1929 — Aug 29, steamer San Juan hit by tanker S.C.T. Dodd, sinks ~Pigeon Point CA–75-78

— 87 Gibbs, Jim. Oregon’s Salty Coast. Seattle: Superior Publishing Co., 1978, p. 96-97.*
— 78 Oakland Tribune, CA “All San Juan Survivors Summoned in new Quiz.” 9-3-1929, p2.
— 78 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Jury Fails to Fix Blame for Disaster.” Sep 6, 1929, p. 32.
— 78 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Life Belts’ Lack Charged to San Juan.” 9-4-1929, p. 1.
— 78 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Mate Tells Story of Ocean Disaster.” Sep 20 1929, p. 34.
— 78 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Operator Tells Tanker Warning In Ship Crash.” 9-17-1929, 27.
— 78 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Sea Disaster Blame Put on Third Mates.” Oct 20, 1929, p. 32.
— 77 Oakland Tribune. “2 Men…Boarded Ship…Unlisted, Make Death Toll 77.” 9-2-29, 17.
— 75 Steamboat Inspect. Ser. 18th Annual Report of the Secretary of Commerce, 1930, p. 284.
–68-74 Bakersfield Californian. “Ships’ Officers Will Face Trial.” Sep 5, 1929, 1.
— 74 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Officers in Wreck to be Put on Trial.” Sep 1, 1929, p. A-1.
— 74 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Ship Sinks Five Minutes After Striking Tanker.” 8-30-1929, D3
— 72 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Scenes Aboard…San Juan…in Disaster.” 8-30-1929, D3.
— 72 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Ship Disaster Trial Closes; Verdict Pends.” Sep 25, 1929, 8.
— 71 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 222.

*Blanchard note on Gibbs. In that no other source located notes 87 deaths, and many note 78, we speculate that the numbers seven and eight were reversed, turning 78 into 87.

Narrative Information

Steamboat Inspection Service, US Dept. of Commerce: “On August 29, 1929, the tanker S. C. T. Dodd, 7,054 gross tons, and the passenger steamer San Juan, 2,152 gross tons, collided 15 miles southeast of Pigeon Point, Calif., which accident resulted in the sinking and total loss of the San Juan, and the loss of 55 of her passengers and 20 of her crew [75]. Damages to the steamer S. C. T. Dodd amounted to $7,045, and the San Juan, valued at $55,000, cargo $60,000 was, as stated above a total loss. The case was investigated by the local inspectors at San Francisco, Calif., and charges were preferred against Hugo O. Bleumchen, master, and Otto V. Saunders, third mate of the steamer S. C. T. Dodd, and Robert Papenfuss, third mate of the steamer San Juan. The charges against Hugo O. Bleumchen were not sustained, but those against Otto B. Saunders and Robert Papenfuss were sustained, the license of the former being suspended for 1 year and the license of the latter being revoked.” (Steamboat Inspection Service. “Accidents Resulting in Loss of Life,” in report to the Secretary of Commerce, in Dept. of Commerce 18th Annual Report, 1930.

Newspapers

Aug 30: “San Francisco, Aug. 30. — Governmental machinery was set in motion to determine responsibility for the collision which this morning sent the steamer San Juan to the bottom, as soon as the survivors reached San Francisco. It is a part of maritime regulations that officers of ships concerned in any accident report to the United States steamship inspector as soon as they reach port. Accordingly, Captain H. O. Bleumchen and subordinate officers of the tankers. C. T. Dodd, and such officers of the San Juan as survived, were ordered to make a formal report to John K. Bulger and Captain Frank Turner, inspectors here, immediately after arriving in port.

“Because of the gravity of the San Juan case, however, Captain Turner took the matter in his own hands, and notified the Standard Oil company that he would expect all the Dodd’s officers to report to him without delay. He expected they would be gathered in his office by the middle of the afternoon. Hearings will begin at once. Depositions will be taken from each officer. Scores of other witnesses will be examined in an effort to fix responsibility for the disaster. The proceedings probably will take several weeks for completion, Turner said….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Government Launches Probe Into Sea Disaster.” Aug 30, 1929, p. D3.)

