AH-WR-0896

Galena

Sailing Bark (or Barque) · United Kingdom · Lost 1906 · The Columbia River Bar & Oregon Coast

A four-masted British steel bark ran aground in fog on Clatsop Beach just weeks after the famous Peter Iredale, and lies buried in the dunes to this day.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Galena was a four-masted steel sailing bark of the Liverpool-based Galena Company. After standing off the Columbia River bar for nine days in poor weather while bound from Chile to Portland, she was driven ashore on Clatsop Beach near present-day Gearhart on November 13, 1906, just 18 days after the wreck of the Peter Iredale nearby. All 30 aboard escaped safely, and a British naval inquiry found the captain and lookout at fault. Sand soon buried the hull, and her remains are believed to lie under the dunes still.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Registry: British official no. 96417
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Steel
Length: 292 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail, four masts
Owners: Galena Company, port of Liverpool

Loss

Date: November 13, 1906
Cause: Storm
Location: Clatsop Beach, near Gearhart, Oregon
Water: Pacific Ocean
Voyage: Junin, Chile → Portland, Oregon
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 30
Lives lost: 0
Master: Captain John Howell

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Sand built up around the hull before salvage could occur; remains are believed to lie buried in the dunes several hundred feet from the current shoreline.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Gearhart, Oregon
Region: The Columbia River Bar & Oregon Coast

Described as buried in dunes roughly 600 feet from the sea on Clatsop Beach near Gearhart/Seaside; no precise coordinates published.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)

The precise present-day location and depth of burial of the wreck under the dunes are not established in the sources reviewed.

Columbia River Maritime Museum, Quarterdeck Review
Official naval inquiry findings and wreck circumstances.
The Astorian, 'In One Ear'
Narrative of the grounding, evacuation, and inquiry outcome.
Old Oregon Photos
Description of the vessel type and burial by sand.