1947 — Nov 24, Army transport Clarksdale Victory grounds on reef, Hippa Island BC[1]– 49
~50 Comptroller General. Decisions of…Comptroller General of…[US]. (V. 28). 1949. p. 493.[2]
–49 AP. “Search for…45 Crewmen…Continued.” Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 11-30-1947, p1.
–49 Canadian Press. “Story Seas Wreck Havoc.” Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, 11-28-1947, p. 2.
–49 Havre Daily News, MT. “Heavy Seas Break up Stricken Vessel.” 12-2-1947, p. 4.[3]
–49 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Survivors of Wreck Hunted.” 11-29-1947, p. 6.
–49 Secretary of Treasury. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury… 1949, p. 153.
–49 (From crew of 53.) Wikipedia. “SS Clarksdale Victory.” 3-16-2017 edit.
–47 Gottehrer. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised 2nd edition). 2000, p. 93.
–47 AP. “Four Men Found Alive on Island. 47 Believed Lost…” Sitka Sentinel, 11-26-1947, p1.
–45 AP. “Crew Thought Doomed Ship Well Off Shore.” San Mateo Times, CA. 11-27-1947, p1
Narrative Information
U.S. Department of the Treasury: There were 3,166 marine casualties investigated, including 130 accidents which resulted in the loss of 299 lives, only one of which was that of a passenger on an inspected and certified vessel. The most serious casualty was the stranding and loss of the U.S. Army transport Clarksdale Victory on November 24, 1947, which resulted in the death of 49 of the 53 seamen on board.” (US Dept. of the Treasury. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances. 1949, p. 153.)
Gottehrer: “Nov 27 [sic], 1947. The U.D. Army transport Clarksdale Victory split in two, and its stern sank near Hippa Island off the British Columbia coast. Only four of the 51 men aboard survived. Three of the survivors were brought to Ketchikan [AK].”
Newspapers
Nov 25: “Seattle, Nov. 25 — (AP) — An Alaska steamer and two coast guard cutters raced through the predawn darkness today to the aid of the grounded 10,350-ton army transport Clarksdale Victory from which no word as been received since she flashed an SOS at 10:04 p.m. (PST) last night. Coast guard authorities in Seattle and Ketchikan, Alaska, said they were seriously concerned over the transport’s failure to answer dozens of messages sent in an effort to establish contact. They said the stricken vessel…went aground on a reef off Graham Island in the Queen Charlotte group approximately 140 miles southwest of Ketchikan…
“The Clarksdale Victory was making the trip with 100 tons of cargo…from Whittier, Alaska to Seattle… It carried no passengers.
“Capt. Gerald R. Laugesen of San Francisco, the skipper, said in his distress call that huge swells were pounding his ship and immediate assistance was needed….
“…all crew members were civilian personnel hired by the army to operate the vessel.” (AP. “No Word From Army Transport in Distress.” Hope Star, AR, 11-25-1947, p. 1.)
Nov 26: “Ketchikan (AP) Coast Guard searchers found four men alive and three dead today at the bow section of the wrecked Army transport Clarksdale Victory, and one of the surviving officers expressed the belief that the other 44 members of the crew were carried to the bottom when the stern half of the ship broke off. Coast Guard headquarters said the second mate, Henry H Wolfe of Oakland, Calif, reported that no lifeboats got away from the ship after it rammed up on Little Hippa Island’s rocky shore Monday night [Nov 24], except for one previously found on the beach. He said he thought the stern sank in deep water with all aboard, after the force of the sea broke the ship in two….
“Hippa is less than three miles long and a mile across at the widest point…
“Only the bow section of the ship was on the beach and Coast Guard officers expressed belief the stern section may have drifted away with survivors aboard….” (AP. “Four Men Found Alive on Island. 47 Believed Lost…” Sitka Sentinel, 11-26-1947, p. 1.)
Nov 27: “Ketchikan, Alaska, Nov. 27.–(AP)–Hope faded virtually to the vanishing point today for the survival of any of the 45 officers and crewmen missing from the wrecked and broken army transport Clarksdale Victory, but a search of rocky little Hippa island continued. Two of four survivors found on the beach with the severed bow section of the 10,000 ton vessel said the men were either swept overboard or carried to the bottom when the after section of the ship broke off and sank….
“The first survivor taken aboard the coast guard cutter Wachusetts, Seaman Carlos M. Sanabria, 23, of Honduras, reported that officers thought the southbound cargo-carrying ship was about 25 miles off shore before it rammed aground….” (Associated Press. “Crew Thought Doomed Ship Well Off Shore…45 Thought Doomed.” San Mateo Times, CA. 11-27-1947, p. 1.)
Nov 28: “…the United States army transport Clarksdale Victory ran aground on Monday night [Aug 24] on Hippa Island with a loss of 49 lives….” (Canadian Press. “Story Seas Wreck Havoc.” Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Can., 11-28-1947, p. 2.)
