San Francisco Shipwreck Reappears March 2011
San Francisco Shipwreck Reappears March 2011

The Prince Phillip was a 19th Century cargo ship that ran aground in heavy surf on January 25th, 1878. It is rarely visible.

”I’ve been walking here for about 40 years and this is the first time that I’ve seen it,” said one woman.

The heavy storms earlier in the month stripped the beach of much of its sand, and the tides were especially low Thursday.

The wreck is visible on Ocean Beach off of the Great Highway at the end of Noriega Street. San Francisco

www.sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011/04/01/low-tides-reveal-s...

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The ship, which was a three-masted clipper ship called King Philip, was built in Maine in 1856.

The ship originally carried cargo, including guano which was used for manure, along a route that required going around Cape Horn. The ship was in service for 22 years and its history included at least two mutinies or sailors’ rebellions, with the ship surviving being set on fire on both of those occasions.

The King Philip met its demise on January 25, 1878 as it left San Francisco Bay, carrying no cargo:

A steam-powered tugboat had towed her out of the Bay, in order to help her maneuver in the dangerous waters. At that exact moment, an accident caused the death of the captain of a ship that was nearby, and the tugboat crew was called upon to help out with that emergency. Left on her own without the tugboat to steer her, the King Philip dropped an anchor, but the anchor did not hold fast, and the clipper drifted with the current towards the breakers of the beach and ran aground in heavy surf, which caused the ship to break apart.

The local Daily Alta California newspaper described the scene: “the gallant craft strikes and strikes the sand as if in anger, but powerless, as the hard, cold beach starts her timbers, tears her rudder out, crushes her keel and mashes her stout timbers in matchwood…”

So what happened to the crew? They all survived the wreck but the clipper ship was deemed a total loss. The ship remnants were bought by a San Francisco businessman for $1,050, who was able to salvage its metal fittings and sails. The rest of the wreck was blown up and abandoned.

So the bit of wood hull we see on Ocean Beach during these low tides is really all that’s left. Sorry all you treasure hunters. You can go put your metal detectors back in the basement.

Sightings of the wreckage are becoming more frequent. It was seen back in 1985, then not again for another 22 years in May, 2007. But then it was seen again in November 2010, and again this week.

www.richmondsfblog.com/2011/04/01/wreckage-from-an-1878-c...

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Taken on: April 3, 2011
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