The Titanic of the Pacific Northwest
My newly published piece includes shipwreck hunting robots, gold worth millions, and an ongoing 150-year human saga
“Long will be remembered the year 1875, when Death, clad in all his hideousness, rode the wave; and, while the restless sea has supplied Northwestern history with many pitiful tales of disaster, this fatal year has never been equaled in the number of lives and amount of property sacrificed. No greater calamity was ever visited on the people of this Coast than the loss of the steamship Pacific...”
– Edgar Wilson Wright, Lewis & Dryden’s
Marine History of the Pacific Northwest (1895)
The Pacific Northwest’s deadliest maritime disaster happened in November 1875 with the sinking of the steamship Pacific after a collision with sailing vessel Orpheus off the coast of Washington state. Over 300 souls and an estimated >$10 million in gold were lost, marking the beginning of an epic, and ongoing, human saga. The elusive wreck was finally declared discovered in 2022 by Rockfish Inc., a private salvage company headed by Jeff Hummel who has been searching for the Pacific since his college days in the 1980s. After about 40 years of searching, Hummel legally arrested the site.
But the story ain’t over yet.
I hopped aboard Rockfish’s intrepid commercial fishing vessel-turned-wreck hunter Seablazer with their crew to get the scoop and calibrate submersible ROVs (remotely operated vehicles, robots). This scrappy squad of retired/semi-retired tech wizards also gave me a tour of their HQ, a cluster of retrofitted shipping containers turned machine shops.
Bottom line, this exciting story has countless twists and turns. As Rockfish gears up for further expeditions to the wreck site—and pursues grander ambitions with regard to maritime history stewardship—there are many chapters yet to be written, including the retrieval of the first gold ounce.
Hooked yet?! Read my recently published article for Power & Motoryacht magazine here. Below are a few of my pictures from the experiences that didn’t get published in the piece.
If you’re into sea salty storytelling, I’m editor of this brand new digital media outlet Best4Boats.com. We’ve got regular new content, an email newsletter, and more in the works. Check it out! Best way to support us is to sign up for the free e-newsletter.
Consider buying my book, Salmon in the Seine: Alaskan Memories of Life, Death, & Everything In-Between. Available wherever books are sold. Leaving reviews on Amazon and Goodreads helps a ton too.
