboat rate wars raged on the West Coast of the United States in the 1860s. In order to reduce competition on the routes from San Francisco to points north, the California, Oregon, and Mexico Steamship Company acquired six ships, including ''Pacific'', from the California Steam Navigation Company, in mid-1867. The California, Oregon and Mexico Steamship Company was reincorporated in California as the North Pacific Transportation Company in early 1869. In 1868, a year after

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 ...

was acquired from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, ''Pacific'' was chartered for General Henry Halleck's inspection trip of the newly acquired territory. In addition to Halleck and his staff, the ship carried ordinance, commissary, and quartermaster's stores for the new military facilities. The ship departed San Francisco on July 29, 1868. The ship stopped at Fort Tongass,

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

, and Victoria, B.C., before returning to San Francisco.

Southern California service (1869–1874)

Beginning in 1869, ''Pacific'' began to mix her northward sailings to Victoria with southern voyages from San Francisco to San Diego with stops in Santa Barbara, and San Pedro. During the winter of 1869–1870 she took a two-month tourist cruise from San Francisco south to ports in the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

and then to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

before returning. In another attempt to damp down rate wars on the West Coast, the Pacific Mail Steamship company bought four steamships, including ''Pacific'' and all the Southern California business of the North Pacific Transportation Company in 1872. ''Pacific''s sale price was $50,000. In August 1873 the ship underwent a refit in San Francisco. A new steam engine was installed which had a vertical cylinder with a throw. This new engine provided . In yet another corporate merger aimed at reducing competition, Goodall, Nelson, and Perkins purchased the Southern California operations of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, including ''Pacific'' in early 1875. The ship sold for $35,000. Through all this corporate turmoil, ''Pacific'' continued her regular sailings. On March 11, 1873 she arrived in San Francisco with 90,000 oranges and 25,000 lemons from groves around Los Angeles. In 1874 she was making two round-trips per month between San Francisco and San Pedro.

Pacific Northwest service (1875)

''Pacific'' finished her last Southern California voyages for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company in January 1875, and by May was sailing her old route from San Francisco to Victoria for Goodall, Nelson, and Perkins. The onset of the

Cassiar Gold Rush The Cassiar Country, also referred to simply as the Cassiar, is a historical geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Cassiar is located in the northwest portion of British Columbia, just to the northeast of the Stikine ...

in far northern British Columbia played a part in her routing. On July 1, 1875 she arrived in San Francisco with $50,629 of Canadian gold aboard. Among the notable passengers aboard in 1875 were the 173 crewmembers of the that was wrecked in

Seymour Narrows Seymour Narrows is a section of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia known for strong tidal currents. Discovery Passage lies between Vancouver Island at Menzies Bay, British Columbia and Quadra Island except at its northern end where the eas ...

, British Columbia. Despite all the mergers, rates continued to be quite low. In 1875 a trip aboard ''Pacific'' from San Francisco to

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...

cost $10 in steerage and $20 for a cabin.

Sinking

On November 4, 1875, she boarded passengers and freight in Victoria for her regular run to San Francisco. There were 52 crew aboard, led by Captain Jefferson Davis Howell. Thirty-five through passengers from Puget Sound ports were aboard and another 132 passengers bought tickets and embarked at Victoria. In addition to these ticketed passengers, an unknown number of persons rushed aboard without tickets as she left the dock. Children sailed for free and thus were also likely undercounted. Among the notable people aboard were lumberman Sewell "Sue" Moody, founder of Moodyville, Captain Otis Parsons, who had just sold off his fleet of

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annua ...

steamers, and

J.H. Sullivan John Howe Sullivan (c. 1843 - 4 November 1875) was the Gold Commissioner for the Cassiar District in the Canadian province of British Columbia during the Cassiar Gold Rush The Cassiar Country, also referred to simply as the Cassiar, is a histor ...

, who had been Gold Commissioner of the Cassiar mining district. Passengers also included gold miners going home before the snows hit their diggings in northern British Columbia, and 41 unidentified "Chinamen". While the official estimate was that there were 275 people aboard, there is no way to be sure, and the number of passengers may have been higher. Her cargo on this voyage included 300 bales of hops, 2,000 sacks of oats, 250 hides, eleven casks of furs, 31 barrels of cranberries, two cases of opium, six horses, two buggies, 280 tons of coal from Puget Sound, $79,220 in gold, and about 30 tons of miscellaneous goods. ''Pacific'' got underway from Victoria at 9:30 A.M. and sailed west, down 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 ...

