AH-WR-0003

SS Winfield Scott

Sidewheel Steamer · United States · Lost 1853 · The Channel Islands

A Gold Rush sidewheeler bound for San Francisco ran onto fog-shrouded Anacapa Island in 1853. All four hundred and fifty aboard survived.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

The Winfield Scott belonged to the busiest passenger route in the country. Gold Rush traffic crossed Panama by land and boarded steamers on the Pacific side for San Francisco, and she was fast enough to set a record on the New York run in 1852. On the night of 1 December 1853 she was running in heavy fog near the Channel Islands when she struck Middle Anacapa Island. Four hundred and fifty people were aboard. Every one of them got off. Passengers waited on the island until other vessels took them off; the ship was a total loss. Her wooden hull remains are fragile and federally protected, and have been formally surveyed by NOAA and the National Park Service.

Timeline

27 October 1850
Launched by Westervelt & MacKay
1852
Record New York to San Francisco transit
Forty-nine days.
1–2 December 1853
Wrecked on Middle Anacapa Island
All 450 aboard survived.
12 September 1988
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
2005
NOAA and National Park Service survey expedition

Vessel

Built: 1850
Builder: Westervelt & MacKay
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: 225 ft
Beam: 34.6 ft
Tonnage: 1,291 gross tons
Propulsion: Side-lever steam engines driving paddle wheels, assisted by sail
Owners: Pacific Mail Steamship Company

Loss

Date: December 1, 1853
Cause: Navigational error
Location: Middle Anacapa Island, Channel Islands
Water: Pacific Ocean
Voyage: Panama → San Francisco, California
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 450
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Fragile wooden hull remains, documented by federal archaeological survey
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary; listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 12 September 1988