Aug 30: “Here are views [omitted] of the steamer San Juan, whose 67 years of service in the coastwise service ended in tragedy off Point Pigeon, 30 miles south of San Francisco, early this morning. Those unaccounted for and believed to have been drowned number 72….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Scenes Aboard…San Juan, Sent…Bottom in Disaster.” 8-30-1929, D3.)

Aug 30: “By Associated Press. According to the nearest accurate account obtainable, the passenger steamer San Juan sank within five minutes after colliding with the oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd. Following is a log of the disaster: (Time is Pacific Standard).

August 29th
7 p.m. – Left San Francisco for Los Angeles.

11:58 p.m. – Collided with oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd 18 miles south of Pigeon Point, California, out of sight of land

August 30:

12:03 a.m. – Sank beneath the waves, before passengers and crew could abandon ship. Dodd launched life boats.

12:06 a.m. – Lumber schooner Munami, three miles north of the San Juan, sped to the rescue.

12:30 a.m. – Munami located wreckage and lowered lifeboats.

1:10 a.m. – Dodd picked up two boys from the wreckage.

1:45 a.m. – Paul Ililisman [unclear], San Juan radio operator and several others picked up by Dodd’s lifeboat.

1:50 a.m. – Motorship Frank Lynch arrived and launched boats to search wreckage.

2 a.m. – Munami picked up boatload of survivors.

2:40 a.m. – Dodd started for San Francisco with 27 survivors. Munami reported rescuing ten.

3 a.m. – Coast Guard cutters Tahne and Shawnee headed for wreck.

4:30 a.m. – Reports of rescue ships showed 35 rescued.

8 a.m. – Revised figures showed 74 persons missing.

9:15 – Munami transferred ten survivors to Cutter Shawnee, which proceeded toward San Francisco.

11:30 a.m. – Associated Press launch sighted tanker Dodd coming through Golden Gate. Thirty-one survivors reported aboard.

12:25 p.m. – Dodd docked at pier 45 with thirty-one survivors.

12:40 p.m. – Cutter Shawnee wirelessed it would reach San Francisco at 9 p.m. with eleven survivors.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Ship Sinks Five Minutes After Striking Tanker.” 8-30-1929, D3.)

Sep 1: “The officers, responsible for the crash between the coastwise steamer San Juan and the Standard Oil tanker S. C. T. Dodd, off Pigeon Point Friday morning which cost the lives of 74 persons, will be placed on trial before the United States Steamboat Inspection Service Bureau of the Department of Commerce, at the conclusion of the present hearing.

This became known tonight when Washington dispatches said a sweeping investigation into the San Juan wreck and the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the passenger steamer had been ordered by the Department of Commerce at Washington. At the same time the Standard Oil Co. was notified to hold the crew and officers of the Dodd in readiness for the trial.

“The Washington orders directed that the passengers as well as the officers and crews of both vessels be questioned in an effort to fully place the blame for the disaster. The length of the inquiry ordered by Washington, it was said, will be determined by the readiness with which the testimony of the survivors can be obtained.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE WILL AID INVESTIGATION.

“The inquiry will be conducted by local inspectors of the service under direction of Captain John K. Bulger, supervising inspector at San Francisco which is the headquarters for the first district. Every resource of the department of commerce is available for the final determination of the investigation.

“The determination to place the men responsible for the accident on trial, developed when testimony at the hearing, already adduced, showed the situation to be of the gravest nature it was
learned. Navigation problems, developed at the hearing, which came within the scope of the authority of the Department of Commerce, made this possible. It was felt, that the grave nature of the accident circumstances warranted such an action.

“The present hearing which is being conducted before Captains Frank Turner and Joseph Dolan, federal inspectors of hulls and boilers, is in the nature of a preliminary inquiry to determine the cause of the accident, and expose any violation of navigation or maritime responsibility regulations. The testimony, at its conclusion yesterday, is said to have made plain the necessity of a Department of Commerce adjudication.

TESTIMONY OF CREW’S ACCUSER MUCH DESIRED.

