1921 – Nov 20, tug Sea Eagle out of San Francisco capsizes in storm off Yaquina, OR– 9-10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-6-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–12  United Press. “‘Sea Eagle’ Founders Off Coast.” Napa Valley Register, CA. 11-25-1921, 1.[1]

–10  Berman, Bruce D.  Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 224.

—  9  Assoc. Press. “Finding of Pilot House Causes Fear For Loss of Vessel.” 11-28-1921, p. 5.

—  9  U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report…Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1922. P.16

Narrative Information

Berman: “Sea Eagle…St.s.   205 [tons]…1889 [built]…Nov 20, 1921… Foundered   Yaquina, Ore. Steel vessel. All lives (10) lost.”

 

US Steamboat Inspection Service: “On November 16, 1921, the tug Sea Eagle left San Francisco, Calif., with the schooner Ecola in tow, for Coos Bay. On November 20, 1921, during a storm, the tug broke adrift from the schooner and foundered off Yaquina Head, and, as a result, the Sea Eagle and all on board, consisting of a crew of 9, were lost.” (p. 16)

 

Newspapers

 

Nov 22, New York Tribune: “Coos Bay, Nov 21 – Tug Sea Eagle, from San Francisco, towing sch. [schooner] Ecola, from Honolulu, unable to enter harbor yesterday, account heavy seas.” (New York Tribune. “Marine Disasters.” 11-22-1921, p. 22.)

 

Nov 25, UP: “(United Press.) Portland, Ore., Nov. 25. – The Red Stack tug ‘Sea Eagle,’ with a crew of twelve men, has foundered off Peacock Spit,[2] so Captain Wicklund of the Port Adams Life Station reports. The Station Patrol found a portion of the pilot house today, together with furniture from the tug’s cabin and oars with the tug’s name thereon washed up on the beach.

 

“It is believed the vessel met disaster in the gale which raged last night over the northern Oregon coast.

….

 

“San Francisco, Nov. 25. – Officials of the Red Stack Line have not given up hope for the missing tug, ‘Sea Eagle,’ which was under command of Captain Gove of Oakland, one of the most experiences officers in the Company’s employ. They point out that all of the articles found on the beach might have washed overboard, leaving the tug still afloat.” (United Press. “‘Sea Eagle’ Founders Off Coast.” Napa Valley Register, CA. 11-25-1921, p. 1.)

 

Nov 28, AP: “(By Associated Press Leased Wire)  Portland, Ore., Nov. 28. – Finding of a part of a pilot house and oars of the seagoing tug Sea Eagle of San Francisco between Sunset Beach and Fort Stevens[3] has led to aa report the Sea Eagle and her tow, the schooner Ecola, had met with a mishap in a gale off the Oregon coast. The tug’s owners reported, however, that the Sea Eagle had an auxiliary wooden pilot house in which the captain lived and it was this auxiliary pilot house that probably had been blown away. The pilot house proper, is constructed of steel. The tug carried a crew of nine. Coast guard stations have been notified to look for the Sea Eagle. She was last reported Wednesday night.” (Associated Press. “Finding of Pilot House Causes Fear For Loss of Vessel.” Evening Republican, Mitchell, SD. 11-28-1921, p. 5.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Finding of Pilot House Causes Fear For Loss of Vessel.” Evening Republican, Mitchell, SD. 11-28-1921, p. 5. Accessed 5-6-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mitchell-evening-republican-nov-24-1921-p-5/

 

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

 

New York Tribune. “Marine Disasters.” 11-22-1921, p. 22. Accessed 5-6-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-tribune-nov-22-1921-p-43/

 

United Press. “‘Sea Eagle’ Founders Off Coast.” Napa Valley Register, CA. 11-25-1921, p. 1. Accessed 5-6-2025 at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=NVR19211125.2.11&e=——-en–20–1–txt-txIN——–

 

U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat Inspection Service, to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1922. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1922. Accessed 5-6-2025 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000071882864&view=1up&seq=4

 

[1] We choose not to use 12 fatalities as the death toll and instead rely on Berman and the US SIS Annual Report.

[2] Mostly submerged sand bar off couth of Columbia River.

[3] Sunset Beach is on the OR coast about 7 miles south of Fort Stevens State Park peninsula, at the mouth of the Columbia River