1930 — Sep 16/17, SF CA Schooner South Coast Sinks, OR Coast, near Cape Blanco –18-19

-15-20 Daily Times, Beaver, PA. “Ship Founders, Crew Imperiled.” Sep 18, 1930, p. 7.
— 19 Bakersfield Californian. “Hope Dwindles for Ship and Crew of 19.” 9-20-1930, 2.
— 19 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 225.
— 19 Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Pubs., 1984, p. 186.
— 19 Pittsburgh Press. “Empty Lifeboats Indicate Tragedy.” Sep 20, 1930. p. 2.
— 18 Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. “Boiler Explosion Believed Solution…” 9-22, 1930, 1.
— 18 Grover. The Unforgiving Coast: Maritime Disasters of the Pacific Northwest. 2002, 160.
— 18 Lewiston Daily Sun, ME. “Seek Survivors of Foundered Vessel.” Sep 19, 1930, 1.
— 18 Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA. “Fear Ship Sank, Unable to Call.” 9-18-1930, p. 11.

Narrative Information

Berman: “South Coast. St. s. 301 [tons]. 1887 [built]. Sep 16, 1930 Foundered. Off Oregon Coast. All lives (19) lost.” (Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 225.)

Marshall: “South Coast 9/18/1930 Steam schooner, 301 tons, built by White at Seattle in 1887. She carried a cargo of 100,000 feet of cedar and a crew of 19. The vessel left Crescent City [northern CA] for Coos Bay [OR] and was never seen again….Captain Stanley Sorenson was an able seaman who knew the coast well. The tanker Tejon sighted the South Coast’s deckhouse off Port Orford [OR, south of Coos Bay]. Other ships reported seeing an empty lifeboat, numerous floating logs and miscellaneous debris SW of Cape Blanco [above Port Orford]. She is believed to have foundered on Port Orford Reef; there is much kelp in the area….”

Newspaper

Sep 17: “By Associated Press. San Francisco, Sept 17. – Floating wreckage of the lumber schooner South Coast was reported sighted by two ships today 30 miles southwest of Cape Blanco, Ore. The South Coast was last seen plowing through a heavy fog yesterday afternoon past the Battery Point naval station on a short run from Crescent City, Cal., to Coos Bay, Ore. She carried a crew of 18 men, commanded by Captain S.S. Sorenson. If the South Coast sank in the fog off the Oregon coast she could not call for help, as she carried no radio.

“A lifeboat, a portion of a deckhouse, casks and logs, all presumably from the South Coast, were sighted by the steamer Lake Benbow, she reported in a radio message to the chamber of commerce here. Captain Sven Tornstrom, master of the tanker Tejon, reported sighting the wreckage, but did not attempt to identify the vessel.

“The owners of the South Coast, the Hobbs Wall Lumber company on San Francisco, began a coast-wide check in the hope of learning if the 200-ton schooner had limped into some port after running into a storm which tore off part of her superstructure and jettisoning part of her cargo of 250,000 feet of logs.

“The owners said the ship was supposed to have been in good condition. She normally plied between Coos Bay and San Francisco, but was on a special run to Crescent City for a few trips. All of the ship’s crew were from the San Francisco bay region.

“The ship was due at Coos Bay at 4 o’clock this morning. With the report of the wreckage the United States coast guard cutter Cahokia was dispatched from Point Arena for the scene.

“The South Coast was a wooden schooner built her in 1887.” (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA. “Fear Ship Sank, Unable to Call.” 9-18-1930, p. 11.)

Sep 18: “San Francisco, Sept. 18. – (UP) – The coast guard cutter Cahokia today proceeded at full speed to a point off Cape Blanco, Ore., where the steam schooner South Coast was believed to have foundered with between 15 and 20 men aboard. First news that the vessel was missing was receive when two steamers reported to the hydrographic office of the twelfth naval station that they had seen a deckhouse, an empty lifeboat and numerous logs – the South Coast’s cargo – 500 miles north of here.” (Daily Times, Beaver, PA. “Ship Founders, Crew Imperiled.” 9-18-1930, p. 7.)

Sep 18: “San Francisco, Sept. 18. – (AP)….The South Coast left Crescent City, Cal., northbound Tuesday afternoon in a heavy fog and was not seen again….Capt. Stanley Sorenson, master of the vessel, was said by relatives here to have dreaded the South Coast of Oregon, considered very treacherous….” (Lewiston Daily Sun, ME. “Seek Survivors…Foundered Vessel.” 9-19-30)

Sep 20: “United Press Leased Wire. San Francisco, Sept. 20. – Hope was at lowest ebb today that the mysterious disappearance of the steam schooner South Coast from the calm waters of the Pacific ocean would ever be solved. Veteran mariners here declared that only the slimmest of chances remained that the once sturdy boat, its captain — Stanley Sorenson — and crew of 18 men would be heard from again.” (Bakersfield Californian. “Hope Dwindles for Ship…” 9-20-1930, 2.)

Sep 20: “By the United Press. San Francisco – Two empty lifeboats of the steam schooner South Coast were found by the Coast Guard cutter Cahokia near Cape Blanco on the Oregon Coast yesterday, it reported to headquarters here. There were only three lifeboats on the South Coast when it sailed from Crescent City, Cal., last Tuesday with a heavy cargo of logs, and since one of them was located by the steamer Lake Benbow Wednesday afternoon, hopes for the safety of 19 men on the schooner were almost given up by mariners here.” (Pittsburgh Press. “Empty Lifeboats Indicate Tragedy.” Sep 20, 1930. p. 2.)

Sep 22: “Marshfield, Ore., Sept. 22 – (AP) – The possibility that a boiler explosion destroyed the old lumber carrier South Coast and ended the lives of 18 of her crew was advanced here today by those seeking a solution he her disappearance off the Oregon coast last week. It had previously been believed the vessel capsized in a heavy storm running off the coast. Residents of Gold Beach, in Curry county, report they saw a sudden glow of bright light, followed by an explosion, late on the night of September 16, about 15 miles off shore. The South Coast would have been in this position at the time….” (Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. “Boiler Explosion Believed Solution…” 9-22, 1930, p. 1.)

Sources

Bakersfield Californian. “Hope Dwindles for Ship and Crew of 19.” 9-20-1930, 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=154138814

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

Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. “Boiler Explosion Believed Solution to Mysterious Disappearance of South Coast.” 9-22, 1930, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=58167642

Daily Times, Beaver, PA. “Ship Founders, Crew Imperiled.” 9-18-1930, p. 7. Accessed at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HakiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=a68FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4084,2374520&dq=schooner+south+coast+1930&hl=en

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

Lewiston Daily Sun, ME. “Seek Survivors of Foundered Vessel.” Sep 19, 1930, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/

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

Pittsburgh Press. “Empty Lifeboats Indicate Tragedy[South Coast].” Sep 20, 1930. p. 2. At: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CWMeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ao4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2213,5774900&dq=schooner+south+coast+1930&hl=en

Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA. “Fear Ship Sank, Unable to Call.” 9-18-1930, p. 11. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/