“Captain Bulger said last night that the testimony of Theodore Granstedt, in a critical condition at a San Francisco hospital, and who charged rank cowardice on the part of the San Juan’s crew, was of great importance and that it would be ‘highly advisable’ for the Service Bureau to have Granstedt appear before them if possible. Granstedt was a passenger on the San Juan and saw his wife drown before his eyes. He charges that the crew deliberately neglected the women and children and saved themselves.

“While the Department of Commerce at Washington was moving, Coast Guard Cutter No. 262 reached San Francisco with two dead women aboard, picked up at sea….

“The testimony of Luther Leathers, quartermaster of the passenger steamer San Juan, sunk off Pigeon Point early Friday by the Standard Oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd, promises to be the high spot in the government’s official inquiry into the cause of the collision, when the hearing is resumed at the custom house in San Francisco Tuesday.

“Leathers was the man at the wheel the night of the disaster. It is on Leathers’ shoulders that has been placed, indirectly, the responsibility for the crash, by officers of the tanker Dodd, who testified yesterday before federal hull and boiler inspectors. The tanker’s officers, to a man, declared that had the San Juan not changed direction, the crash would have been averted. Leathers is to be asked about this.

Wheelman May Tell of San Juan’s Movements.

“Did the San Juan blow its fog whistle as the Dodd’s pilot denies and another Dodd officer affirms? Did it swing off course when the Dodd’s lights were sighted, so as to cut directly across the tanker’s bows? Did it change course and if so, why? These are some of the questions which Luther Leathers will be asked when he appears for examination….

“It is understood that the entire inquiry centers on the signals given and answered or observed by both the San Juan and the Dodd for the few minutes just preceding the crash.

“The consensus of testimony among officers and crew of the Dodd yesterday was that had the San Juan continued on the course indicated as her normal pathway by the position of her lights, the crash with the tanker would have been avoided. They so testified before the government inspectors.

“The beach at Santa Cruz and Pigeon Point is littered with refuse from the sunken steamer. Steamer doors, boxes, deck rail parts, and fragments of wood shattered by the boiler explosion as the steamer sank, and articles of clothing. But despite the search by two cutters and more than 300 fishing boats and scores of persons who have combed the shore, no more dead bodies have been found.

“Answering charges that the steamboat inspector’s office was indirectly responsible for the tragedy by permitting an antediluvian craft to go to sea in an improper condition to meet modern coastwise speed and service requirements, Bulger declared that the vessel was in ‘prime condition’ when it was given a government inspection as recently as last April. It is Bulger’s claim that any vessel would have sunk under the Dodd’s impact…‘No ship, however new or well-conditioned, could have withstood the blow the San Juan apparently received, Bulger added. ‘The Dodd, with almost three times her weight, evidently struck the little passenger ship with terrific force. From the speed with which she sank, I would judge she was all but cut in two – that would have been possible.’

“The most complete and graphic story of the wreck was written into the record by O. V. Saunders, third mate of the Dodd, who was in charge of the bridge at the time the San Juan first loomed up ahead of him. He stated thickening fog caused him to call for Captain H. O. Bleumchen’s personal presence on the bridge. About the same time, the mate said, he saw the San Juan’s lights. He declared when first sighted she was sailing a course that would have passed her safely, but that she suddenly swung across the Dodd’s lane about a quarter mile distant. The Dodd reversed her engines at full speed to halt progress and allow the San Juan to pass. But the San Juan, hearing the Dodd’s signal of three short whistle blasts, indicating reversed engines reversed her’s also. Instead of passing on out of the Dodd’s path, she stopped directly ahead [unclear]…” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Officers in Wreck to be Put on Trial.” Sep 1, 1929, p. A-1.)

Sep 2: “San Francisco, Sept. 2. With addition of two more names [Welstead and Colvin] to the passenger list of the steamer San Juan bringing the number believed to have drowned to 77, continuance of preliminary hearings by federal inspectors, out of which formal charges may result against those held responsible for the disaster, is scheduled for tomorrow….While officials of the Los Angeles-San Francisco Navigation company, owners of the San Juan, admit that, because of uncertainties about the size of the passenger list and number of men in the crew, the actual number of dead may never be known, they place the official count of lost at 77. Of these 49 are passengers and 28 crew. Those rescued numbered 44….” (Oakland Tribune. “2 Men…Boarded Ship… Unlisted, Make Death Toll 77.” 9-2-1929, 17.)

