1908 — Sep 20, SF bark Star of Bengal grounds/wrecks, Coronation Island, AK –111-112

— 112 AK Bur. Ocean Energy Mgmt., Reg., Enforce. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses.
— 112 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 225.
— 112 U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1909, p. 390.
— 111 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.”
— 111 Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A–Z.” (S).
— 111 Gibbs, Jim. Oregon’s Salty Coast. Seattle: Superior Publishing Company, 1978, p. 96.
–>110 Gottehrer. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised 2nd edition). 2000, p. 91.

Narrative Information

Alaskashipwreck.com: “1908…Star of Bengal…SE [southeast area]…263 Foot…1877 Ton Bark…111 [lives lost]…27 [lived].” Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.”

Alaskashipwreck.com: “Star of Bengal (1908). The 1,877 ton 263 foot bark Star of Bengal stranded and was lost at 9:32 a.m. Sunday September 20, 1908. Aboard the vessel at the time were 117 passengers, including 110 Chinese cannery workers, and 20 officers and crew. Of the 137 persons on board, 111 perished in the disaster. The Star of Bengal departed Wrangel September 19, 1908 bound for San Francisco. She was carrying a cargo of eighteen hundred tons of canned salmon and machinery valued at $216,000. The following are excerpt from the wreck report submitted by N Wagner, master of the Star of Bengal:

“1/2 mile north of Helm Pt. Coronation Island, Alaska” “Stranding” “Cut loose by tugs and anchor failing to hold” “Strong breeze from SE, rough sea and dark” “Tried to get ship on starboard tack and make sail, but tugs could not handle her. Both anchors let go.” “Finding that vessel was getting dangerously close to the lee shore, I endeavored to get ship on starboard tack to make use of topsails to work the ship offshore by signaling the tugs to starboard their help, but the signal was not heard on either vessel” “Steamers Hattie Gage and Kyak (assisted)” “Total Loss”

“The Star of Bengal was worth $70,000 and became a total loss along with her cargo. There was no insurance on the vessel. With the 111 who were lost, this is one of the top 5 marine disasters in Alaska History. The following names and particulars come from two publications:

“The Seattle Daily Times, Wednesday Evening, Sept. 23, 1908 (SDT923).
“The Seattle Sunday Times, Sept. 27, 1908 (SST927) Official Count.

Names of passengers and crew lost:

1. 15 White 95 Mongoloid hands from Wrangel Cannery (SDT923)(110 lost)
2. 67 Chinese 26 Japanese 3 Filipino 15 White (SST927)(111 lost)
3. William Perischke buried on beach (SDT923)
4. Benjamin Johnson buried on beach (SDT923)
5. Andrew Hanson buried on beach (SDT923) brother survived (SST927)
6. Peter Peterson buried on beach (SDT923)
7. Joseph Griffin buried on beach (SDT923) Seattle youth (25) cooks assistant (SST927)
8. George Hendrickson buried on beach (SDT923)
9. Erick Person buried on beach (SDT923)
10. Einon Swenson buried on beach (SDT923)
11. Frank Healy buried on beach (SDT923) bookkeeper at the cannery (SST927)
12. Norman Hawkins buried on beach (SDT923) two brothers survived (SST927)
13. John Peterson buried on beach (SDT923)
14. Sigurd Nelson buried on beach (SDT923) Died fighting (SST927)
15. Charles Buchanan buried on beach (SDT923)
16. Carl Bore buried on beach (SDT923)
17. Olof Peterson buried on beach (SDT923)
18. Tsu Bong Chinese (SST927) Gang Boss
“….Mapping and Location: Southeast Alaska 55 49 30 N 134 17 W Chart 17400.

“Additional Information: Tonnage 1,877 Gross 1,694 Net, Length 262.8, Breadth 40.2, Depth 23.5, Built 1873 at Belfast Ireland, SL KQCM, Registered San Francisco, ON 116974, Master N Wagner of Berkeley CA, Owner Alaska Packers Association of San Francisco.

“Sources: 1. U S Customs Wreck Report September 24, 1908 at Wrangel, 2. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1908) Pg 128, 3. Seattle Sunday Times (September 27, 1908) Pgs 1&8, 4. Seattle Daily Times (September23, 1908) Pg 4.” (Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A–Z.” (S).)

Gibbs: “The bark Star of Bengal was wrecked on Coronation Island, Alaska, Sept. 20, 1908, with 111 deaths, mostly Oriental cannery workers.”

Gottehrer: “Sept. 20, 1908. The Star of Bengal, a steel ship owned by the Alaska Packers Association, en route from Wrangell to San Francisco, was wrecked on Coronation Island near Cape Decision. The ship had 140 people on board and a cargo of 55,000 cases of salmon. At least 110 men, mostly Chinese, died. Survivors reported there were no life preservers on the ship.”

US Bureau of Navigation: There were 25 survivors. (Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the US…1909, p. 390.)

Sources

Alaska Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses. Accessed 7-18-2011 at: http://www.alaska.boemre.gov/ref/ships/

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.” Accessed 11-22-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/alaska-shipwrecks-1729-2012/alaska-shipwrecks-1900-1925/

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A–Z.” (S). Accessed 11-22-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/shipwrecks-a-z/alaska-shipwrecks-s/

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

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

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

United States Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce and Labor. Forty-First Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States…For the Year Ended June 30, 1909. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1909. Digitized by Google. Accessed 9-22-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=vF0uAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:LCCNsn88028129#v=onepage&q=&f=false