Rosecrans (ship)

The Rosecrans was a tanker that was wrecked off the mouth of the Columbia River, in January 1913, with the loss of almost her entire crew.[1][2] She was built in Scotland in 1883, for the Union Castle line.[3]

History
General characteristics

Same ship as the troop ship U.S.A.T. Rosecrans

She ran aground, in bad weather, on January 7, 1913, and her distress was not immediately known.[1][2][2] Survivors stated that the captain thought the North Head Lighthouse was actually a lightvessel near Clatsop Spit, and that the mistake caused the ship to hit Peacock Spit where it split in two.[4] When rescuers on the United States Lifesaving Service motor lifeboats USLS Dreadnaught and the USLS Tenacious were able to cross the Columbia Bar, they found just three of the crew of 36 still clinging to the ship's masts, which were all that remained above water. Both lifeboats capsized during the course of the rescue, and their engines were drowned, forcing the crew to resort to oars in the very heavy seas. Two of the men were successfully rescued; the third died of concussion. A third crew member survived by clinging to a floating piece of wreckage and being washed ashore.[5]

References

1. Stephen Wood (2016-05-16). "Park Happenings: The U.S. Life-Saving Service, and the shipwreck Rosecrans". Chinook Observer. Retrieved 2017-12-16. On Jan. 7, 1913, the steamship Rosecrans ran aground on Peacock Spit at the mouth of the Columbia River.
2. Douglas Kroll (2014-09-15). A Coast Guardsman's History of the U.S. Coast Guard. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781612518763. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
3. Finn J.D. John (2015-06-21). "Cursed or not, S.S. Rosecrans". Offbeat Oregon. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
4. McNair-Huff, Rob & Natalie. Washington Disasters. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-1-4930-1322-7.
5. Edward Stratton (2016-05-16). "A Hollywood ending for daring surfmen". Daily Astorian. Long Beach, Washington. Retrieved 2017-12-16.