1894 – Dec 7-8, steamer Montserrat lost in gale, Pacific, Cape Flattery, WA vicinity — 29

–29 Gibbs, James A. Shipwrecks off Juan de Fuca. Portland, OR: 1968, p. 182.
–26 crew
— 3 passengers

Narrative Information

Gibbs: “KEWEENAH AND MONTSERRAT. Just two months after the Ivanhoe vanished [approximately Sep 30], two big steam colliers were loading coal at British Columbia ports – the SS Kewennah at Comox and the SS Montserrat at Nanaimo. Both were scheduled to depart for San Francisco.

“The Montserrat, a stout iron steamer, 221 feet in length, was one of the finest ships in the trade. She was built in England in 1881 for the International Company of Lower California, to carry copper ore between Ensenada and San Francisco. Later she was sold to John Rosenfeld and J. L. Howard of the Bay City, who in turn chartered her to Captain David O. Blackburn for operation as a collier.

“….When the Montserrat departed the coal dock at Nanaimo on the evening of December 6, 1894, she carried a qualified crew. Seamen often stood in line for a berth on Captain Blackburn’s ship. His officers included some of the best available – John Brewer, first mate; M. Carroll, second mate, and capable Thomas Brennan, chief engineer. In all, the crew numbered twenty-six, but as was his practice, Lucky Blackburn gave passage to three money-short passengers headed back to San Francisco.

“The lighthouse keepers at Tatoosh Island saw the Montserrat round their rocky abode and head south into the teeth of a howling southerly gale. Her progress was so slight that the SS Keweenah, which left Comox the morning of December 7, fell in company with her on the outbound trek [down the Strait of Georgia into the Salish Sea going west past Cape Flattery, then south toward San Francisco.] Concerned with …[a] rising tempest, the lookouts at the lighthouse kept a tight watch on both ships throughout the day. At dusk on the evening of December 7, the two ships could still be faintly observed about ten miles out, doggedly fighting to hold their own against the howling southwester. Carrying overloads of coal, both steamers rode low in the water, the Montserrat about a mile ahead of the Keweenah. As darkness came on, both were shipping immense seas….

“Thus it was that the two most seaworthy ships on the Pacific Coast, in company, were battling a driving hurricane off Cape Flattery on the bleak night of December 7 and the morning of December 8, 1894….both vanished from the face of the sea sometime during that period to time. The fierce storm that apparently claimed the two ships grew to such proportions that it continued unabated for an entire week, spreading devastation from Alaska to California.

“The most widely accepted theory…was that both ships were grossly overloaded and foundered when great head seas tore off their hatch covers.” (Gibbs, James A. Shipwrecks off Juan de Fuca. Portland, OR: Binfords & Mort, 1968, pp. 182-184.)

Newspaper

Record-Union: “San Francisco. Dec. 29.—It is now twenty-two days since the steam colliers Monzerrat and Keweenaw sailed for San Francisco from neighboring ports on Vancouver island, British Columbia. Nearly all seafaring men believe that the two vessels and their crews, numbering nearly sixty men. Were lost in the recent gale which broke in all its fury on the night that the colliers put to sea. Notwithstanding that the steamers were so long out on a voyage that should have been completed within fourteen days, some of the owners, consignees and some of the families of the scores of luckless mariners still have hopes. In response to their earnest appeals the government has sent out another steamer in search of the vessels. The United State’s gunboat Pennington went to sea this evening under instructions to proceed northward and make thorough search for the missing vessels. The United States revenue cutter Grant, which was dispatched from Port Townsend on a similar errand several days ago is still at sea….”
(http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18941228.2.2 )

Sources

Gibbs, James A. Shipwrecks off Juan de Fuca. Portland, OR: Binfords & Mort, 1968.

The Record-Union, Sacramento, CA. “The Montserrat and Keweenaw Still Among the Derelicts.” 12-28-1894, p. 1. Accessed 6-20-2022 at: http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18941228.2.2