SS Pacific
Passenger Steamship · United States · Lost 1875 · The Salish Sea
A gold-rush era steamer sank off Cape Flattery in 1875 with the loss of roughly 275 lives, one of the deadliest wrecks in West Coast history.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
SS Pacific was an aging sidewheel steamer that had served the California gold rush and Panama trade before running the Victoria–San Francisco route. On November 4, 1875, overloaded with passengers and cargo, she collided with the sailing ship Orpheus off Cape Flattery. She sank within about twenty minutes in the dark, and only two of the roughly 275 people aboard survived. The disaster remained the worst on the Pacific coast for decades.
Vessel
- 1850
- Official Number 20103
- William H. Brown
- New York, New York
- Wood
- 223 ft
- 33.5 ft
- 876
- Vertical-beam steam engine, side paddle wheels
- Goodall, Nelson and Perkins Steamship Company
Loss
- November 4, 1875
- Collision
- Southwest of Cape Flattery, Washington
- Strait of Juan de Fuca
- Victoria, British Columbia → San Francisco, California
- Gold, hops, oats, hides, furs, Puget Sound coal, general merchandise
- 275
- 273
- Jefferson Davis Howell
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Believed located by a private salvage company in 2022; identification not fully confirmed in public sources reviewed.
- Not established
- 2022
- Not established
Position
- 48.38° N 125.00° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Cape Flattery, Washington
Coordinates reflect a reported wreck site announced by a private salvage firm in 2022; not independently verified in the sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)
The precise number of passengers, exact wreck site, and present condition of the hull are not firmly established in the sources reviewed.
Narrative of the collision, casualty estimate, and vessel specifications.
Context on passenger load, cargo, and the 2022 reported wreck discovery.
