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Tugboat Hope Tragedy
by John MacFarlane 2017
The Tugboat Hope (Photo from the Doug MacFarlane collection. )
In 1881 she was built in Seattle WA USA. 72.2’ x 16.2’ x 8.5’ Wooden hull. 78gt 48rt She was pwoered by a 47hp high pressure steam engine (1881) built by the Seattle Foundry Co., Seattle WA USA.
The Tugboat Hope Ashore 1909 in Dodd Narrows BC (Photo courtesy MMBC. )
In 1881 she was owned by USA interests operating out of Port Townsend WA USA. In 1893 she was owned by Willam Taylor, Victoria BC (64/64 shares). In 1895–1912 she was owned by Sayward Mill and Timber Co. Ltd., Victoria BC. In 1913–1926 she was owned by Vancouver Island Towing Co. Ltd., Victoria BC.
In 1884 she was registered at Victoria BC and operated by Captain Thomas Bentley as a passenger vessel. On 17/02/1891 she was stranded on Portland Island BC but later salvaged.
She sank on October 7, 1925 while working with the tug Salvage King on the salvage of the Dutch freighter Eemdyk off Bentinck Island near Race Rocks. The tug was manoeuvring near the ship when in a strong ebb tide she was swept against the salvage tug. The tug was ferrying 28 longshoremen workers to the site to lighter off the cargo of the freighter so she could be salvaged. She careened off the tug and was swept under a wire hawser stretched from the salvage tug to the shore. Her masts and funnel were carried away and she was capsized. Seven of the longshoremen were lost.
To quote from this article please cite:
MacFarlane, John M. (2017) Tugboat Hope Tragedy. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Hope.php
Site News: April 24, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,289 vessel histories (with 15,634 images and 13,293 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).
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