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SS ''Winfield Scott'' was a sidewheel steamer that transported passengers and cargo between
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
and
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cost ...
in the early 1850s, during the
California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
. After entering a heavy
fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily inf ...
off the coast of Southern California on the evening of December 1, 1853, the ship crashed into Middle Anacapa Island. All 450 passengers and crew survived, but the ship was lost. ''Winfield Scott'' has been the object of numerous salvage operations since the crash, and currently rests underwater as part of the
Channel Islands National Park Channel Islands National Park consists of five of the eight Channel Islands off the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Although the islands are close to the shore of the densely populated state, they have been relatively undevelope ...
and Marine Sanctuary. The ''Winfield Scott'' wreck site is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.


History


California Gold Rush

The discovery of
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile m ...
at
Sutter's Mill Sutter's Mill was a water-powered sawmill on the bank of the South Fork American River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. It was named after its owner John Sutter. A worker constructing the mill, James W. Marshall, found gold ...
in 1848 brought thousands of people to California in search of fortune until the late 1850s. Since neither the Panama Canal nor the
First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
had been constructed, people emigrating to California from the
Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...
had three main routes of passage. They could travel over land, which was expensive and dangerous, or they could sail the roughly route around South America. This was more attractive to some but no less dangerous, due in part to the rough waters of the
Drake Passage The Drake Passage (referred to as Mar de Hoces Hoces Sea"in Spanish-speaking countries) is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atla ...
. In addition to the inherent dangers of either route, the journey often took as long as six months to complete. The third route involved traversing the
jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...
s of the
Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the countr ...
, then departing via the southern coast of Panama. While this cut the length of the sea journey in half, ships to ferry passengers from Panama to San Francisco were not commonplace. As a result, many had to wait months to complete the second half of their journey."The Gold Rush: The Journey"
PBS.org. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
To fill this growing need for swift passage from Panama to California, shipbuilding activities increased dramatically.


Construction and service

''Winfield Scott'' (originally to be named ''Placer'') was constructed by the
shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...
company Westervelt and MacKay of New York, and was completed in March 1850. The ship was named for the celebrated
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
general Winfield Scott (the
stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...
was built with a bust in his likeness), and she was launched on 27 October 1850. An announcement in the October 20 edition of the ''
New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the ''New York Herald Tribune''. Hist ...
'' stated that "We understand that no expense has been spared to secure strength, safety and speed..."''Winfield Scott'' Vessel History
''Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary''. Retrieved June 8, 2006
Her hull was wooden with double
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in fr ...
bracing and was made from
White oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...
,
Live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...
,
Locust Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...
, Redcedar and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
yellow pine In ecology and forestry, yellow pine refers to a number of conifer species that tend to grow in similar plant communities and yield similar strong wood. In the Western United States, yellow pine refers to Jeffrey pine or ponderosa pine. In the ...
. The steamer, owned by Davis, Brooks and Company, initially transported passengers on the New York-
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Pacific Mail Steamship Company The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett (American consul ...
.


