1903 — Jan 2, bark Prince Arthur grounds/breaks on rocks 12M so. of Ozette River, WA–18
— 18 Atlanta Constitution. “Eighteen Men Claimed by Sea….January 2…” 1-7-1903, p. 9.
— 18 Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. “Events of 1903.” 1903. p. 243.
— 18 Gibbs, James A. Shipwrecks off Juan de Fuca. Portland, OR: 1968, pp. 61-63.
— 18 NOAA. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. “The Prince Arthur Shipwreck.”
Narrative Information
Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904: “Prince Arthur, bark, wrecked near Cape Flattery, Washington, Jan. 5 [2] – Eighteen lives lost.” (Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. “Events of 1903.” 1903. p. 243.)
NOAA: “The Prince Arthur was an iron three masted bark built in 1869. On January 2, 1903 she was sailing north along the Washington coast bound for Puget Sound. On board was a crew of 20, most of them young Norwegian apprentices.
”On a stormy night the lookout was searching for the light marking the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Seeing a light on shore and assuming that it was the Tatoosh light, he ordered the ship turned to starboard. Unfortunately the light he’d seen was from a settler’s cabin on the bluff, and instead of turning into the Straits the ship headed directly toward the rocky shore. It crashed on the reef and sank almost immediately. Efforts were made to lower the lifeboats, but in the stormy seas they were smashed against the side of the ship.
“Only two crew members survived the night. All the others perished in the surf, their bodies washing up on shore. Three settlers who lived in the cabin on the bluff came to the aid of the survivors, providing them with warm clothing and food, and then helping to bury the bodies of their shipmates.
”When news of this shipwreck reached Seattle a group of Norwegian seamen traveled to the coast planning to take the bodies back to Seattle for proper burial. When they realized how remote the site was, and how difficult it would be to transfer to bodies, they decided to rebury them in a common grave. The site is marked with the Norwegian Memorial, which is located seven miles south of the Sand Point trail.” (NOAA. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. “The Prince Arthur Shipwreck.”)
Sources
Atlanta Constitution. “Eighteen Men Claimed by Sea. Norwegian Bark Prince Arthur Goes to Bottom on Night of January 2 on the Coast of Washington.” 1-7-1903, p. 9. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=5144892
Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. “Railroad Wrecks,” p. 244. Chicago: Chicago Daily News Co., 1903. Digitized by Google. Accessed 6-17-2022 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=o20TAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Gibbs, James A. Shipwrecks off Juan de Fuca. Portland, OR: Binfords & Mort, 1968.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. “The Prince Arthur Shipwreck.” Accessed 6-12-2009 at: http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/living/history_and_culture/shipwrecks/arthur.html