SS Golden Gate
Side-Wheel Steamship · United States · Lost 1862 · Baja California & the Mexican Pacific
A Pacific Mail steamer carrying over a million dollars in gold coin caught fire and burned off Manzanillo in 1862, with more than 200 lives lost.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
SS Golden Gate was a wooden side-wheel steamer built in 1851 for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's San Francisco-Panama run. On July 27, 1862, while bound south from San Francisco, she caught fire at sea off the coast of Manzanillo, Colima, and was run toward the beach as flames spread through the ship. An estimated 204 people died, and much of the roughly $1.4 million in gold coin and bullion aboard went down with her, though salvors recovered a large share. The adjacent beach is still known locally as Playa de Oro.
Vessel
- 1851
- William H. Webb, Webb & Allen shipyard
- New York City, New York
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- 2067
- Steam, side paddle wheels, 33 ft diameter
- Pacific Mail Steamship Company
Loss
- July 27, 1862
- Fire
- Off Manzanillo, Colima
- Pacific Ocean, Manzanillo Bay
- San Francisco, California → Panama City, Panama
- Reported approximately $1.4 million in gold coin and bullion for Wells Fargo and passengers, along with mail and general cargo.
- Not established
- 204
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Manzanillo, Colima
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Passenger and cargo figures, mail and gold shipment aboard.
Published ship history summary (SS Golden Gate, Pacific Mail Steamship Company)
Build specifications, tonnage, propulsion, ownership, and date/location of loss.