Sep 3: “San Francisco, Sept. 3. – A new investigation of the steamer San Juan disaster was launched today when Coroner T. B. W. Leland began the issuance of subpoenas for passengers, officers and crew of the San Juan and the officers and crew of the S.C.T. Dodd, Standard Oil tanker which sank the passenger boat, off Pigeon Point Friday morning, to testify at an inquest next Thursday.

“The coroner’s action was independent of the federal inquiry which was resumed at the custom house today, when United States steamboat inspectors began a rigid questioning of the San Juan’s officers and crew. The high spot of the federal inquiry was the admission by C. C. Tulee, first mate of the San Juan, that the collision might have been averted if the passenger steamer had not changed her course.

“The coroner’s investigation comes to the fore in connection with the inquest over the bodies of Mrs. L. H. Mohler of Colton and Mrs. Elizabeth Fraser of Los Angeles, the only two victims whose bodies were recovered from the wreck scene. In connection there-with, the coroner announced that he intended to conduct a rigid inquiry into the matter of life preservers… ‘I want to know why there were no life preservers on the deck of this vessel available for the passengers,’ said Coroner Leland today. ‘It is understood that life preservers were to be found only in the staterooms and the dining room, but at no place on deck. It is an interesting thought that many of these poor people might have been saved had such an arrangement been made.’….

“Tulee, the first mate of the San Juan, at the federal hearing today, sustained the coroner’s information that there were no life preservers on the ship’s deck….

“Tulee told a clear cut story of the crash between the two ships. He had been on watch and went off at 9 o’clock. It had been foggy all evening he said, his testimony contradicting the testimony of the Dodd’s officers. ‘I blew the fog whistle all the way from Montara Point to off Pigeon Point,’ he said. Tulee said he crawled into his bunk but could not sleep. The fog whistle kept his awake, he declared..

“The San Juan, he interpolated, was loaded with 2 tons of iron bars piled on the hurricane deck and 240 tons of freight in the hold. It was steered with a ‘hand-gear’ steering wheel, but handled easily and could be thrown completely to port or starboard in 10 seconds. Having established the background of the ship’s mechanism, he continued with his story. ‘I was awakened by three whistles of another boat, and then my own boat.’ He said. ‘I went on deck. I saw the deck lights and the red light of the Dodd. It was about 400 feet away. The fog had lifted and it was clear. It was five points off the port bow. The San Juan was crossing the course. I felt the San Juan’s vibration and knew she was backing full speed astern. I ran into my room, which is under the bridge, and put on my pants. It took me about a minute and a half. Just as I came out the collision occurred.’ Tulee said the Dodd plowed into the San Juan about 75 feet from the stern. ‘Another 75 feet would have cleared,’ he declared.

“The San Juan sank, not in three minutes as most of the witnesses have said, but in a matter of seconds, according to Tulee. He said the Dodd tried to hold her nose in the hole she had made in the San Juan’s side to keep the water from pouring into the San Juan’s hold.

“‘There were about 20 people where I was. The boats were so close they could have jumped. I yelled to them to jump. A couple of men and a boy jumped to the Dodd and got over. Then a man tried and missed. The boats pulled apart. I thought the Dodd was coming back again and they could all get over.’

“Tulee said he knew nothing about the lifeboats, as there were none where he was. The signal to lower boars might have been given, he said, but if it was he failed to hear it. The San Juan began to sink immediately, he testifies, and he walked back to the hurricane deck and as that began to submerge he swam away from the San Juan.

“Tulee declared the boilers did not explode, but that the hiss of steam from opened vents made a terrific roaring. ‘There was wreckage all around,’ he said. ‘The water was calm – from the oil, probably. There was enough wreckage to have kept hundreds afloat. I swam about until the Dodd’s boats picked me up.’

