Anacapa Island’s Hidden Shipwreck of 1853
by Nella Nelson
“A terrible jar and crashing of timbers. I hurried out on deck, where my attention was fixed on a wall of towering cliffs, the tops of which were hidden by a fog and darkness and appeared to fall and crush us. All round was the loud booming of angry breakers surging about invisible rocks.”
These were the words of Asa Cyrus Call, one of the 500 passengers aboard the steamship Winfield Scott on December 2, 1853. The 1,291 gross ton passenger and mail ship departed from San Francisco on the morning of December 1 in the height of California’s Gold Rush era. In addition to passengers and crew, the ship was transporting gold bullion (worth an estimated US $2 million). Progress was slowed in the afternoon when a leaking boiler needed repairing. She then resumed course at full speed. Later that evening, Captain Simon F. Blunt navigated the ship into the Santa Barbara Channel to save time. Captain Blunt knew the Channel well, having previously helped survey it years earlier.
At approximately 11 PM, the Winfield Scott encountered heavy fog and ran aground into Middle Anacapa Island (400 miles from port), her speed being about 10 knots (12 miles per hour). She struck the island bow first. When the captain attempted to back away, the stern was struck, removing the ship’s rudder. Soon, the ship took on massive amounts of water and became unable to steer. All aboard began scrambling for land.
In a matter of two hours, the approximate 500 people aboard were evacuated with no lives lost. The survivors spend the first night on a pinnacle of rock of 50 x 25 yards. The next day, they moved to a large piece of land on the island.
When a gun was fired by the survivors, it alerted the passing steamship SS California. En route to San Francisco from Panama, the California rescued the women, children and gold bullion. On December 9th, the California returned to rescue the remaining passengers. The crew had stayed behind to recover as much mail and passenger luggage as possible. The Winfield Scott was left in the waters of the channel where it remains to this day, under 30 feet of water.
The wreckage was verified in 1981 and registered with the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The site is protected by California and U.S. Law which prohibits divers from removing any part of the wreckage.
SS Winfield Scott’s Characteristics:
- Type: Passenger
- Hull: Double iron bracing and wooden from White Oak, Live Oak, Locust, Redcedar and Georgia Yellow Pine.
- Constructed By: Westervelt & MacKay of New York, 1850.
- Namesake: For U.S. Army General Winfield Scott (stern built in a bust of his likeness).
- Operator: Pacific Mail Steamship Co.
- Route: Panama-San Francisco
- Tonnage: 1,291 gross tons
- Length: 225 ft.
- Beam: 36.4 ft.
- Decks: 3
- Installed Power: 2 x Morgan Iron Works side-lever steam engines
- Sail Plan: 3 masts, square sails
- Note: Set a record 49-day transit between New York and San Francisco in 1852.
Sources:
US National Register of Historic Places
NPS.gov/Park Home/Learn About the Park/History & Culture/Stories/Shipwrecks: The Winfield Scott
NOAA. Sanctuaries.noaa.gov
The Wreck of the Winfield Scott – Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. Facebook Video June 17, 2020.
