SS City of Chester

The SS ''City of Chester'' was a steamship built in 1875 that sank after a collision in a dense fog with at the Golden Gate in San Francisco Bay on August 22, 1888. She was owned by the Oregon Railroad Co. and leased by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company.

''City of Chester'' had been purchased in October 1876 and brought from New York around South America to Portland, Oregon in March 1877 and used in coastal trade. At the time of the collision the ship was in service from San Francisco to Eureka and other locations in the vicinity. ''City of Chester'' was outbound with ''Oceanic'' inbound from Hong Kong. Though the ships sighted each other findings indicated the smaller vessel was caught in a tidal current, cut almost in two by the liner and sank in about six minutes with loss of sixteen passengers and three crew.

The wreck was relocated in May 2013 by NOAA Office of Coast Survey Navigational Response Team 6 with multi-beam sonar.

Construction

''City of Chester'' was built in 1875 by John Roach & Sons in Chester, Pennsylvania. The ship was , , long, beam, depth of hold, with two boilers, a compound steam engine rated at 600 indicated horsepower. The ship was registered at Portland, Oregon with U.S. Official Number 125473, signal JRNK.

History

''City of Chester'', purchased in October 1876 by the Oregon Steamship Company to replace the steamer ''John L. Stephnes'', left New York December 29, 1876 for San Francisco. The ship was the first to use the newly opened East River channel through Hell Gate then passing around South America through the Strait of Magellan. After voyage repairs at San Francisco the ship departed for Portland, Oregon on March 24, 1877. The Oregon Steamship Company merged with the Oregon Steam Navigation Company in 1879 forming the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. The ship was used in coast-wise trade.

At the time of the collision the ship was chartered to the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. The normal route at that time was departure from San Francisco's Broadway Wharf on Wednesdays for the California cities of Eureka, Arcata and Fields Landing on Humboldt Bay returning from Eureka on Saturdays.

Sinking

Heading to Eureka, California, with 90 passengers on the foggy morning of August 22, 1888, at about 10 am she collided with ''Oceanic'', a liner inbound from Hong Kong. The two ships saw each other, but as was later determined by a British Naval Court, ''City of Chester'' was caught by tidal current and carried into the path of the larger ship. An eyewitness aboard ''Oceanic'' said: "Into her we crashed with irrisistible force, cutting her just as though she was a cheese." She sank in six minutes, and despite rescue efforts by those aboard ''Oceanic'', sixteen passengers, including two children, and three crew members died. In terms of loss of life, this is the second most deadly wreck in the history of San Francisco Bay, after the sinking of the in 1901.

''Oceanic'' had Chinese crew and her steerage passengers were Chinese immigrants; anti-Chinese xenophobia was high in the US at the time and initially the Chinese were accused of letting ''City of Chester''s passengers drown. When news of their efforts to save them came out, it helped to reduce the prejudice against the Chinese.

Discovery of wreck

The wreck is located in of water just inside the Golden Gate Bridge at and was found in May 2013 by NOAA Office of Coast Survey Navigational Response Team 6 using multi-beam sonar. It is only from where it was located by a precursor of NOAA, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, in September 1888 in a geodetic survey using a wire dragged from the tug ''Raymond''.

An exhibit on ''City of Chester'' is to be created at the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary office at Crissy Field. The office occupies the building erected as a lifesaving station in response to the disaster.

Gallery

File:"City of Chester" Hit and Sunk By "Oceanic".JPG, Oil painting by Robert Gilbert of the collision of ''Oceanic'' and ''City of Chester'' near Fort Point in 1888
File:SS cityofchester collision sfchronicle1888.jpg, Illustration of the collision from the ''San Francisco Chronicle''

References

Further reading

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{{DEFAULTSORT:City of Chester
1873 ships
Ships built in Chester, Pennsylvania
San Francisco Bay
History of the San Francisco Bay Area
Maritime incidents in August 1888
Shipwrecks of the California coast
Ships sunk in collisions
1888 in California