1904 — Feb 27, Steamer Queen fire, two lifeboats swamped, off Tillamook Head, OR — 14

–14 Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac 1905. “General Chronology of 1904,” V. XX, 1905, 605.
–14 Gibbs, James A. Pacific Graveyard. 1993, p.171.
–14 Grover. The Unforgiving Coast: Maritime Disasters of the Pacific Northwest. 2002, p. 35.
–14 Logansport Journal, IN. “Fire at Sea Fatal to 14.” 3-1-1904, p. 5.
–14 Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Pubs., 1984, p. 132.
–14 U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1904, p. 6.
–14 U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1905, p. 29.

Narrative Information

Gibbs: “….On February 27, 1904, she suffered a fire off the Oregon coast, where fourteen lives were lost before the vessel finally reached Puget Sound….”

Marshall: “Queen 2.17/1904 [should be Feb 27], 1700 tons….on Feb 17, 1904…fire broke out in the aft portion of the ship. Capt. N. E. Cousins and his crew valiantly fought the stubborn blaze while the ship wallowed in the swells just off Tillamook Heard but, in spite of their best efforts, 14 lives were forfeited….”

U.S. House of Representatives, Merchant Marine Committee hearing:

“Mr. Bruckner [Congressman]. Is it not a fact that a lifeboat is more strongly built than a life raft?

“Mr. Gibson. Yes; but the lifeboat is easily upset.

“Mr. Bruckner. In other words, you mean you can launch a life raft more easily than you can a lifeboat?

“Mr. Gibson. Oh, yes; in a heavy sea and surf they are very much safer for the passenger to get away from the ship. And at the time of the fire on the Queen, which was probably one of the most unique fire disasters that ever happened at sea, she caught fire. I suppose, from an electric extension, cross wires, or something of that kind, and the women and children were put on the boats—I do not remember just how many boats they launched; four or five, anyway—and laid off from the ship, while the male passengers and crew fought the fire. That ship was burned from the engine-room bulkhead behind completely to the ship alley. Just before they had subdued the fire and arranged to take the passengers aboard a wind sprung up so that it became a little choppy, in fact a heavy sea, and in getting the passengers aboard I think one passenger was lost and six or eight members of the crew. This was in handling boats alongside, and I have heard the master of that ship say that if he had thought to put overboard a raft and landed those passengers onto the raft and then taken them aboard that this loss of life might possibly have been avoided. Such contingencies as that frequently come to the people after a disaster.” (Gibson, in: US Congress. House Merchant Marine Cmt. The Seamen’s Bill Hearings, 1914, 308)

U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service: “…fire on board the steamship Queen, which threatened the destruction of that steamer off the coast of Oregon on February 27, 1904, when the lives of 14 of those who embarked in the lifeboats were lost by the staving or capsizing of the boats…”
(US S-IS. Annual Report 1904, 6.)

U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service: “February 27. — Steamship Queen took fire on voyage from San Francisco, Cal., to Seattle, Wash., while off Tillamook, Oreg. The fire was extinguished by means of the ship’s fire apparatus after a desperate struggle. While the result was in doubt, boats were lowered and the women and children placed therein. Through the capsizing of 2 of the boats, 4 passengers and 6 of the crew were drowned; 4 of the crew were cut off by the flames and were burned to death…Case investigated March 3. Decision March 5, exonerating the officers of the Queen from any blame. Origin of fire not ascertained, but is supposed to have caught from defective electric wires.” (U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1905, p. 29.)

Newspaper

March 1: “Seattle, Wash., Feb. 29.—Threatened with death by fire on shipboard, many passengers and members of the crew of the steamer Queen risked their lives in small boats in a tempestuous sea and fourteen of them were drowned. Those who preferred to face the peril of what seemed for hours unquenchable flames fought fire and storm and survived to rescue others, bringing in the half-burned ship and tell the story of the disaster. With the greater part of the upper deck burned out, the Queen arrived at this port Sunday [Feb 29] and landed the 200 survivors of one of the most harrowing voyages ever experienced along the north Pacific coast.

“The ship caught fire in the after saloon at 3:45 o’clock Saturday morning [Feb 27], while a terrific gale was raging. It seemed within a short time that the entire vessel would be destroyed, and then the captain allowed all who desired to do so to take to the small boats, two of which were almost instantly swamped, the occupants being drowned.

“The dead—First-class passengers: Mrs. E. Adams, died from exposure after being rescued; Miss Maud Steiner, Clallam, Wash., Second-class passengers: H. Buckley, D.E. Newsbury, Texas. The other ten who lost their lives were all members of the ship’s crew.

“The lifeboats that were floated safely and two rafts that were thrown over to pick up any who might be thrown into the water remained in the vicinity of the burning vessel and within view of it while the fire was being fought by the crew and those among the male passengers that remained on board.

“The passengers and those of the crew who remained on board, continued their fight against the flames, with increasing success, until, at 7:40 a.m., the fire was brought under control. When it was thought the danger from the fire was past Captain Cousins recalled the lifeboats and the occupants were taken aboard.” (Logansport Journal, IN. “Fire at Sea Fatal to 14.” 3-1-1904, p. 5.)

Sources

Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac 1905. “General Chronology of 1904,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Vol. XX, 1905, p. 605. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=x8MWAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Gibbs, James A. Pacific Graveyard. A Narrative of Shipwrecks Where the Columbia River Meets the Pacific Ocean. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1993.

Grover, David H. The Unforgiving Coast: Maritime Disasters of the Pacific Northwest. Corvallis: Oregon State University, 2002.

Logansport Journal, IN. “Fire at Sea Fatal to 14.” 3-1-1904, p. 5. Accessed 4-17-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/logansport-journal-mar-01-1904-p-5/

Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1984.

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904. 332 pages. Google digitized and accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6lYpAAAAYAAJ

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1905. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1905. 347 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=LVcpAAAAYAAJ