Cheslakee
Coastal Steamship · Canada · Lost 1913 · The British Columbia Coast
A Union Steamship Company coaster sank at the Van Anda wharf in a howling 1913 gale, drowning seven, the line's only passenger fatality in seventy years.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in Ireland in 1910 for the Union Steamship Company of British Columbia, Cheslakee served the coastal route between Vancouver and up-coast communities. On 7 January 1913, battling a severe gale, she took on water through open freight ports and listed heavily as she limped back to the Van Anda wharf on Texada Island. She sank within minutes of docking, drowning seven people. The vessel was later raised, rebuilt with a lengthened hull, and renamed Cheakamus.
Vessel
- 1910
- Dublin Dockyard Company (hull); MacColl & Co. (engine, Belfast)
- Dublin and Belfast, Ireland
- Steel
- 132 ft
- 28 ft
- 526
- Steam, triple-expansion engine, single screw
- Union Steamship Company of British Columbia
Loss
- January 7, 1913
- Storm
- Van Anda wharf, Texada Island
- Strait of Georgia
- Van Anda, Texada Island → Powell River, British Columbia
- Not established
- 90
- 7
- John Cockle
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Raised within a month and rebuilt with a lengthened hull.
- Not established
- Not established
- Commemorated by a cairn at Van Anda, Texada Island
Position
- 49.82° N 124.53° W
- Approximate position
- Van Anda, Texada Island
Position given as the Van Anda wharf on Texada Island.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
Wikipedia, citing Union Steamship Company records
Build details, ownership, and outcome of the sinking.
Texada Heritage Society
Narrative of the sinking, captain's actions, and casualty details.
