1913 — Apr 6, grounded barque Mimi knocked over during salvage, Nehalem Spit, OR– 18

–18 Grover. The Unforgiving Coast: Maritime Disasters of the Pacific Northwest. 2002, p. 85.
–18 Haag, Dan. “Shipwrecks of the North Oregon Coast.” Explore Manzanita Oregon.
–18 Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1984, p. 80.

Narrative Information

Haag: “The Mimi was a German barque that ran aground on the beach at Manzanita in 1913. She had become lost in dense fog, and the ship’s master mistook the Nehalem River for the Columbia River. Amazingly, not a single crewman was lost in the wreck. But things would take a turn for the worse.

“A salvage operation ensued April 6, 1913 with a team of 26 men. The group included the ship’s captain, insurance representatives, and crewmen. Engineers were on hand to operate a “steam donkey,” a steam-powered winch employed by the maritime and lumber industries. The plan was to use the winch to help dislodge the Mimi from the sand. ‘The ship was in pretty good shape when it ran aground,” says Tom Mock, president of the Nehalem Valley Historical Society. “They decided they needed to remove the ballast to move it, and it became too top heavy.’

“During the operation, a heavy storm and high surf rolled in. The pull of the steam donkey caused the barque to capsize or ‘turn turtle.’ Twenty-two men were suddenly trapped inside The Mimi’s hull or clinging to her rigging with night falling…. Only four men were saved….”

Marshall: “….The contract to re-float the Mimi was awarded to the Fisher Engineering and Construction Company. Captain Fisher took command of the situation and, much against the advice of Captain Farley of the Garibaldi Life Laving Station, ordered an unwarranted amount of ballast removed….

“At a signal given at high tide on April 6th, the donkey engines began winching the huge hawsers against the anchors on one side, tightening the lines to the stranded Mimi. Inch-by-inch the vessel rose and slid from her sandy cradle; each inch pulled her into a more precarious position….A sea larger than the rest slammed the ship…twisted her sideways and dumped her, masts shoreward, on her side….

“Fourteen of the German crew, some trapped within the Mimi’s bowels, perished one and one-half miles north of the Nehalem jetty, 800 feet out on the north spit, directly west of where Brighton now stands. Salvors Russell Blackburn and Captain Crowe, along with two of their men, died….”

Sources

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

Haag, Dan. “Shipwrecks of the North Oregon Coast.” Explore Manzanita Oregon. Accessed 4-16-2020 at: http://exploremanzanita.com/shipwrecks-of-the-north-oregon-coast/

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