AH-WR-0657

SS Yukon

Cargo And Passenger Liner · United States · Lost 1946 · The Inside Passage & Alaska

A 47-year-old Alaska Steamship liner that broke apart on rocks near Cape Fairfield in a 1946 storm, killing 11 of nearly 500 aboard.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built in 1899 as the Mexico, this steel liner later served the Panama Railroad and, from 1923, the Alaska Steamship Company as Yukon. On February 4, 1946, while carrying nearly 500 passengers and crew, including many soldiers from Fort Richardson, she ran onto the rocks at Cape Fairfield during a storm and broke in two. Eleven people died; the rest were rescued from the rocks and a nearby beach, aided by the Coast Guard cutter Onondaga and local fishermen. The wreck became one of Alaska's best-remembered post-war maritime disasters.

Vessel

Built: 1899
Registry: Official number 92936
Builder: William Cramp & Sons
Yard: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Material: Steel
Length: 360 ft
Beam: 50 ft
Tonnage: 5747
Propulsion: Steam, twin screw
Owners: Alaska Steamship Company

Loss

Date: February 4, 1946
Cause: Storm
Location: Johnstone Bay near Cape Fairfield, southeast of Seward, Alaska
Water: Gulf of Alaska
Voyage: Seward, Alaska → Seattle, Washington
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 496
Lives lost: 11
Master: Christian E. Trondsen

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Broke in half; forward section remained wedged on the rocks off Cape Fairfield, stern section sank.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 59.93° N 148.87° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Cape Fairfield, Alaska
Region: The Inside Passage & Alaska

SS Yukon ran aground and broke up on rocks off Cape Fairfield on the western side of Johnstone Bay, southeast of Seward; coordinate is for Cape Fairfield, the documented named landmark of the wreck.