1904 — Dec 7, SF CA fishing schr. Pearl departs; wreck found Mar 7, ~Sanak Isl., AK –36
–36 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.”
–36 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” (P)
–36 Oakland Tribune, CA. “36 Fishermen Are Drowned,” March 20, 1905, p. 5.
–30 Cobb. Pacific Cod Fisheries. 1916m p. 108.
Narrative Information
Alaskashipwreck.com: “1905…Pearl…SC [south central area]…96 Foot…87 Ton Cod Schooner…36 [lives lost].” Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.”
Alaskashipwreck.com: “Pearl (1904). The 87 ton 96 foot cod fishing schooner Pearl disappeared with all hands after sailing from San Francisco December 7, 1904 bound for Sanak Island. The vessel was lost with 8 crewmen and 28 fishermen on the way to the cod fishing grounds of Alaska. Many months passed before the schooner John F Miller reported finding evidence of the wreck on the northeast reef of Caton Island near Sanak. Lost with the Pearl were Captain Emil Soderholm, First Mate P Lunding, Second Mate M Tierney, Crewmen A G Bjornson, T Thompson, Hans Hulm, P Jugennsen, Cook Hans Spoilman, Fishermen F Hunt, William Spear, J Moran, John Lee, Thomas Barthie, Nels Johannsen, B Olsen, C Williams, F Berg, A Castleberg, E Englebrtschen, H Morgan, R McGrath, A Thorson, F Craft, Victor Carlson, M Michaelson, A Olsen, A Johannsen, O Miller, J Deeler, C Anderson, C Johnvera, R C Forester, M Jacobson, A Zillitz, Olof Olsen and George Femerling.
“Mapping and Location: South Central Alaska 54 23 30 N 162 25 30 W Chart 16011.
“Additional Information: Tonnage 87 Gross 83 Net, Length 95.5, Breadth 23, Depth 7.5, Built 1886 at Benicia CA, Registered San Francisco, ON 150367, Master Emil Soderholm, Owner Alaska Codfishing Company.
“Sources: 1. Pacific Cod Fisheries (1916) Pg 108, 2. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1904) Pg 139, 3. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1906) Pg 384, 4. Spokane Daily Chronicle (March 18, 1905) “Schooner Pearl Probably Lost” Pg 2, 5. Los Angeles Herald (August 27, 1905) “Discover Wreckage of Schooner Pearl” Pg 2.” (Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” (P).)
Newspaper
March 20: “San Francisco, Mar 20. – Thirty-six sailors and fishermen who sailed from this port on the schooner Pearl on a cod fishing cruise along the Alaskan coast have gone to their deaths in the icy waters of. the northern, seas. The Pearl sailed out of this harbor on December 7 last for Sannak, where the Alaska Cod Fishing Company maintains a station. This morning a telegram was received…from their agent at the northern station, announcing that on March 10, the date the message was started by mail to Valdez where it was put on the wire, that the vessel had not then arrived, but instead wreckage from the vessel had been found on the coast of the Aleutian island close to the port for which she was bound, which indicated conclusively that the vessel had been lost, and with her went all her crew of sailors and the fishermen who were aboard of her….
“All of the men [crew] were engaged at this port….The fishermen were being carried as passengers on the vessel and they were to man the fishing station of the company at Sannak and to relieve a number of men who have been engaged in fishing there for several months.
“The Pearl was a staunch little craft of about a hundred tons and was sent to sea well found to battle with the rigorous storms to be met in the winter season in the northern latitudes. It is thought that as she was wrecked so close to her destination that she got caught in a snowstorm when nearing the rough, rocky coast, and in the blinding sleet the vessel drifted before the gale and piled up on the beach. There is little hope for any sailor whose vessel goes ashore on the rock-bound coast near Sannak.
“The vessel in average weather should have reached her destination by January 1, and her owners were looking for her return to this port with a cargo of fish when the dispatch came announcing the finding of wreckage from the craft. Over two months had elapsed since the time the vessel was due and the report of her loss was sent out, and in that time nothing had been heard of any member of her crew or of any of the fishermen she carried…” (Oakland Tribune (CA). “36 Fishermen Are Drowned,” March 20, 1905, p. 5.)
Sources
Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.” Accessed 11-18-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/alaska-shipwrecks-1729-2012/alaska-shipwrecks-1900-1925/
Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” Accessed 11-18-2021 at:
Cobb, John Nathan. Pacific Cod Fisheries (Appendix IV to the Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1915 – Bureau of Fisheries [Dept. of Commerce] Document No. 830). Washington: GPO, 1916. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=SGEZAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false
Oakland Tribune, CA. “36 Fishermen Are Drowned,” March 20, 1905, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31229346