To discover, recover, and preserve the most important shipwrecks in the Northwest
SS Pacific
The SS Pacific was a side wheel steamer built in 1850 for the California gold rush. It collided with the clipper SV Orpheus on November 4, 1875, off the coast of Washington state. It is the worst maritime disaster in west coast history: 325 souls perished and only two survived.
SS Pacific at Yesler’s Wharf, Seattle, 1875. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Historical Society Collection, SHS11765
“Long will be remembered the year 1875, when Death, clad in all his hideousness, rode the wave ; and, while the restless sea has supplied Northwestern history with many pitiful tales of disaster, this fatal year has never been equaled in the number of lives and amount of property sacrificed. No greater calamity was ever visited on the people of this Coast than the loss of the steamship Pacific…“
– Edgar Wilson Wright, Lewis & Dryden’s Marine History of the Pacific Northwest (1895)
Overview
The Pacific Project is a collaboration between Rockfish, Inc. and the Northwest Shipwreck Alliance (NSA). On November 23, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Senior US District Judge James L. Robart awarded exclusive salvage rights to the wreck of the SS Pacific to Rockfish, to recover the vessel’s express cargo under contract with the original underwriters based in London. The Northwest Shipwreck Alliance is tasked with preserving and displaying the artifacts in a new museum to be located in the Puget Sound region.
Ad from the Puget Sound Dispatch, September 30, 1875.
1850
The Ship
The SS Pacific set sail in 1850, with a purpose to service the California Gold Rush. During the Pacific’s life, the vessel carried carry countless passengers in areas including the American Southwest, Central America, and the Pacific Northwest.
On 4 November 1875 the SS Pacific was involved in one of the worst maritime disasters in West Coast history. While on its way to San Francisco, a sailing ship called the Orpheus cut in front of the Pacific and within a few hours the Pacific had sunk. Only two survived.
The SS Pacific proved hard to find. Since 1985, many have attempted to locate the wreck. Each expedition was unsuccessful for different reasons. On at least two occasions, searchers went right over the Pacific without realizing it.
Rockfish, Inc. completed twelve expeditions between 2017 and 2022 searching for the wreck. They first imaged the ship in October of 2021 but it would not be until November of 2022 that they would announce the discovery.
A large team worked to find the SS Pacific. Many of them volunteered their time with the hopes that the project would someday reward them and every one of them played an indispensable part.
The Northwest Shipwreck Alliance is formulating plans, with their partner Rockfish, Inc. and their archaeological team, to recover artifacts from the ship.
