SS Northerner
Steamship · United States · Lost 1860 · San Francisco & the Northern California Coast
A Gold Rush-era Pacific Mail steamer that struck a rock near Cape Mendocino in 1860 and sank with significant loss of life.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
The SS Northerner was a wooden side-wheel steamship built in 1847 and operated by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company on the booming California coastal route. In January 1860, while steaming from San Francisco toward Portland, she struck a submerged rock near Cape Mendocino and began taking on water. Efforts to beach her failed, and she eventually sank with significant loss of life among passengers and crew. The wreck became one of the notable steamship disasters of the California Gold Rush shipping era.
Vessel
- 1847
- Not established
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- Wood
- Not established
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- Steam, side-wheel
- Pacific Mail Steamship Company
Loss
- January 6, 1860
- Grounding
- Near Cape Mendocino, Humboldt County, California
- Pacific Ocean
- San Francisco, California → Portland, Oregon
- Not established
- Not established
- Approximately three dozen people died; exact figure varies among sources.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
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Position
- 40.44° N 124.41° W
- General area only
- Cape Mendocino, California
General area only: coordinate of Cape Mendocino from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (55/100)
Exact casualty count and present wreck location are not firmly established in the sources reviewed.
California State Lands Commission
Loss date, location, and general circumstances.
Humboldt County Historical Society
Regional context and casualty accounts.
coordinate of the named place of loss
