The Search for the WATSON A. WEST

The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) continues research efforts to locate an historic shipwreck lost in 1923. Built at the turn-of-the-century, the sailing vessel WATSON A. WEST was reported stranded at the western end of San Miguel Island, which surrounding waters lie within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Channel Islands National Park.

WATSON A. WEST underway

The four-masted schooner loaded on 800,000 board feet of lumber at Grays Harbor, a lumber port located in the southern region of Washington State. With 1500 tons of cargo fully loaded in her holds and secured to her deck, she left port on 10 February 1923 en route for San Pedro Harbor. Captain Ludwig M. W. Sorensen of San Francisco was master aboard the WEST for her owner Pacific Freighters Company of San Francisco. On Friday, 23 February the schooner approached the Santa Barbara northern channel around 11:30 in the evening with wind from the west at 6 knots and a heavy sea running. Captain Sorensen later reported in the official "Record Of Casualties To Vessels," when the schooner approached the channel they encountered thick fog and the evening was dark. The men on watch having "less than a boat length" of visibility were on a collision course for the breakers off San Miguel Island. As the island loomed into sight the helm was quickly brought about with an attempt to set a new course to seaward. It was too late, the jagged rock reefs of this remote island had claimed yet another vessel joining the numerous shipwrecks off Point Bennett.

The crew of ten scrambled to launch the lifeboat, having no time to gather their personal belongings. As for Captain Sorensen, he was aware that the WATSON A. WEST was breaking up and did not waste time searching for the ship's papers but grabbed a chart, compass and chronometer, knowing these navigating instruments would be crucial to their survival. The crew "exhausted, hungry, thirsty, half-clad" reached Santa Barbara after rowing eighteen hours. The WATSON A. WEST and the cargo became a total loss, the vessel being valued at $10,000 and her cargo at $30,000.

The schooner is the last of the larger documented shipwrecks to be located in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Channel Islands National Park. To date the search for the WATSON A. WEST has challenged researchers. The shipwreck remains of the lumber schooner, a product of the McWhinney and Cousins shipyards of Aberdeen, Washington, would offer researchers and underwater archeaologists an opportunity to study turn-of-the-century construction methods and learn about the social community aboard ship.