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| San Francisco Examiner, 08-October-1922 |
100 years ago today, on 07-October-1922, oil tanker Lyman Stewart, entering San Francisco in a pea soup fog, collided with an outbound freighter, the Walter A Luckenbach. The tanker tried to beach itself on the south side of the Golden Gate, but tore her bottom open on Mile Rock and wound up on the rocks nears Lands End. The Luckenbach was able to reach Pier 31 under its own power. All hands on the Stewart survived. The Stewart was found to be a total loss.
38 RESCUED
AS STEAMERS
STRIKE IN FOG
Crew Taken off in Lifeboats;
Stewart Abandoned After
Collision With Luckenbach
Shattered Craft, With Fuel Oil
Cargo, Beached Near Cliff
House; Freighter in Port
Beached in the surf between Seal Rocks and Point Lobos, at the Cliff House, the giant oil tanker Lyman Stewart was run ashore and abandoned last night following a collision with the Walter A. Luckenbach, one of the largest freighters using this port.
The crash of huge ships occurred in the north channel of the Golden Gate, in a dense fog, at 3:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
The Lyman Stewart was outbound with a full cargo of oil and gasoline -- 68,000 barrels in all. She had cleared from Oleum, up the bay, and was headed for Seattle.
The Luckenbach was entering port concluding a voyage from New York and Baltimore through the Panama canal. She had discharged part of her cargo at San Pedro and was high in the water forward -- a fact that gave her the advantage in the collision.
The Luckenbach's bow struck the tankship ten feet from the cutwater, on the port side. According to the crew, the Lyman Stewart was going astern at the time.
STEEL HULL SPLIT.
So powerful was the blow that the steel hull of the Lyman Stewart was split by a gap eight feet wide, extending from the deck-level to far below the waterline.
The impact was heard at lifesaving stations nearly a mile away, and boats were immediately launched.
Captain J. G. Cloyd immediately headed his sinking vessel toward the south shore of the straits. The tanker kept afloat until, aided by a rapid ebbtide, she struck the rocks opposite the Mile Rock lighthouse, below the cliffs of Lincoln Park.
Here the swell caught her and hauled her over the rocks, fairly dragging the bottom out of her.
An hour and a half after the collision, she became wedged between the Seal Rocks and Point Lobos, a hundred yards north of the former.
CREW RESCUED.
The crew was taken off in lifeboats and towed into port. James Porter, fireman, of 1927 First avenue, Seattle, received a crushed leg in lowering a boat.
Meanwhile, the Luckenbach, badly damaged but afloat, was able to proceed to port under her own power, and docked at Pier 31, where her cargo was immediately removed. The freighter was taking water rapidly. Her bow was shattered.
Tugs sent out in response to wireless calls to aid the Lyman Stewart were unable at first to find her, and lost time in the impenetrable fog.
The last summons, sent by Radio Operator A. D. James before the wireless went out of commission was:
"Send tugs immediately. I have no power."
Captain George Benner of the Luckenbach kept the freighter standing by the sinking tanker until it became certain she would make her way to the beach.
The outbound schooner F. S. Loop, Captain Larsen, also stood by until the tanker went ashore.
Port Captain W. J. Darragh of the Red Stack Tugboat Company sent the tugs Sea Ranger, Sea Scout, Fearless and Sea Witch which cruised around the straits until they located the distressed ship.
ORDERED TO LIFEBOATS.
Immediately after the ship struck, Captain Cloyd ordered the crew of 38 men to take to the lifeboats. The order was obeyed, the only mishap being the injury to Porter. The lifeboats, three in number, were picked up by a life-saving cutter commanded by Captain Clark of the Golden Gate Life-saving station and towed to Meiggs Wharf shortly after dark.
Those remaining aboard the vessel were Captain Cloyd, First Officer H. R. Halvorsen of San Francisco, Second Officer H. Shields of Seattle, Third Officer A. Nordstrom of San Francisco, Chief Engineer Louis Eakins of San Francisco, and Assistant Engineers Reginald Davis of Seattle, C. Sandford of Seattle, and A. Getz of San Francisco.
These were later brought to port aboard the tug Sea Ranger.
Captain Cloyd gave the following description of the collision:
"We were proceeding very slowly -- less than six knots an hour -- owing to the fog, which was extremely thick. The Luckenbach suddenly loomed up before us, and before anything could be done we struck.
"The blow was extremely severe. My ship was cut from rail to below the waterline, the gap averaging seven to eight feet wide. She began to fill immediately.
"I set the pumps to work discharging the oil to lighten the ship.
"I headed her over toward the south shore, as it was impossible to beach her on the north shore of the straits. It was a question whether she would keep afloat long enough to make it, but the tide helped. She drifted close to the Mile Rock lighthouse and first struck on the rocks inshore opposite the lighthouse.
LIFTED OVER ROCKS.
"Here a swell took her and lifted her over the rocks, apparently tearing the bottom to pieces with each repeated impact. After a considerable time of pounding she came to rest near the Seal Rocks.
"The Luckenbach stood by until it was evident we would keep afloat.
"I have nothing to say regarding the collision. The fog was to blame."
After the Luckenbach docked at Pier 31, Captain Benner said:
"We were steaming slowly along in thick fog -- one of the thickest I have ever experienced. We kept blowing our fog whistles all the way in.
"Suddenly the Lyman Stewart came into view just ahead. It was too late to avoid collision, and the boats met head on."
Members of the Lyman Stewart's crew declared that their engines were in reverse for nearly two minutes preceding the crash, and that the tanker was either standing still or going astern at the time she was struck.
The Walter A. Luckenbach is owned by the Luckenbach Company and has a displacement of 11,500 tons.
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| San Francisco Chronicle, 08-October-1922 |
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