147-Year-Old Shipwreck Near BC Has Been Found & It May Contain Long-Forgotten Treasures
A 147-year-old shipwreck believed to contain historical artifacts was recently discovered by two high school friends, just off the Washington coast, south of Cape Flattery and not far from B.C.
Jeff Hummel and Matthew McCauley started The Northwest Shipwreck Alliance back when they were attending classes at Mercer Island High School, and it has led them to uncover many landmarks over the years, including this old shipwreck.
The now-sunken SS Pacific was a steamship that was making its way from Victoria to San Francisco in 1875, before it collided with another ship called the Orpheus, and went down in a storm, according to a news release.
Many "wealthy passengers" were aboard the ship, including the owner of the largest lumber mill on the West Coast, as well as a bunch of miners that just returned from the Cassiar gold fields in northern B.C.
The Northwest Shipwreck Alliance team has "been looking for the ship for decades as it has been called the worst maritime disaster on the West Coast," according to another press release.
"Maritime law allows for discoverers of such lost shipwrecks to recover whatever is salvageable once agreements from any legal owners are located and satisfied, which has already begun," it added.
The team has yet to uncover artifacts from the shipwreck but there are "historical records of significant express cargo on board the ship," according to a spokesperson for The Northwest Shipwreck Alliance.
Nelson Goodall and Perkins Steamship Company, which later changed the name to the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, were the original owners of the SS Pacific.
Although, due to the Great Depression, the company dissolved in 1938.
If you happen to be a successor of the original owners, you will get the opportunity to present your claim, in court, over a period of time, according to the FAQ release.
People are entitled to the ship's goods, provided they have proof of ownership and make a claim within the allotted time.
Not only have Hummel and McCauley uncovered this 1875 shipwreck, but they have also found four WWII-era naval combat aircraft from Lake Washington back in 1987, as well as other wrecks over the years.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
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