Pacific (ship, 1851)

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Pacific
SS Pacific (1851) .jpg
Ship data
flag United States 37United States United States
Ship type Passenger ship
home port San Francisco
Shipping company Goodall, Nelson & Perkins
Shipyard William H. Brown, New York
Launch September 24, 1850
Commissioning 1851
Whereabouts Sunk 4th November 1875
Ship dimensions and crew
length
68.6 m ( Lüa )
width 9.1 m
Draft Max. 5.2 m
measurement 876 GRT
 
crew 72
Machine system
machine Steam engine on two side wheels

The Pacific was a passenger ship put into service in 1851 by the US shipping company Goodall, Nelson & Perkins, which was used to carry passengers , mail and cargo between San Francisco in California and Victoria in British Columbia .

On November 4, 1875, the steamer collided with the sailing ship Orpheus southwest of Cape Flattery on the coast of the US state of Washington and sank. There were too few lifeboats and those that were launched all went under. Only two men survived the accident, 273 passengers and crew members died, including all women and children. The sinking of the Pacific is one of the worst shipping accidents on the North American Pacific coast.

The ship

Consisting of wood built paddle steamer Pacific was 1850/51 at the shipyard of William H. Brown in New York built and had two decks , two paddle wheels and steam engines from the Archimedes Ironworks. On March 19, the completed ship set out for San Francisco, where it arrived on July 2.

The Pacific had an eventful history. The original owners were Major Albert Lowry and Captain Jarvis, who wanted to use the ship on the Panama - San Francisco route . Shortly thereafter, the Pacific steamed for the United States Mail Steamship Company from New Orleans to the Río Chagres in Panama. On her first trip to Havana , she made the 360 ​​miles in 24 hours, which was the best result ever achieved by an ocean liner on this route.

Eventually the ship was bought by Cornelius Vanderbilt , for whom it operated between Panama and San Francisco. Between September 1851 and September 1855 the Pacific served the route San Francisco - San Juan del Sur ( Nicaragua ). She was then temporarily decommissioned until she was bought in 1858 by the Merchants Accommodation Line, for which she carried passengers on the Columbia River . During this time, the ship carried numerous prospectors who wanted to travel to British Columbia in the course of the Fraser Canyon gold rush . On July 18, 1861, the Pacific sank in the Columbia River near Coffin Rock. It was lifted, repaired and put back into operation.

From 1863 the ship belonged to Major Samuel J. Hensley of the Oregon & San Diego Steamship Line and from 1867 Holladay & Brenham. In 1872 the Pacific was sold to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company , for which it called from San Francisco in San Diego . In 1875 the Pacific passed to its last owner, the Californian shipping company Goodall, Nelson & Perkins, which in the mid-19th century controlled a large part of shipping to and from Alaska and Mexico . The ship was renovated at a cost of $ 40,000.

In the tense rivalry that prevailed at the time between the shipping companies on the American west coast, Goodall, Nelson & Perkins often offered the crossings at significantly lower prices or even for free in order to outdo the competition. The cost of the one-way trip was typically $ 5, which is equivalent to around $ 200 in cash today.

The last ride

beginning of the journey

On Thursday, November 4, 1875, just after 3 p.m., the Pacific took passengers and cargo on board in Victoria for another voyage to San Francisco. The command was the 28-year-old captain Jefferson Davis Howell. Howell was the brother-in-law of Jefferson Davis , who was President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865 . There were officially 72 crew members and 203 passengers (115 first class, 88 third class) on board. However, since children traveled for free and were not on the passenger list, it is possible that there were actually more people on the ship.