. She had a rough passage and had difficulty remaining on an even keel. The crew took the strange step of filling lifeboats with water to correct her list. The steamer passed Tatoosh Island at about 4 P.M and turned south along the coast. At this point she was steaming into the wind, which slowed her progress. The 1,067-ton sailing ship ''Orpheus'' was headed in the opposite direction, sailing under the command of Captain Charles Sawyer from San Francisco to pick up a load of coal at

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "Hub City," which was ...

. The two ships collided about southwest of Cape Flattery at approximately 10 P.M. on November 4, 1875. ''Pacific'' hit ''Orpheus'' near her bow on her starboard side. The two ships hit at an angle, and the bow of ''Pacific'' scraped along ''Orpheus'' side until she passed astern. The collision was judged "light" by Sawyer. He speculated that ''Pacific'' had reversed her engines, reducing her speed and thus the force of the collision. Much of ''Orpheus'' starboard rigging was ripped away by ''Pacific''s bow, and she was immobilized. Unsure of the extent of the damage, Captain Sawyer ordered the ship's boats readied in case the crew had to abandon ship. A frantic 15 minutes revealed that the hull was sound and that there was no water in the hold. He ordered his men to make temporary repairs to the rigging in order to regain control over the drifting ship. Once the initial emergency had subsided, there was no sign of the steamer that had hit ''Orpheus''. The crew began to grumble that the steamer should have stood by to help them or rescue them if they had sunk. They had no idea the steamer had been damaged, much less sunk, assuming that it had just sailed away. In a few hours ''Orpheus'' was underway again, still headed to Nanaimo. Meanwhile, on board ''Pacific'', a disaster was taking place. Information on these events is limited as only two people, neither of them on the bridge, survived the wreck. Neil Henley was the ship's quartermaster, and Henry F. Jelly of

Port Stanley, Ontario Port Stanley is a community in the Municipality of Central Elgin, Elgin County in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of Kettle Creek. In 2016, it had a population of 2,148. History The site of Port Stan ...

was a passenger in British Columbia to survey possible routes for 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 ...

. Both men were in their bunks at the time of the collision. Henley did note that the ship's running lights were on as he retired to his cabin before the collision. Both men felt and heard the crash as ''Pacific'' scraped along ''Orpheus'' side. Jelly ran on deck where he was told that they had hit another vessel and "it's all right". He went back to his cabin, but by then the ship had begun to list to port. He went back on deck and found a chaotic situation. No one was steering the vessel, although the engines were still running. In consultation with Captain Howell, he fired five blue flares, a distress signal. At that point his attention turned to the lifeboats. Henley, too, raced up on deck to find all in confusion. Passengers were scrambling into lifeboats, without order. The crew threw one man overboard who refused to leave a lifeboat. Many boats were without oars; some still had water in them from the attempt to trim the ship, and the crew was unable to launch most of them. Henley and the chief engineer managed to launch one boat, but it immediately capsized. Jelly was in the only other boat that either man saw launched. ''Pacific'' had listed so far to port that this boat was set down on the water without having been lowered from its davits. As soon as it was cut loose from the ship, it filled with water and capsized. At this point – Jelly estimated an hour after the collision – ''Pacific'' broke in two and the ship's smokestack fell on the capsized boat. The pieces of the ship promptly sank. After ''Pacific'' went under, Henley reported that the water was filled with "a floating mass of human beings, whose screams for help were fearful, but which soon ceased". Most succumbed to

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

or drowning. A few, including Jelly and Henley, managed to climb up out of the water onto broken parts of the ship. Women in fashionable dresses with yards of material were at a disadvantage as they were weighed down by their water-logged clothes. Jelly survived by clinging to a piece of the wheelhouse with a miner from

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

who had been in the

Cariboo goldfields The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Colony of British Columbia, which later joined the Canadian province of British Columbia. The first gold discovery was made at Hills Bar in 1858, followed by more strikes in 1859 on the Horsefly River ...

and, like Jelly, was on his way home to the eastern part of the continent via the transcontinental railway from San Francisco. Jelly's companion succumbed to exposure as the wreckage drifted closer to Vancouver Island. Only three miles from shore, Jelly was rescued by the American

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, en ...

at 10 A.M. on November 6, 1875. He was brought ashore at

Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition ...

