BROTHER JONATHAN
Type Steamer
Tonnage 1,359 tons
Displacement Not specified
LOA 67.33 m
Beamwidth 10.97 m
Draws 6.4 m
Nationality American
Captain Not specified
Era mid 1800s
Year Built 1850
Place Built Perrine, Patterson and Stack, of Williamsburg, New York.
Year Launched 2 November 1850
Place Launched Not specified
Service History As built in 1850, BROTHER JONATHAN was a 1,359 52/95-ton, two-masted sidewheel steamer. The vessel's registered dimensions were 220 feet, 11 inches in length, with a 36-foot beam, and a 21-foot depth of hold. The New York HERALD of November 27, 1850, commenting on the steamer, described the construction of the hull.
In the spring of 1850 Mills let a contract to build the Jonathan to the shipyards of Perrine, Patterson and Stack, of Williamsburg, New York. She was launched on November 2, 1850, and finished up early in the following year. As originally built, she was 220 feet long and 36 feet wide. She had upper and lower decks with two, 70-foot salons which were fully decorated with gilt and enamel. She carried two masts and a vertical beam engine built by the famous Morgan Iron Works driving two, side-mounted paddle wheels, each 33 feet in diameter. Mills paid $190,000 for her.
Last Voyage On July 27th and 28th, 1865, the loading was finished on the ship. The purser was busy storing away or listing an unusual amount of cash for the trip. Major Eddy, a U.S. Army paymaster, came on board with $200,000 to pay the troops at Fort Vancouver, Walla Walla, and other posts in the Northwest, probably in greenbacks. William Logan, government Indian Agent for the Northwestern Region, may have brought gold coins on board for the annual treaty payments to the tribes. This money was paid to the tribes to keep them on the reservations, and they were usually paid in gold. It has been said that crates of $20 gold pieces were loaded, some for a private transfer for Haskins and Company, and possibly some for Wells Fargo and Company.
Around two in the morning of the next day, the Jonathan pulled into the harbor at Crescent City to offload a little cargo. By 9:30 she was back underway. With the storm building, Captain DeWolf headed more west than north, to get safely around the strung-out rocks of St. George�s Reef. But the speed was down and the storm was building, and it took two hours to make about 14 miles northwest of port. By then Captain DeWolf noted that the vessel was hardly keeping her own, and decided to run back to Crescent City to wait out the storm. At noon the Captain took a sun sight, and plotted his position "four miles north of the latitude of Point St. George." The ship was brought to a more easterly heading, which steadied her a bit, and headed closer to shore. The ship came up to Seal Rock, where it was relatively clear, and Captain DeWolf ordered a course "Southeast by South," to head for the Crescent City breakwater. The charts then used showed no obstructions between his ship and safety. The captain ordered a mate forward to ready the anchors for use.
As the mate worked on the anchor, he suddenly saw something beneath the water and yelled back to the wheelhouse, but it was too late for the Jonathan. The waves lifted her and dropped her on a pinnacle of rock rising 250 feet from the ocean bottom. The rocks penetrated her hull between the bow and the foremast, then the next great wave carried her further, tearing her bottom out all the way to the bridge. The great weight of the ore crusher dropped through what was left of the bottom of the ship through the hull weakened by her previous collision. The force of the wind and sea twisted the Jonathan around until the bow pointed directly at the shore, some four miles away. Five minutes after she hit the rock, Captain DeWolf knew there was no hope of saving the ship, and ordered crew and passengers aft to "try and save themselves."
Year Sunk 28 July 1865
Place Sunk outside Crescent City, California
Cause of Sinking Ran aground
Passenger/Crew List Not specified
Loss of Life Not specified
Body of Water Pacific Ocean
Depth Not specified
Condition Not specified
Latitude N 041o 045'
Longitude W 124o 012'
Vessel Cargo Not specified
Vessel Discovered By Not specified
Date Discovered Not specified
Was Salvaged? No
Submitted By: removed
Date Submitted: 2004-10-23
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