AH-WR-0077

Glenesslin

Sailing Ship · United Kingdom · Lost 1913 · The Columbia River Bar & Oregon Coast

This British square-rigger ran straight into an Oregon mountainside on a calm, clear day in 1913, and no one ever fully explained why.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

The Glenesslin was a three-masted, square-rigged British steel sailing ship. On October 1, 1913, on a calm and clear day with no apparent hazard, she ran onto the rocks at the base of Neahkahnie Mountain near what is now Manzanita, Oregon. All aboard survived, but an official investigation failed to fully explain how the grounding happened, and the wreck remains one of the more puzzling episodes in Oregon maritime history.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Steel
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 1, 1913
Cause: Not established
Location: Base of Neahkahnie Mountain, near Manzanita, Oregon
Water: Pacific Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Destroyed on the rocks; salvaged and broken up soon after
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 45.75° N 123.95° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Manzanita, Oregon
Region: The Columbia River Bar & Oregon Coast

The Glenesslin ran onto the rocks at the base of Neahkahnie Mountain near Manzanita on Oct 1, 1913, per the Oregon Encyclopedia; coordinates given are Neahkahnie Mountain's charted summit position (nearest published coordinate) as no separate wreck-site fix was found.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)

The precise cause of the grounding was never conclusively established, and vessel dimensions and build year are not confirmed in the sources reviewed.