, weak from exposure. His rescue was the first indication the rest of the world had that ''Pacific'' had sunk. A number of vessels, including were dispatched to look for survivors. Henley's impromptu raft also carried Captain Howell, the second mate, a cook, and four passengers including a young lady. Waves washed some off the raft, and others died of exposure, leaving Henley alone. He was finally rescued by the ''Wolcott'' at 3 A.M. on November 8, 1875. ''Orpheus'' continued her voyage north after the collision, intending to turn east into the Strait of Juan de Fuca once she passed the Cape Flattery lighthouse. Somehow she missed that light. Instead, the mate on watch saw the Cape Beale Light further to the north. This lighthouse had only operated for a few months and none of the officers on board knew about it. They assumed it was Cape Flattery, turned east, and wrecked their ship In Barclay Sound, near Copper (Tzartus) Island, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Some of her crew reached the shore, and others were rescued by ''Wolcott'', which was still looking for survivors from ''Pacific''. ''Wolcott''s officers examined the wreck of ''Orpheus'' and confirmed Sawyer's account that ''Pacific'' had hit her near the bow and scraped along her starboard side. A coroner's inquest on some of the bodies recovered was held in Victoria in late November 1875. Henley and Jelly testified, as did Captain Sawyer and some of ''Orpheus'' crew. All of ''Pacific''s officers and most of her crew were killed in the event, and Captain Sawyer of ''Orpheus'' was below at the beginning of the incident so details of the collision are necessarily incomplete. Nonetheless, the surviving accounts and the results of the inquests into the sinking present a fairly clear picture. ''Orpheus'' was sailing north in a fine rain. A fresh wind out of the south sped her on her way at 12 knots. It was dark and Sawyer was uncertain just how far his ship was from the coast to his east, so he trimmed his sails so he could fall off to the west at a moment's notice. Sawyer went below at 9:30 P.M. to consult his charts, leaving the ship under the command of the second mate with instructions to fall off to the west if he spotted anything; the mate did so when he spotted a light on his port bow that he thought was the Cape Flattery lighthouse. Had he been correct, his action would have saved the ship from wrecking on the rocky shore; however, the light was ''Pacific''s, and by turning to the west, ''Orpheus'' ran directly in front of the approaching steamer.

Potential causes of the disaster

The various inquests agreed that the proximate cause of the sinking was ''Orpheus'' crossing in front of ''Pacific''. This simple and obvious conclusion left many questions unanswered, and rumors created new ones.

= Collision avoidance

= ''Orpheus'' clearly steered into the collision, but many speculated that ''Pacific'' could have avoided it. While no one from ''Pacific''s

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

survived to tell what the ship did to avoid the collision, several facts illuminate the issue. First, crew members of both vessels reported seeing the lights of the other. The ships had their running lights on, and visibility was adequate for them to be seen. Second, Jelly reported hearing the bells for the engine telegraph go to "stop" after the collision. This throws doubt onto Sawyer's speculation that ''Pacific'' slowed prior to the collision. Third, Sawyer claimed that he saw no lookouts on ''Pacific''s deck and Jelly claimed the crew were all asleep below; the Victoria inquest faulted ''Pacific'' for inadequate lookouts. A lack of lookouts may have delayed the recognition of the approaching collision until it was too late for ''Pacific'' to take action. Finally, Sawyer reported that ''Pacific'' blew its whistle, presumably as a warning, 30 seconds before the collision, but appeared not to take evasive action even though it had announced its understanding of the immediate danger.

= Seaworthiness of ''Pacific''

= There was much sentiment that a glancing blow that did no damage to ''Orpheus'' hull should not have sunk a well-found ship, much less cause her to break into pieces. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' was particularly strident, commenting, "The sinking of the steamer ''Pacific'' by collision with a sailing vessel was a fair example of the worthlessness of some of the hulls now afloat. That collision might have been avoided is very true; but there is no possible excuse for the breaking up of a vessel by such a blow as that given by the ''Orpheus''. The steamer's bow was crushed in like glass, on receiving a blow delivered obliquely. It is a perversion of language to call such a ship 'seaworthy." There were calls for greater steamboat regulation, criticism of the Steamboat Inspection Service, and some questions raised about the lack of maintenance on ships caused by the relentless fare wars. The use of water-filled life rafts to trim ''Pacific'', as reported by Jelly, indicates that she had stability problems well before the collision. If she already had water in her

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (ship), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Fermat ...

, and was overloaded or the cargo was mis-stowed, this could have caused the ship to capsize more quickly once flooding began after the collision.

= Captain Howell

= Captain Howell was only 34 years old at the time of the sinking, and there were questions raised about his competence and experience. The fact that he was the brother-in-law of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis, no doubt created a cloud of ill-feeling around him, but his experience as a mariner was comparable to other steamboat captains at the time. He studied at the

US Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...

prior to the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

and commanded a gunboat for the

Confederate Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American ...

for two years. He came to California in 1869 and began a commercial steamboat career. He commanded ships for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and the Oregon Steamship Company. Immediately prior to joining Goodall, Nelson, and Perkins, Howell had been captain of the North Pacific Transportation Company's steamers ''Idaho'', ''Montana'', ''Pelican'' and others.

