Events Leading to the Shipwreck

Skagway was the starting point for the fateful voyage of the SS Princess Sophia on October 23, 1918. After the last train of Yukoners bound for southern ports arrived, U.S. Customs and Immigration officials cleared all passengers, 24 horses, and 2 tons of household goods, and the Sophia left Skagway three hours late. In the dark of Lynn Canal, amid 50-knot winds, fog, and snow, the ship was thrown off course near Battery Point and wrecked on Vanderbilt Reef about 2:00 a.m. on October 24. Captain Locke reported later that morning that the ship was not taking water but that the seas were too rough to transfer passengers. As the storm intensified on October 24 and 25, rescue ships were driven back from the reef, and the Sophia sank on Vanderbilt Reef between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. on October 25. Skagway and the region mourned the loss of life, and the disaster affected the north for decades, leading to the placement of modern navigational aids on Vanderbilt Reef and other hazards to make travel safer between ports. Among those lost was John Fraser “Jack” Pugh, a former Skagway resident and Collector of Customs for the District of Alaska, who had come to Skagway in October 1918 to help clear the many passengers arriving from Whitehorse and boarded the Sophia after his work was done, intending to leave the ship in Juneau on the return voyage.

Skagway, Alaska · United States