Last voyage

''Winfield Scott'', bound for Panama, departed from San Francisco on the morning of 1 December 1853. In addition to her complement of passengers and crew, the ship was transporting a shipment of
gold bullion A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced ...
worth an estimated US$2 million."Winfield Scott Shipwreck"
''RAIN.org''. Retrieved June 11, 2006.
The ship's progress was slowed in the afternoon when repairs had to be made to a leaking boiler, but she had resumed course at full speed. Later that evening, Captain Simon F. Blunt navigated the ship into the
Santa Barbara Channel The Santa Barbara Channel is a portion of the Southern California Bight and separates the mainland of California from the northern Channel Islands. It is generally south of the city of Santa Barbara, and west of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura Coun ...
in an effort to save time. Captain Blunt knew the channel well, having helped survey the area a few years previously. At approximately 11 PM, the ship encountered a heavy fog, and ran aground into Middle Anacapa Island (approximately 400 miles from port). Her speed at the time of the wreck was estimated at . She struck the island bow first, and when Capt. Blunt attempted to back away the stern was struck, removing the ship's
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse ya ...
. With the ship taking on massive amounts of water and unable to steer, all aboard, perhaps as many as 500 people, began scrambling for land. The ship was completely evacuated in approximately two hours, and the survivors spent the first night camped on a pinnacle of rock that measured . The next day they moved to a larger piece of land on the island.Diary of Asa Call
''From the Diaries of Asa C. Call''. Retrieved June 11, 2006.
One of the passengers, Asa Cyrus Call, recalled "a terrible jar and crashing of timbers...I hurried out on deck, where my attention was fixed on a wall of towering cliffs, the tops of which were hidden by the fog and darkness and appeared about to fall and crush us. All round was the loud booming of angry breakers surging about invisible rocks." On 2 December, the steamship SS ''California'', returning to San Francisco from Panama, was alerted to the presence of the wreck survivors by the smoke of a gun they had fired.
''pt5dome.com''. Retrieved June 22, 2006.
''California'' rescued the women and children, as well as ''Winfield Scotts complement of gold bullion. On 9 December ''California'' returned to rescue the remaining passengers. The crew stayed behind to recover as much of the mail and passenger luggage as possible. ''Winfield Scott'', however, had sustained too much damage and was left in the waters of the channel.


Wreckage and salvage

The remains of ''Winfield Scott'' are located under of water in the
Channel Islands National Park Channel Islands National Park consists of five of the eight Channel Islands off the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Although the islands are close to the shore of the densely populated state, they have been relatively undevelope ...
and Marine Sanctuary. The wreckage site was verified in 1981''2005 Symposium on Maritime Archaeology and History of Hawaii and the Pacific''
''Maritime Archaeology and History of the Hawaiian Islands Foundation (MAHHI)''. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
and was registered with the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1988. The site is protected by California and United States law, which prohibits divers from removing any part of the wreckage. A salvage operation was undertaken in 1894, utilizing ''San Pedro''. Much of the iron machinery, as well as hundreds of copper bolts, were recovered. An additional salvage operation during World War II recovered additional iron and brass for the
war effort In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative siz ...
.The Winfield Scott at the CINMS Shipwreck Database
''Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary''. Retrieved June 9, 2006.
The remaining wreckage is considered important from an historical perspective, as it represents a tangible example of mid-19th century shipbuilding. Although much of the wooden hull has long since disintegrated, some of the machinery is still relatively intact. Between 1853 and 1980, more than 140 shipwrecks were documented in the Channel Islands National Park Marine Sanctuary. As of December 2000, twenty sites had been located. The prevailing currents and weather conditions of the area make it a dangerous place for navigation.
. ''Virginia Institute of Marine Science''. Retrieved June 24, 2006.


Legacy


Light beacon

Shortly after the wreck, the
United States Coast Survey United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
recommended that a permanent
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...
facility be built on Anacapa Island. Due to a lack of funding, the installation (an unmanned acetylene beacon on a fifty-foot tower) was not constructed until 1912. The tower was replaced by a lighthouse in 1932."History of Anacapa Island"
''Santa Cruz Island Foundation''. Retrieved June 24, 2006.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Ventura County, California __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Ventura County, California. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Ventura County, Ca ...
*
List of shipwrecks This is an index of lists of shipwrecks, sorted by different criteria. By location * List of shipwrecks of Africa * List of shipwrecks of Asia * List of shipwrecks of Europe ** List of shipwrecks of France ** List of shipwrecks of the Uni ...


Notes and references


Sources

* *


External links


Video gallery with a clip of a diver exploring the ''Winfield Scott'' wreck
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winfield Scott 1850 ships Paddle steamers of the United States Shipwrecks of the California coast Passenger ships of the United States Maritime incidents in December 1853 Ships built by Westervelt & MacKay Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Ventura County, California National Register of Historic Places in Channel Islands National Park