The SS Oregon: The cursed ship that could not survive Alaska

Part of a continuing weekly series on Alaska history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage or Alaska history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.

Before the Alcan Highway, airliners and general improvements in transportation safety, travel to and from Alaska was fraught with risks. More than a century ago, storms and uncharted reefs ripped apart well-maintained ships captained by seasoned sailors. Ramshackle vessels and novice seamen more frequently failed to survive the experience. And some, like the doomed SS Oregon, never should have been allowed to sail around Alaska.

The SS Oregon was a 283-foot-long steamship constructed by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, a John Roach & Sons subsidiary in Chester, Pennsylvania. The steamer launched in 1878, and the name was the obvious choice by the original owner, the Oregon Steamship Co. As it was built long before the completion of the Panama Canal, the Oregon traveled the long way to the West Coast, down and around Cape Horn. From its home port of Portland, the steamer was assigned a regular passenger route to and from San Francisco.

In 1879, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Co., or OR&N, purchased the Oregon Steamship Co., including the SS Oregon. The same purchase also included the SS George W. Elder, which, in 1899, carried the Harriman Expedition in their exploration of the Alaska coast.

After several serious mishaps, the Oregon earned a reputation as a cursed ship. Of the incidents in its early history, the most notable was a Dec. 27, 1889 collision with the British ship Clan McKenzie, which was anchored on the Columbia River. On a snowy night, the iron bow of the Oregon sliced into the crew quarters of the Clan McKenzie, cutting two sailors in half and sinking the ship.

Capt. John Simpson of the Clan McKenzie recounted, “We had just put out fresh lights on the masthead and the side lights were all put out ... I was soundly sleeping and was awakened by a tremendous jar and shaking, and heard the water pouring into the hold. I immediately got boats out, after finding the ship was sinking, and took my wife and crew to shore.”

At some point, the Oregon was deemed unsuitable for passenger service and became solely a cargo ship. Then the Klondike gold rush happened. When news of the Yukon goldfields spread like wildfire in 1897, the sudden demand for travel north far surpassed the capacity of the few ships assigned to Alaska runs. Construction of new vessels would take too long, so many older, underpowered and even formerly derelict ships were pressed back into passenger service. For example, the antiquated steamer Eliza Anderson, which had been laid up and used as a roadhouse, was refloated and sent to Nome with a full load of fortune hunters. On its first trip to Alaska, it only made it as far as Unalaska, where it was abandoned.

[The last voyage of the Eliza Anderson: A gold rush tale of the worst ship to ever sail to Alaska]

In 1899, the Oregon was also recertified for passengers and began regular runs to Alaska. However, the ship’s run of misfortune continued. On Sept. 6, 1901, it left Nome for Seattle. On Sept. 9, southeast of Unimak Pass, a storm ripped the rudder and rudder post off the aging steamer, leaving it to drift in the gale. It took around nine days to rig a working rudder replacement, and the battered vessel finally arrived in Seattle on Sept. 24, 11 days overdue.

During the ordeal, the captain reduced passenger rations to two smaller meals a day. One of the passengers said, “Of course, the short rations caused some distress and a little grumbling, but on the whole everybody was with the captain in cutting down in case we were not picked up for a long time.” Despite the measured response of the quoted gentleman, the passengers successfully sued the chartering company, the White Star Steamship Co., for knowingly employing an unseaworthy ship.

On Feb. 27, 1905, the Oregon’s cargo hold caught fire north of Crescent City, California. The passengers were offloaded, and the ship limped toward Eureka. There, the fire was eliminated by one of the most expedient methods possible. The crew drilled holes in the hull around the cargo hold and let the ship sink and beach itself. Needless to say, while the ship was recovered, the cargo was a complete loss.

One of the passengers told the Walla Walla Evening Statesman, “The first intimation that the passengers had that the vessel was on fire was when the crew without any apparent haste commencing reeling out hose and coupling it up to the engines. We were informed that the crew was merely practicing fire drill but in a few minutes smoke was seen pouring out of one of the rear hatches and the officers could not keep secret any longer the fact that the ship was on fire.”

The years of accidents and sloppy repairs severely compromised the Oregon’s structural integrity. One sailor familiar with the ship later said, “By seafaring men was considered a bad ship. So often has she been punctured and so many times repaired that she was practically a ship of cement. Between her skin and her plates was almost a solid mass of concrete, and those who have navigated her” said she moved like “an iceberg and sink like the stone she was. That the authorities permitted her still to go to sea has long been a matter of comment.”