“Questioned by the government inspectors as to the position of the San Juan and the Dodd, Tulee said that the San Juan would ‘probably have passed the Dodd’ if the San Juan’s course had not been changed. ‘The San Juan would have gone 1000 feet if it had not reversed its engines,’ he declared.

“Fixing the speed of the two boats, Tulee said that the San Juan was traveling at ten knots an hour when he first came on deck, and that was about seventeen feet a second….

“Tulee said that the prow of the Dodd cut into the steerage of the San Juan and that he believes that most of the passengers in the steerage were killed outright in their bunks there.

“Another man was listed today among the San Juan’s tabulation of dead, when the name of Terrance Curran, second assistant engineer of the San Juan, was given to the authorities….

“August Olson, second mate of the San Juan, was just sitting down to ‘sinkers and coffee’ when the crash came, he testified. He raced for the deck, as the lights went out. A voice, which he believes was that of the captain, called out: ‘Stand by the boats!’ Olson said he took his post by the No. 3 starboard lifeboat and cut the lashings with his knife. Three or four men were helping him in the dark but he could not see whether or not they were members of the crew. ‘I called out, ladies first!…I could hear women screaming behind me. The life boat was even with the rail. The third assistant engineer, an oiler and a sailor were in the boat lowering away when the San Juan keeled over. It threw me headfirst into the lifeboat and we all went down and were sucked under. I came up and swam. The boat was upside down. Olson said he had a whistle with him and kept blowing it and after a bit the Dodd boat picked him up. Questioned about the chances of the passengers, Olson said: ‘I don’t think they had a chance. They had no time to get into the boats. It was all over quick’.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “All San Juan Survivors Summoned In New Quiz.” 9-3-1929, p. 2.)

Sep 4: “Controversy developed today between Washington officials and United States steamboat inspectors in San Francisco, now probing the crash, over the life preserver situation on the San Juan, coastwise passenger steamer, on which 78 lives were lost when she sank off Pigeon Point…

“According to John G. Dudley, deputy supervising inspector-general of the federal steamboat inspection service at Washington, if the San Juan put to sea on her last rip without life preservers on the deck, available for passenger use, she violated the federal law. According to United States Steamboat Inspector Frank C. Turner, who is conducting the hearing, the San Juan had no deck life preservers and none are required by the federal law. Captain Thomas Bulger, supervising federal steamboat inspector at San Francisco, declared today that Washington was ‘in error if it interprets’ federal regulations as calling for deck preservers. He quoted sections from the federal statutes to maintain his position, which concurred with that of Turner….

Belts Lacking In Rooms, Says Witness.

“‘There were no life preservers in my stateroom at all,’ said Granstedt, speaking through his attorney, Louis O’Neal of San Jose. ‘I looked for them and there were none there. I also looked for life preservers on the deck of the San Juan but could not find them’….

“According to Dudley, the San Juan’s last annual inspection was October 1928. She was drydocked in April of this year and painted and sea valves placed in order….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Life Belts’ Lack Charged to San Juan.” 9-4-1929, p. 1.)

Sep 5: “United Press Leased Wire. San Francisco, Sept. 5. – Officers of the S.C.T. Dodd and surviving officers of the San Juan…must fact trial on charges of inattention to duty, negligence and unskillfulness. The charges were filed today after a preliminary investigation by federal steamboat inspectors in which they sought to determine the cause of the sinking of the San Juan….” (Bakersfield Californian. “Ships’ Officers Will Face Trial.” Sep 5, 1929, p. 1.)

Sep 6: “San Francisco, Sept. 6. – A coroner’s jury, impaneled to sit in inquest on two victims of the San Juan disaster…last night failed to place responsibility for the accident. The jury’s findings were as follows:

1 – We find the collision was due to unskillful maneuvering on the part of both vessels. (Three jurors signed this.)

2 – We agree with the above but find that the Dodd was in a minor degree blamable for the accident. (Two jurors signed this.)

3 – We find the collision was due to faulty maneuvering on the part of either or both vessels but on account of conflicting testimony are unable to place the responsibility. (The remaining five jurors sighed this one.)

