The Princess Sophia
I’ve lived in Alaska for as long as I can remember. So maybe it’s my Alaskan pride that draws me to the dangerous and harsh stories that dominate Alaska’s history. Many people that live here still have an adventurous spirit. Maybe it’s that small sense of adventure within me that draws me to stories of the Chilkoot Trail or World War II on Adak and Attu Islands. Or the story from 1918 of the sinking of the SS Princess Sophia.
In early 2018, almost 100 years after the Sophia, I was making my own voyage up the Inside Passage on Alaska’s Marine Highway Ferry System. The same routes are still followed, albeit with much more advanced technology guiding our vessels and predicting the weather. Aboard the MV Columbia, I stumbled across a plaque with a brief description of the story I’d never heard before: the deadliest maritime disaster in Alaskan history (or the Northwest, for that matter).
Since then, I’ve read books, articles and papers pertaining to the Sophia and the unique point in Alaskan history through which she sailed and sank.
While history buffs throughout Southeast Alaska and Western British Columbia are familiar with the story, it’s remarkably unknown much further. The cold waters of Alaska and the Inside Passage have claimed countless vessels and lives through history, but the Sophia disaster and the lives of all 350 souls lost that October remains the greatest and most gripping.
On October 24, 1918, after departing Skagway the evening before, the Princess Sophia ran aground in a blinding snowstorm on Vanderbilt Reef. Within hours, rescue vessels arrived, but due to weather and many other debated reasons, rescue attempts were postponed. The Sophia rested on top of the reef for 40 hours as the weather worsened and the tide and pounding waves sought to break her free. In the early evening of the 25th, the ship was lifted from the Reef and sank into the frigid waters, taking all her passengers and crew with her.
Hundreds of prominent community members from an already-declining Northwest were lost and the sinking practically devastated multiple communities and certainly shifted the course of history for the region.
Very little is known of the final hours aboard the Sophia, or the thoughts running through the passengers, crew and Captain Locke’s minds during the 40-hour countdown til their doom. Still, clues have been left behind and there are stories of heroism and bravery, of tragedy and loss.
I believe those stories deserve to be remembered.
With initial support from the Rasmuson Foundation, I’m embarking on a journey to discover the story of the Sophia and her passengers in a documentary. While we will never know everything that happened that night, the least we can do is remember the loss. Along the way, I hope you’ll join me on a journey into Alaska’s past, the adventure and challenges from 100 years ago, and the way this sinking affected Northwest history and where we are today.