The steamer made its last voyage in 1906, under Capt. Horace Soule and as part of the Northwestern Steamship Co. fleet. The end began in the dark, as Wednesday the 12th of September turned into Thursday the 13th. The lights from the ship vanished abruptly into a heavy fog, but the sea, at least, was calm. In the abyss, there were no warnings, no obvious signs of impending danger. Unbeknownst to any on board, they were not where they were supposed to be. On its way to Valdez, the ship had somehow drifted three miles off its course and toward Hinchinbrook Island, at the entrance to the Prince William Sound.

Shortly after midnight, the fog parted enough to reveal the rapidly approaching island. The few passengers walking the deck and the crew on watch saw the land simultaneously, without any time to do more than shout before the Oregon struck a rock. The engines were instantly reversed. Under strain, the repeatedly repaired keel groaned until it suddenly snapped. The rush of water pulled the ship down and onto another rock that was left jutting six feet into the fireroom.

Capt. Soule immediately dispatched one of the lifeboats to Valdez for assistance while the rest began carrying the passengers to shore. From Valdez, two revenue cutters, the Rush and McCulloch, and a lighthouse tender, the Columbine, were dispatched to the rescue. The Revenue Cutter Service was a predecessor to the Coast Guard.

Meanwhile, the passengers were gathered in the ship’s saloon and counted. The women were then taken to the captain’s quarters and given hot coffee. Once it was light enough, the Oregon’s lifeboats began ferrying the passengers to land. Before they finished, reinforcements arrived and completed the transfer off the wrecked steamer. There were no casualties or injuries among the 110 passengers and crew. The Alaska Prospector newspaper of Valdez reported, “The only hardship experienced by the passengers was in going to the Columbine in the small boats, when some were wet by the spray.” After the ordeal, the passengers drew up and signed a resolution thanking Capt. Soule for his care taken for their safety.

On Saturday, officers from the Rush returned to the Oregon. They spent several hours searching the sections of the steamer above water, recovering the mail and safe, which were both locked inside the purser’s room. By that time, the water had covered most of the cargo.

The ship itself was a complete loss without any chance of salvage. One of the revenue cutter captains said, “When we left the Oregon, the surf was just getting bad and as we pulled away from the doomed vessel, every swell caused a shudder to pass through her from stem to stern. There was a northwest shore wind springing up and in the position in which she struck it will mean that the vessel will be a total loss within ten hours.” In addition, apart from the mail, the cargo was also a total write-off.

News traveled extremely slowly then, even between successive ports of call. Over the next two days, newspapers around Alaska printed their expectations of when the Oregon would arrive, well after it had already been dashed upon the rocks at Cape Hinchinbrook. Similarly, every late arriving ship was cause for worried gossip as residents of remote communities waited days and even weeks for updates.

As time passed, two divergent tales emerged regarding what exactly happened in the immediate aftermath of the wreck. In the more positive version of events, the crew professionally assessed the situation and calmly aided the removal of all aboard onto the lifeboats and revenue cutters.

The Oregon did not carry enough lifeboats to fit all aboard at once. In the more negative version of events, the sailors rushed to the lifeboats first. Capt. Soule allegedly threatened to shoot anyone who tried to escape out of turn, and order was thus returned.

In October, inspectors cleared Capt. Soule of responsibility for the wreck. Not only had he performed admirably after the collision, but his service record was long, clean, and distinguished. Most of the blame was assigned to inaccurate charts with the fog as a possible contributing factor. A lighthouse was built at Cape Hinchinbrook in 1910.

Key sources:

“Loss Will Be Great.” [Portland, Oregon] Morning Oregonian, March 3, 1905, 6.

“The Northland.” Douglas Island News, October 31, 1906, 1.

“Oregon Grounded on Hinchinbrook Reef.” Seward Weekly Gateway, September 22, 1906, 1.

“Oregon Will Be Total Wreck.” Fairbanks Daily Times, September 16, 1906, 1.

“Short Rations for Passengers.” San Francisco Call, September 26, 1901, 9.

“Steamer Oregon Gone.” [Astoria, Oregon] Morning Astorian, March 1, 1905, 1.

“The Steamer Oregon Sinks the British Ship Clan McKenzie.” Daily Nevada State Journal, December 28, 1889, 2.

“Steamship Oregon Goes on Rocks.” Fairbanks Daily Times, September 15, 1906, 1.

“Was on Steamer Oregon.” [Walla Walla, Washington] Evening Statesman, March 9, 1905, 1.

“Will Not Try to Salvage Wrecked Steamer Oregon.” Fairbanks Daily Times, September 17, 1906, 1.

“Wreck of Oregon.” [Valdez] Alaska Prospector, September 20, 1906, 1.