Among the passengers on this trip were among others:

  • Calvin Mandeville: Actor and promoter with wife Bella and child and sisters Alicia Mandeville Thorne and Jennie Mandeville Parsons
  • Captain Otis Parsons: Shipowner, owner of the Fraser River fleet and founder of the city of Parsonville, British Columbia, with wife Jennie Mandeville Parsons and child
  • Sewell Prescott Moody: Entrepreneur, industrialist, and founder of the city of Moodyville , British Columbia
  • John Howe Sullivan: Notary and Gold Commissioner for Cassiar Country, British Columbia
  • Francis J. Garesche: banker, co-founder of Bank Garesche and Green and agent for Wells Fargo
  • Henry Clay Victor: marine engineer and husband of the American writer, historian and poet Frances Fuller Victor
  • Elizabeth McMillan Moote: daughter of newspaper editor and former mayor of Victoria, James E. McMillan
  • Fanny Palmer: Youngest daughter of the pianist and composer Professor John Lee Digby Palmer

The freight included coal , potatoes , hundreds of sacks of grain and cranberries , two buggies and six horses . The ship was completely overloaded with cargo and picked up a strong list as soon as it left. To correct this and to put the ship back on a level keel, some lifeboats were filled with water. When the ship then heeled to the other side, the boats there were also filled with water. There were no rescue exercises and even if the lifeboats had been operational, they could only have picked up 145 people.

Collision and sinking

At around 10 p.m. on the evening of November 4, the Pacific collided with the sailing ship Orpheus about 12 to 15 miles off Cape Flattery in heavy seas and stormy winds . Both ships broke up immediately after the collision and moved away from each other. The Pacific took in water very quickly and leaned to port . She let out her ship's horn .

Few lifeboats were ready to be lowered, but none of them could be launched safely. One was flooded right after touching down on the water and sank, others could not be swung over the deck edge because they were overcrowded with panicked passengers. Nobody in the lifeboats survived. Most of the passengers were thrown into the water and drowned. The women had it particularly difficult because of their heavy clothing; in addition, only a few women could swim at the time.

About ten minutes after the collision, the Pacific broke in three parts and went under (position 48 ° 23 ′ 56.5 ″  N , 125 ° 4 ′ 43.1 ″  E ). Only about 20 people survived the sinking and clung to floating wreckage in the cold water. Most of them gradually lost their grip and succumbed to the effects of hypothermia and exhaustion.

One of the fatalities of the sinking: John H. Sullivan,
Cassiar Country gold commissioner

Two men survived the accident, the 22-year-old passenger Henry F. Jelley from Port Stanley, Ontario and the 21-year-old Scottish crew member Neil O. Henley. Jelley, a Canadian Pacific Railway employee , was found two days after the sinking by the Bark Messenger that took him to Port Angeles . Henley was only found four days later by the Oliver Walcott , a ship belonging to the American customs authorities.

Captain Howell was killed; five days later he would have celebrated his 29th birthday.

Aftermath

In the investigation that followed the sinking of the Pacific , several Orpheus crew members testified that its captain, 36-year-old Charles A. Sawyer, was drunk at the time of the accident and that he did not know the exact location of his ship. For this reason he had approached the Pacific to consult its captain. As a result, there was a collision. Captain Sawyer resumed the voyage after ascertaining that his ship had not been seriously damaged. Shortly afterwards he put his ship aground in the bay of Barkley Sound , mistaking Cape Beale for Cape Flattery.

Sawyer had not asked about the whereabouts of the Pacific , which was heavily criticized by the committee of inquiry. The fact that the Orpheus did not remain at the scene of the accident and did not take in any castaways contributed significantly to the high loss of human life.

The value of the cargo on board the Pacific was estimated by the Canadian historian Frederick W. Howay at around 100,000 US dollars.

About a month after the sinking, a piece of wood was washed ashore with the handwritten inscription “SP Moody. All Lost "(German:" SP Moody. Alle (s) Lost ") wore. The words were recognized as the handwriting of the passenger Sewell Moody. The piece of wood is still owned by his descendants today.

literature

  • Kemble, John H. The Panama Route 1848-1869 . 1943
  • Basque, Garnet. Lost Bonanzas of Western Canada . Heritage House Pub Ltd., 1990

Web links