Shipwreck Database

Vessel
*Not A Total Loss

Watson A West

W. H. McWhinney built Watson A West at Aberdeen, Washington, launching in 1901. Despite a relatively late construction date, the Certificate of Enrollment does not list a donkey engine as present on the boat when launched, nor does one appear on any later certificates. Twenty owners of record shared her, including her Master, John H. Petersen. Originally registered in Port Townsend, the ship was briefly registered in Honolulu (1903, 1905), San Francisco (1905, 1911, 1922), Seattle (1913,1921), and Port Angeles, Washington, where in 1913 the vessel was owned by Pacific Freighters Company (Inc.). Watson A West was licensed at various times for ocean freight or the coasting trade and was last licensed in Honolulu in December, 1922. Watson A West not only delivered lumber to the usual southern California ports several times, but also made many international voyages, voyaging to Australia, Peru, Chili, South Africa, Singapore, the Philippines, and Japan, as well as Guaymas, Mexico. Watson A West was carrying 800,00 board feet of lumber from Gray's Harbor to San Pedro when the ship struck the west end of San Miguel, at 11:30 PM, 23 February 1923, breaking apart immediately. Fog, restricting visibility to "less than a boat length," once again was a factor. "She struck so hard the men in their berths were thrown out and instantly she broke and began to fill with water."

The crew scrambled into the ship's boat and rowed for the next eighteen hours, finally reaching Santa Barbara, "exhausted, hungry, thirsty, half-clad." Captain Sorensen had only time to secure a chart, chronometers, and a compass during the hasty evacuation.

www.cinms.nos.noaa.gov