SS Iowa
Cargo Steamer · United States · Lost 1936 · The Columbia River Bar & Oregon Coast
A lumber freighter broke apart with the loss of all 34 aboard when a sudden storm drove her onto Peacock Spit in 1936.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1920 as the West Cadron and later renamed Iowa, the steel freighter carried lumber along the Pacific coast for the States Steamship Company. On January 12, 1936, while crossing the Columbia River bar outbound from Longview, hurricane-force winds drove her onto Peacock Spit near Cape Disappointment. She broke apart in the surf before rescuers could reach her, and all 34 crew were lost. It remains the deadliest disaster recorded on the Columbia River bar in the twentieth century.
Vessel
- 1920
- Western Pipe and Steel Company
- San Francisco, California
- Steel
- 410 ft
- 54 ft
- 5724
- Steam, triple-expansion, single screw
- States Steamship Company (Quaker Line)
Loss
- January 12, 1936
- Storm
- Peacock Spit, Cape Disappointment, Columbia River bar, Washington
- Columbia River bar
- Longview, Washington, via Astoria → San Francisco, California
- More than 6,900 long tons of lumber
- 34
- 34
- Captain Edgar Yates
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Broken apart and buried in the sand of Peacock Spit; a midsection was identified via multibeam sonar in 2018.
- Not established
- 2018
- Not established
Position
- 46.28° N 124.08° W
- Approximate position
- Cape Disappointment, Washington
Position reflects the general area of Peacock Spit where sonar imagery located wreckage in 2018.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (90/100)
Detailed wrecking narrative, casualty figures, and rescue attempts.
Maritime Archaeological Society
2018 sonar identification of wreck remains and ship history.
