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Yahoo
14-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
In One Ear: A 'terrible wreck'
"Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest' recounts the 'terrible wreck' of the American barque Industry on the Columbia River Bar on March 16, 1865. After two weeks of rough weather that destroyed water casks and washed away supplies, the Industry approached the bar. After waiting outside for several days, hoping for assistance, the water ran out. Desperate, Capt. Lewis was about to make a run for it. Then he spotted a pilot boat, but it didn't approach to put on a pilot. The captain misread their signals to him and followed the boat into the north channel. The wind failed during the attempt, so he set anchors to keep from running aground. The flag was flown upside down as a distress signal, but there was no response. When the wind picked up, he got underway again but drifted into shallow water and ran aground stern first. Not one to give up, the captain kept trying to work the vessel over to the middle channel, but then the Industry ran hard aground, receiving 'fatal injuries' to her hull, and began taking on water quickly. After a boat was lowered and became immediately swamped, drowning the mate, all hands took to the rigging at 9 p.m. During the night, all of the upper works of the vessel were carried away, and the rest of the boats were demolished. In desperation, two rafts were constructed in the morning to get help. The five people on the first were rescued by a lifeboat from Fort Canby. On the second raft, only two of its eight passengers reached shore safely. Seventeen of the 24 passengers and crew aboard the Industry perished. One of the survivors was C.W. Shively, son of J.M. Shively, Astoria's first postmaster. He wrote an account of the disaster for the Daily Alta California — there was no Daily Astorian yet — blaming the loss of life on the pilot boats for ignoring the Industry's distress flag. Coincidentally, the elder Shively was no stranger to disasters at sea himself. Returning from the gold rush in California in 1850, he lost everything in a shipwreck, only to arrive in Astoria to find out he'd been replaced as postmaster. Hopefully, after the demise of the Industry, the family avoided all things nautical. (Painting: Ivan Aivazovsky)
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
In One Ear: First mate rules
The Daily Morning Astorian of Feb. 13, 1884, worried about the fate of Capt. Frank Worth, who had friends in this city, after the wreck of the Umatilla on a reef near Cape Flattery, Washington. The same day, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran 'The Umatilla Crew Safe,' as told by second officer Edward Greenleaf. Sailing the Umatilla during a blinding snowstorm, Greenleaf thought he saw breakers ahead, but it was too late, and they ran hard aground on a reef. They were supposed to be at least 12 miles off the coast at the time. The ship started filling with water quickly, so Capt. Worth ordered full speed ahead to keep the ship firmly on the rocks until lifeboats could be lowered. The captain and most of the crew boarded two boats, while first mate John O'Brien, with the remaining men, boarded the raft. Fortunately, while the two boats were struggling in the water, two large canoes approached, with several Native Americans aboard willing to help. Greenleaf wanted to help those left behind on the raft but was outvoted. Their new friends helped land the boats, and led them to the village of Ozette, where they were 'treated kindly.' Once the storm lightened up, the ship was visible from the shore and was drifting. Greenleaf, ordered to take a boat to the ship, noticed the distress flag had been raised and realized that O'Brien and his raftmates had reboarded the ship and were setting sail. Greenleaf couldn't catch up, and returned to Ozette. After a message was sent to Neah Bay, a tug arrived and brought the stranded men safely to Seattle. Meanwhile, on Feb. 12, the Daily Alta California noted that O'Brien and the raft crew had sailed the Umatilla to Esquimalt Harbor (on Vancouver Island, British Columbia), where it promptly filled and sank in 40 feet of water. Even so, it was salvageable. And, because Capt. Worth essentially abandoned his ship, O'Brien and his cohorts were given the salvage rights. (Painting: Antonio Jacobsen)
