The SS ''City of Chester'' was a
steamship
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
built in 1875 that sank after a collision in a dense fog with at the
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by th ...
in
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
on August 22, 1888. She was owned by the
Oregon Railroad Co. and leased by the
Pacific Coast Steamship Company
The Pacific Coast Steamship Company was an important early shipping company that operated steamships on the west coast of North America. It was first organized in 1867 under the name Goodall, Nelson and Perkins. The Goodall, Nelson & Perkins Stea ...
.
''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
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
and other locations in the vicinity. ''City of Chester'' was outbound with ''Oceanic'' inbound from
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. 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
John Roach & Sons was a major 19th-century American shipbuilding and manufacturing firm founded in 1864 by Irish-American immigrant John Roach. Between 1871 and 1885, the company was the largest shipbuilding firm in the United States, building m ...
in
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census.
Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...
. 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
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
channel through
Hell Gate
Hell Gate is a narrow tidal strait in the East River in New York City. It separates Astoria, Queens, from Randall's and Wards Islands.
Etymology
The name "Hell Gate" is a corruption of the Dutch phrase ''Hellegat'' (it first appeared on ...
then passing around South America through the
Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...
. 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
Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...
and Fields Landing on Humboldt Bay returning from Eureka on Saturdays.
Sinking
Heading to Eureka, California
Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...
, 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
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables c ...
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
Anti-Chinese sentiment, also known as Sinophobia, is a fear or dislike of China, Chinese people or Chinese culture. It often targets Chinese minorities living outside of China and involves immigration, development of national identity in ...
xenophobia
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
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
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
at and was found in May 2013 by NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
Office of Coast Survey Navigational Response Team 6 using multi-beam sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
.[ It is only from where it was located by a precursor of NOAA, the ]U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications ...
, 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
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...
office at Crissy Field
Crissy Field is a public recreation area on the northern shore of the San Francisco Peninsula in California, United States, located just east of the Golden Gate Bridge. It includes restored tidal marsh and beaches.
Crissy Field is a former Un ...
. The office occupies the building erected as a lifesaving
Lifesaving is the act involving rescue, resuscitation and first aid. It often refers to water safety and aquatic rescue; however, it could include ice rescue, flood and river rescue, swimming pool rescue and other emergency medical services. ...
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
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
''
References
Further reading
*
*
*
{{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