SS Admiral Benson
Passenger And Cargo Steamship · United States · Lost 1930 · The Columbia River Bar & Oregon Coast
A coastal passenger liner run aground on Peacock Spit in fog in 1930, with no lives lost despite a week-long, increasingly dangerous evacuation.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1918 for the U.S. Shipping Board and later renamed Admiral Benson under the Pacific Steamship Company's Admiral Line, the vessel ran aground on Peacock Spit near Cape Disappointment in dense fog on February 15, 1930, while inbound to Portland with 39 passengers and 65 crew. Rescue crews evacuated everyone over several days as weather deteriorated; Captain Charles Graham remained aboard until February 23. He later pleaded guilty to negligence. The ship was salvaged and abandoned in place, and the beach at the site now bears her name.
Vessel
- 1918
- Bethlehem Steel Corporation
- Wilmington, Delaware
- Steel
- 266.6 ft
- 45 ft
- 3049
- Steam, single screw
- Pacific Steamship Company (Admiral Line)
Loss
- February 15, 1930
- Navigational error
- Peacock Spit, Cape Disappointment
- Columbia River Bar / Pacific Ocean
- San Francisco, California → Portland, Oregon
- Not established
- 104
- 0
- Charles C. Graham
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Broke up over subsequent years on the spit after salvage of cargo and machinery; remnants are reported to lie beneath the sands of the beach that bears her name at Cape Disappointment State Park.
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Cape Disappointment State Park
Position
- 46.28° N 124.07° W
- Approximate position
- Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington
Position approximates Peacock Spit near Cape Disappointment, where the ship grounded and broke up.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (84/100)
Loss narrative, evacuation sequence, and outcome.
Local naming history and present-day remains.