“Most of those on the jury were seafaring men and three were naval officers – Captain Frank Ainsworth, U.S.N., retired; Lieutenant H.T. Knickerbocker, U.S.N., and William H. Sheetz, former lieutenant, U.S.N….

“…two new damage suits were filed against the Los Angeles and San Francisco Navigation company, owners of the San Juan, and the Standard Oil company, owners of the Dodd….

“Another victim of the San Juan was noted today as Mrs. V. Brown, 22, of Oroville, relatives having determined that she was aboard the San Juan when it left on its fatal trip.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Jury Fails to Fix Blame for Disaster.” Sep 6, 1929, p. 32.)

Sep 11: “San Francisco, Sept. 11. – Three ship’s officers went on trial before a federal board of inquiry in the custom house here today in connection with the sinking of the coastwise steamer San Juan by the Standard Oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd off Pigeon Point, in which seventy-eight lives were lost. The men are: Captain Hugo O. Bleumchen, master of the Dodd; O.V. Saunders, the Dodd’s third officer; and Robert Pappenfuss, third officer of the San Juan….

“The only witnesses subpoenaed in the hearing are members of the crews of the two vessels. None of the passengers have been called, although charges of cowardice and incompetency have been voiced by several of them at different times since the wreck….

“The first witness called at the opening of the hearing was August Olson, second mate of the San Juan….He told of running to the deck from below, of trying to launch the lifeboat, of passengers refusing to climb into the boat, and the rapid sinking of the steamer.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Officers in Shipwreck Go To Trial.” Sep 11, 1929, p. 23.)

Sep 13: “San Francisco, Sept. 13. – Contradictory testimony continues to mark the federal trial of three steamer officers for the wreck of the San Juan…. Charles J. Tulee, first mate of the San Juan, denied emphatically that the San Juan’s crew was inadequate. He declared there were eight men on duty when the law required only six. He denied that any of them were incompetent.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Ocean Crash Trial Marked by Conflicts.” 9-13-1929, p. 22.)

Sep 17: “San Francisco, Sept. 17. – The Standard Oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd had her engines in reverse, was churning the water trying to make full speed astern and blew the first warning whistle just before the crash with the steamer San Juan off Pigeon Point that claimed 78 lives August 30. This testimony rocked the hearing today of the three officers of both vessels when Clifford Paulson, chief radio operator of the San Juan, took the stand before Inspector Joseph P. Dolan and Captain Frank Turner. Previously other witnesses had insisted that the lost San Juan had been the first to sound a warning blast when the Dodd loomed ahead and they also maintained that the Dodd apparently came ahead at full speed.

It was 11:50 p.m., and I was in my radio cabin…I heard whistles that sounded quite near and, looking out, I saw the Dodd…[unclear] coming for out port side. By the action of the water under the tanker I concluded that she was trying to make full speed astern. I knew that a crash was inevitable, so I flashed my call letters, C.Q., and then this message: ‘If there are any ships close please stand by; it looks as if we are going to crash.’

“The steamer Ecuador picked up the message and replied that it would stand by, according to Paulson. When the crash came, he flashed hurried S.O.S. calls and then was forced to leave the rapidly filling vessel.

“Here Paulson told of another incident which indicated that an explosion occurred as the vessel sank, despite other claims that the boilers did not give way. “I was in this vortex, when suddenly I felt myself shot upward as though by a terrible blast…I grabbed something on the surface and held on.’

“He told the board that visibility was good for one-half mile at the crash scene. Before Paulson was called, Charles Culee [unclear], first mate on the San Juan, testified that the vessel ‘went through fog banks at full speed’ as he was cross-examined by Attorney…[unclear] Griffiths representing the Standard Oil company.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Operator Tells Tanker Warning In Ship Crash.” Sep 17, 1929, p. 27.)