Nov 29: “….Second Officer Henry H. Wolfe of…Oakland, one of the four men who managed to reach the beach of the island…said he had gone off watch at 8 p.m. the night of the 24th and was lying in his bunk reading when he felt the ship hit by breakers on one side and big swells on the other. He rushed to the bridge where Third Officer William M. Rasmussen — one of the survivors — had already called Capt. Gerald R. Laugesen of Oakland, who is missing.
“The engines were ordered reversed and the ship’s course changed, but as Wolfe began taking soundings, he said he felt the ship strike and soon saw fuel oil on the water. ‘I knew then we wouldn’t get off,’ he said.
“The crew put on life jackets as the breakers washed over the deck. Wolfe said the broken after section of the ship was shifted by the heavy seas up near the bow before he was swept overboard. He narrowly missed a jagged rock before being caught in a backwash, and was then buffeted about until he was able to swim and crawl ashore.
“The bodies of four men have been recovered.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Survivors of Wreck Hunted.” 11-29-1947, p. 6.)
Nov 30: “Ketchikan, Alaska (AP) — Search for the bodies of 45 crewmen still missing in the wreck of the army transport Clarksdale Victory continued Saturday with PBY assisting the cutters Wachusetts and Citrus in scanning the coastline of Hippa island. Four survivors and four bodies were found earlier. Searchers believed the lifejacketed bodies may have been carried northward by currents. Latest reports from the scene say the bow section of the vessel is breaking up….” (Associated Press, Ketchikan, AK. “Search for Bodies of 45 Crewmen is Continued.” Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 11-30-1947, p. 1.)
Find A Grave: “Jacob Albert Shire…Death: Nov. 24, 1947. He died as a result of Ship that broke in half. He was only one of two bodies not recovered in the accident.” (Find A Grave. “Jacob Albert Shire.” Posted by Henry Arthur Gaugert, 10-30-2006.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Crew Thought Doomed Ship Well Off Shore…45 Thought Doomed.” San Mateo Times, CA. 11-27-1947, p. 1. Accessed 9-1-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/san-mateo-times-nov-27-1947-p-1/?tag
Associated Press. “Four Men Found Alive on Island. 47 Believed Lost with Transport.” Sitka Sentinel, 11-26-1947, p. 1. Accessed 9-1-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sitka-daily-sentinel-nov-26-1947-p-1/?tag
Associated Press. “No Word From Army Transport in Distress.” Hope Star, AR, 11-25-1947, p. 1. Accessed 9-1-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/hope-star-nov-24-1947-p-12/?tag
Associated Press, Ketchikan, AK. “Search for Bodies of 45 Crewmen is Continued.” Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 11-30-1947, p. 1. Accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/walla-walla-union-bulletin-nov-30-1947-p-1/?tag
Canadian Press. “Story Seas Wreck Havoc.” Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Can., 11-28-1947, p. 2. Accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lethbridge-herald-nov-28-1947-p-2/?tag
Comptroller General of the United States. Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States. (Vol. 28. July 1, 1948, to June 30, 1949). Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1949. Google digital preview accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=An8a78xuhdcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Find A Grave. “Jacob Albert Shire.” Posted by Henry Arthur Gaugert, 10-30-2006. Accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=16391220
Gottehrer, Dean M. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised and 2nd edition). Fairbanks, Alaska: Epicenter Press, 2000. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=O53zwdFYTGEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Havre Daily News, MT. “Heavy Seas Break up Stricken Vessel.” 12-2-1947, p. 4. Accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/havre-daily-news-dec-02-1947-p-4/?tag
Oakland Tribune, CA. “Survivors of Wreck Hunted.” 11-29-1947, p. 6. Accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-nov-29-1947-p-6/?tag
United States Department of the Treasury. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances. Washington, DC: US Gov. Printing Office, 1949. Accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=zew_AAAAYAAJ&q=%221947%22+clarksdale+victory&dq=%221947%22+clarksdale+victory&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOoZysqIfWAhVB6SYKHY8SBG4Q6AEISjAH
Wikipedia. “SS Clarksdale Victory.” 3-16-2017 edit. Accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Clarksdale_Victory
[1] Part of Canadian Graham Island group just south of southern point of Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago.
[2] “Comptroller General Warren to the Secretary of the Army, March 2, 1949: Reference is made to letter dated December 4, 1948, with enclosures, from the Assistant Secretary of the Army, advising that, in connection with the death of certain former civilian marine personnel who perished in the stranding and break-up of the USAT Clarksdale Victory…there are pending before your Department approximately fifty claims of their beneficiaries in the amount of $5,000 for the loss of the life of each seaman….” (p. 493)
[3] Notes a crew-size of 53, and just four survivors.