The Wreck of the Peter Iredale

The wreck of the Peter Iredale is a major tourist attraction on the northern coast of Oregon within the beautiful Fort Stevens State park (just south of the still active shipping town of Astoria). This tall-mast commercial sailing vessel was grounded in a storm on October 25, 1906 as it tried to reach the mouth of the Columbia river and its ultimate desto, Portland, OR. A hundred and ten years later the bones of the hulk are still bleaching on the Oregon shore, a shrine of sorts to the so-called  “Graveyard of the Pacific”.

Mr. Iredale, a Brit out of Liverpool, was a shipping magnate at one time in possession of a large fleet of tall mast sailing vessels commonly used in trans-oceanic international commerce. The Iredale shipping fleet was hugely successful in its heyday. Apparently though, the old man was a stubborn bastard and one of that ilk of industrialists at the turn of the twentieth century who failed to see technology bearing down on them like, you’ll pardon the expression, a steam roller. (Does this sound familiar? Hello, fossil fuel folks. A cautionary tale?)

By the time the Iredale grounded on the Oregon beach, steam powered ships had been around for decades and would soon render sailing vessels completely obsolete for the transfer of goods. According to the well placed plaques on the bluff overlooking the wreck, Mr. Iredale’s commercial shipping enterprise failed to adapt and the company went under. Who knows? Had he made the shift over to steam ships when it looked like they were here to stay, perhaps the SS Iredale* would have weathered the storm and then the tourists would have only the majesty of nature to take pictures of up there.

Desto3 fun fact: The “SS” in a boat’s name stands for “Steam Ship”. We did not know that!