SS Chickasaw
Freighter · United States · Lost 1962 · The Channel Islands
A steel freighter driven ashore on San Miguel Island in February 1962 and abandoned to the surf.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Chickasaw was a steel cargo steamer of wartime construction still trading in the early 1960s. On 6 February 1962 she went ashore on the exposed coast of San Miguel Island in poor visibility. Her crew was taken off safely, but the freighter could not be refloated. Salvors recovered what they could before the surf broke the hull apart.
Vessel
- 1945
- Not established
- Not established
- Steel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Steam, single screw
- Not established
Loss
- February 6, 1962
- Grounding
- Off San Miguel Island, California
- Pacific Ocean, Channel Islands
- Not established
- General cargo
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Broken steel structure in the surf and shallow water off the island.
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Channel Islands National Park waters
Position
- 34.03° N 120.37° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- San Miguel Island, California
Position given for the San Miguel Island coast; the wreck site is not surveyed in the sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (62/100)
Dimensions and the extent of the surviving structure are not established in the sources reviewed.
National Park Service, Channel Islands National Park
Location of the wreck and island shipwreck history.
Contemporary California newspaper accounts, February 1962
Date, stranding, removal of the crew and salvage attempts.
