SS Princess Kathleen
Passenger And Freight Steamship · Canada · Lost 1952 · The Inside Passage & Alaska
A Canadian Pacific coastal liner grounded and sank in Lynn Canal in 1952 with no loss of life, near the site of the earlier Princess Sophia disaster.
Lynn Price
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
SS Princess Kathleen was a Canadian Pacific coastal liner that served British Columbia, Washington, and Alaska routes for nearly three decades, including wartime trooping duty. On September 7, 1952, on her final Alaska run of the season, she ran aground on a rock ledge at Point Lena in Lynn Canal. She held on the rocks for hours before sliding free and sinking; all 425 aboard were safely evacuated. She now lies on her side in Favorite Channel.
Vessel
- 1924
- John Brown & Company
- Clydebank, Scotland
- Steel
- 369 ft
- 60 ft
- 5875
- Steam turbine, twin screw
- Canadian Pacific Steamships
Loss
- September 7, 1952
- Grounding
- Point Lena, Lynn Canal, near Juneau, Alaska
- Lynn Canal
- Skagway, Alaska → Vancouver, British Columbia
- Not established
- 425
- 0
- Graham Hughes
The Wreck Today
- 52-134
- Rests on her port side at an angle; periodic fuel releases have been documented by state environmental responders.
- Port side down
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 58.395° N 134.779° W
- Surveyed position
- Point Lena, near Juneau, Alaska
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
Exact cause of the navigational error has not been established in the sources reviewed.
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
Grounding location, depth, cause, and 2010 oil remediation history.
Cruising The Past (Cruise Line History)
Passenger and crew count, timeline of the grounding and evacuation.
