Story by Front Page Detectives Staff
Salvage Company Finds Location of One of the Worst Maritime Disasters, Ship Carried Gold Cargo Worth Millions
2025 marked the 150th anniversary of one of the worst maritime disasters ever recorded. On November 4, 1875, a steamship, S.S. Pacific, from the coast of San Francisco, carrying about 250 passengers and some crew members, along with 600 tons of cargo and gold met with an accident, according to Smithsonian Magazine. With the efforts of a Seattle-based salvage company, the wreck’s location was finally about to be explored in 2022. The salvage company, Rockfish, was looking into the S.S. Pacific’s wreckage and revealed how the ship was carrying loads of gold in cargo.
However, due to poor record-keeping and last-minute ticket sales, there was no concrete evidence of the actual number of passengers that boarded their last voyage. However, experts believed that the death toll was around 250 to 300 people. The ship had ended up colliding with another vessel about 20 miles off the coast of Washington State. The crew couldn’t prepare the lifeboats on time and the ship broke in half and sank, taking the lives of everyone except two survivors. According to one account, the ship carried $79,220 in gold rush treasure from Victoria along with loads of oats, animal hides, coal, six horses, two buggies, two cases of opium, and much more.
Read the full article on MSN, here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/salvage-company-finds-location-of-one-of-the-worst-maritime-disasters-ship-carried-gold-cargo-worth-millions/ar-AA1yHsBX
