Peter Iredale
Sailing Ship · United Kingdom · Lost 1906 · The Columbia River Bar & Oregon Coast
Oregon's most famous shipwreck, a steel-hulled sailing barque still rises from the sand near Fort Stevens more than a century after grounding.
Erin McKimmon
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
The Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel barque built around 1890. On October 25, 1906, under Captain H. Lawrence, she ran ashore on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens while approaching the Columbia River bar. No lives were lost, and the ship was abandoned as a total loss. Her rusting skeleton remains visible on the beach today, making it one of the most photographed shipwrecks in the country.
Vessel
- 1890
- Not established
- Not established
- Steel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- October 25, 1906
- Grounding
- Clatsop Spit, near Fort Stevens, Warrenton, Oregon
- Pacific Ocean, near the Columbia River entrance
- Columbia River, Oregon
- Not established
- Not established
- 0
- Captain H. Lawrence
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Rusting hull skeleton exposed on the beach
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Fort Stevens State Park
Position
- 46.19° N 123.98° W
- Approximate position
- Warrenton, Oregon
Approximate beach location within Fort Stevens State Park.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
Loss date, location, and photographic documentation.
Vessel type, captain, and grounding circumstances.
