SS ''Winfield Scott'' was a

sidewheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses we ...

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 Co ...

in the early 1850s, during the California Gold Rush. After entering a heavy fog 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 me ...

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 gol ...

in 1848 brought thousands of people to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in search of fortune until the late 1850s. Since neither the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

nor the First transcontinental railroad 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 ''ja� ...

s of the Isthmus of Panama, 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 warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

general

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

(the stern was built with a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

in his likeness), and she was launched on 27 October 1850. An announcement in the October 20 edition of the '' New York Herald'' 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 (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

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 ''C ...

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

route. In 1852, the ship's ownership was transferred to the New York and San Francisco Steamship Company Line, and she arrived in San Francisco on April 28, 1852. Once there, she began taking gold seekers, nicknamed argonauts, on the Panama Route (between San Francisco and Panama). After the demise of the New York and San Francisco Steamship Company Line (which had been renamed as the New York and California Steamship Company in May 1853), the ship's ownership was again transferred on July 8, 1853, this time to the

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 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 Cou ...

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 adve ...

. 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

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

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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 si ...

.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 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.

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