Aftermath

By the time that Captain Sawyer embarked for California, the world had discovered that ''Pacific'' was sunk with huge loss of life, and that ''Orpheus'' had sailed away without attempting a rescue. He was vilified in the press. It was speculated that Captain Sawyer had wrecked his ship on purpose either to "eliminate the evidence" or to collect on his insurance, since his normal profits would not be sufficient to repair the damages from the collision. He was arrested, but an inquest in San Francisco exonerated him. Sawyer died at Port Townsend in 1894. The wreck of ''Orpheus'' was sold for $385 to J. J. Hunt, who hired a crew to salvage what he could. In January 1893 her anchors and chain were salvaged.

Wreck discovery and recovery

''Pacific''s cargo included at least of gold, sparking the interest of treasure hunters. Given the historical significance of the ship and its loss, others have been interested in the wreck from an archeological perspective as well. At least six different parties have mounted searches for the wreck of the ''Pacific'' since 1993. The wreck has proven hard to locate for a variety of reasons. First, it is certain that the mariners on ''Orpheus'' did not know precisely where they were and thus could not accurately report the position of the collision. Second, almost no one survived from ''Pacific'', and certainly none of the deck officers who might have been able to report the position of the sinking. Third, the water is deep and the bottom uneven in the area of the sinking. Finally, after over a century on the sea floor, the wooden hull and other organic matter in the wreck would have decomposed leaving little more than a flat debris field, some of which was likely covered in silt. Firebrick Recovered From North Pacific Ocean

Firebrick Recovered From North Pacific Ocean

Rockfish, Inc. is a for-profit corporation which was launched in 2016 with the goal of locating and salvaging ''Pacific''. Through 2022, $2.1 million has been invested in Rockfish by 45 people. Jeff Hummel, president of Rockfish, pursued a number of clues to narrow the search area off the Washington coast. Bottom-trawling fishermen provided one clue. Some brought up chunks of coal in their nets. Since coal is not found naturally on the sea floor, Rockfish had a chemical analysis completed on one of the recovered rocks. It matched the composition of coal from a mine in Coos Bay, Oregon that was owned by Goodall, Nelson, and Perkins, suggesting that it may have come from ''Pacific's'' bunkers. Acting on this and other clues, in the summer of 2021, Rockfish located what it believed to be the wreck using

side-scan sonar Side-scan sonar (also sometimes called side scan sonar, sidescan sonar, side imaging sonar, side-imaging sonar and bottom classification sonar) is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea ...

. In follow-up surveys during the summer and fall of 2022, the wreck was photographed using a deep-diving

remotely operated underwater vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''. Definition This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ...

, and a number of artifacts were brought to the surface. In November 2022, Rockfish filed for salvage rights to the ship based on its sonar data, photography, and artifact evidence. On November 23, 2022 the

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district c ...

in Western Washington granted exclusive salvage rights to the wreck to Rockfish for 12 months. In order to renew its exclusive salvage rights, Rockfish is required by the Court to diligently undertake the salvage of the ship. The wreck discovered by Rockfish has not been definitively identified as ''Pacific''. Nonetheless, the Court found the evidence sufficiently persuasive that it ordered the public notice of the grant of salvage rights to characterize it as "currently believed to be S.S. Pacific". Rockfish plans further expeditions to the wreck site in the fall of 2023, and the summers of 2024, and 2025. Recovery of additional artifacts will begin with the debris field surrounding the remains of the ship, and then progress to the wreck itself. The Northwest Shipwreck Alliance is a non-profit corporation headed by Matthew McCauley, a long-time partner of Jeff Hummel in numerous salvage efforts. Rockfish, Inc. and its investors are entitled to any profits from any gold or other treasure recovered, but have entered into an agreement to donate all other artifacts recovered to Northwest Shipwreck Alliance. It announced its desire to display recovered artifacts in an appropriate museum setting.

Captains

Historical documents provide a partial list of ''Pacific''s captains: * Nathaniel Jarvis: 1850, 1851, 1852 * Captain David G. Bailey: 1851 * Captain Bodfish: 1851 * Captain Seabury: 1851, 1853, 1854 * Captain P. E. Lefevre: 1852, 1853 * Captain Edgar L. Wakeman: 1855 * Captain Robert Haley: 1858 * Captain C. P. Patterson: 1859 1860 * Captain George W. Staples: 1861 * Captain A. M. Burns: 1855 1862 * Captain Hewitt: 1869 * Captain Connor: 1869 * Captain F. C. Scholl: 1870, 1875 * Captain Peter Mackie: 1872 * Captain G. D. Korts: 1874 * Captain Thomas Stothard: 1874 * Captain Jefferson Davis Howell: 1875

References

External links

* https://www.historylink.org/File/8914