Sep 21: “San Francisco, Sept. 21. – On whether the front or rear end of a boat ‘turns’ when its helm is moved resolves a fine point in the federal investigation of the sinking of the steamship San Juan after collision with the tanker S.C.T. Dodd. ‘It’s the bow end that turns,’ according to Otto B. Saunders, third mate of the Dodd. ‘No, you are wrong,’ countered Frank Turner, U.S. steamship inspector. ‘The stern turns.’ Together with Robert Papenfuss, third mate of the San Juan, Saunders is charged with unskillful navigation, while Capt. Hugo O. Bleunchen of the Dodd is charged with inattention to duty. It is Saunders’ contention before U.S. Steamship Inspectors Joseph Dolan and Turner, that the San Juan disregarded repeated whistle signals of the Dodd, making the collision between the two vessels unavoidable. The hearing is to be continued on Monday.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “San Juan Probe Debates Which End of Boat Turns.” Sep 21, 1929, p. 2.)

“Salinas – One of the victims of the coastal line San Juan trapped when she was rammed and sunk by the steamer S.C.T. Dodd, washed up on the beach.” (Woodland Daily Democrat, CA. “Shipwreck Victim Ashore.” Sep 24, 1929, p. 2.)

Sep 25: “San Francisco, Sept. 25. – A verdict in the trial of the three officers charged with unskillfulness and neglect of duty in connection with the San Juan ship disaster, which concluded yesterday, probably will not be rendered for several days, it is announced….the San Juan…was struck by the tanker S.C.J. Dodd off Santa Cruz last month and sank with a loss of 72 lives… (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Ship Disaster Trial Closes; Verdict Pends.” Sep 25, 1929, p. 8.)

Oct 19: “San Francisco, Oct. 19. – The federal board of inquiry into the sinking of the coastwise steamer San Juan with loss of 78 lives last August 30, today placed the blame for the disaster on the shoulders of the two third mates on the bridges of the San Juan and the tanker S.C.T. Dodd at the time of collision off Pigeon Point. Steamship Inspectors Frank Turner and John A. Dolan declared Otto V. Saunders, third mate of the Dodd, and Robert Pappenfuss, third mate of the San Juan, to be guilty of unskillful navigation, that they disregarded signals and maneuvered in an unseamanlike manner. Pappenfuss’ license was revoked forever. Saunders’ was suspended for a year….

“Captain A.F. Asplund, commander of the San Juan, was on the upper deck at the time [of the disaster]. He followed his ship to the bottom….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Sea Disaster Blame Put on Third Mates.” Oct 20, 1929, p. 32.)

Sources

Bakersfield Californian. “Ships’ Officers Will Face Trial.” 9-5-1929, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=154135340

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

Gibbs, Jim. Oregon’s Salty Coast. Seattle: Superior Publishing Company, 1978.

Oakland Tribune, CA. “2 Men Who Boarded Ship in Last Rush, Unlisted, Make Death Toll 77.” 9-2-1929, 17. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31485055

Oakland Tribune, CA. “All San Juan Survivors Summoned In New Quiz.” 9-3-1929, 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31485087

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Jury Fails to Fix Blame for Disaster.” Sep 6, 1929, p. 32. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31485353

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Life Belts’ Lack Charged to San Juan.” 9-4-1929, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31485157

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Mate Tells Story of Ocean Disaster.” Sep 20 1929, p. 34. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31530648

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Officers in Wreck [San Juan] to be Put on Trial.” 9-1-1929, p. A-1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31484973

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Operator Tells Tanker Warning In Ship Crash [San Juan].” Sep 17, 1929, p. 27. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31530521

Oakland Tribune, CA. “San Juan Probe Debates Which End of Boat Turns.” 9-21-1929, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31530670

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Scenes Aboard Steamer San Juan, Sent to Bottom in Disaster.” 8-30-1929, D3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=105413307

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Sea Disaster [San Juan] Blame Put on Third Mates.” 10-20-1929, p. 32. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31531966

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Ship Disaster [San Juan] Trial Closes; Verdict Pends.” 9-25-1929, 8. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31530908

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Ship [San Juan] Sinks Five Minutes After Striking Tanker.” 8-30-1929, D3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=105413307

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

United States Department of Commerce, Steamboat Inspection Service. Eighteenth Annual Report of the Secretary of Commerce, 1930. “Accidents Resulting in Loss of Life” (p. 284). Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1930. Accessed 9-22-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Annual_Report_of_the_Secretary_of_Co/XG2XQrjVs2sC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq