1915 — Nov 2, Steamer Santa Clara grounds on unchartered shoal, Coos Bay Bar, OR–12-16

— 21 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 223.
— 16 Gibbs, Jim. Lighthouses of the Pacific. 1986.
— 16 Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Pubs., 1984, p. 46.
— 15 Centralia Daily Chronicle-Examiner, WA. “Big Liner is Lost off Oregon Coast.” 11-3-15.
— 15 Information Annual 1915: A Continuous Cyclopedia and Digest of…Events. “Ships,” 532.
–>15 Information Quarterly (Vol. 1). “Ships and Shipping – Accidents.” Jan 1916.
— 15 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Shipwreck One of Worst Since Janeiro’s Loss…” 8-30-1929, D3
— 12 Grover. The Unforgiving Coast: Maritime Disasters of the Pacific Northwest. 2002, 132.
— 12 U.S. Dept. Commerce, Steamboat Inspection Service. Report…Inspector Gen. 1917, 912.

Narrative Information

Information Annual 1915: “At least 15 lives were lost when the North Pacific steamship company’s steamer Santa Clara was wrecked on the south jetty rocks in Coos bay, Or., on Nov. 2. [1915].” (Information Annual 1915: A Continuous Cyclopedia and Digest of…Events. “Ships,” 532.)

Marshall: “Santa Clara 11/2/1915 Steam schooner, wood, 1588 tons…Und34er Captain August Lofstedt, she struck an uncharted shoal while entering the Coos Bay bar near south entrance. Her seams opened and flooded the engines. 16 died in this wreck which totaled the ship…”

US SIS: “On November 2, 1915, while the passenger steamer Santa Clara was attempting to cross in over Coos Bay Bar about 4.30 p. m. she grounded on the south spit with the seas breaking over her. The crew and passengers attempted to get ashore in the lifeboats, but two of the boats were swamped, 7 passengers and 5 of the crew, a total of 12 persons, losing their lives. The master of the vessel was found guilty of carelessness and negligence and his license was revoked.” (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Steamboat Inspection Service. Report…Inspector Gen. 1917, 912.)

Newspapers

Nov 3: “Santa Clara ashore on Coos Bay Spit – Nine bodies recovered – dead washed ashore by tide while relatives and friends watch on beach all night.

“San Francisco, Nov. 3. – Fifteen persons went down with the steamer Santa Clara off Coos Bay, according to telephone messages received by the local chamber of commerce from its correspondent at Marshfield, Ore., today.

“Marshfield, Ore., Nov. 3. – Eight bodies of those who perished when the steamer Santa Clara went aground late yesterday on the south spit of Coos Bay had been recovered today. It was feared that 15 had lost their lives….The Santa Clara seemed to be resting easily in the sand today and showed no signs of breaking up….” (Centralia Daily Chronicle-Examiner, WA. “Big Liner is Lost off Oregon Coast.” 11-3-1915, 1.)

Nov 11: “Marshfield, Ore., Nov. 11. – Beachcombers, while pillaging the wrecked steamship Santa Clara set the hulk afire today. She blazed up from stem to stern and fell to pieces with the explosion of her oil tanks. Loot is being brought here in wagons and in boats and is sold on the street. The population has been supplied with shoes at $1 per pair while others have indulged themselves in the luxury of obtaining opera glasses for the trifling sum of fifty cents.” (Bakersfield Californian. “S.S. Santa Clara’s Wreck Is Looted.” Nov 11, 1915, p. 1.)

Sources

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Centralia Daily Chronicle-Examiner, WA. “Big Liner is Lost off Oregon Coast.” 11-3-1915. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=59042309

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.

Information Annual 1915: A Continuous Cyclopedia and Digest of Current Events. New York: R.R. Bowker Co., 1916. Digitized by Google At: http://books.google.com/books?id=9mNMAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Information Quarterly “Ships and Shipping – Accidents.” Vol. 1, Jan 1916. Digitized by Google: http://books.google.com/books?id=cWI9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=santa%20clara&f=false

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

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Shipwreck One of Worst Since Janeiro’s Loss, 1901.” 8-30-1929, D3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=105413307

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1917. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1917, 42 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=KqfNAAAAMAAJ