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The S.S. Admiral Sampson | Historical archives | Underwater images/video | Exploration updates
Background information on the S.S. Admiral Sampson:
The S.S. Admiral Sampson was a passenger liner, 296 feet long by 36 feet wide. She had a steel hull, two upper decks constructed of wood, and a single stack. On August 26, 1914, the steam-powered luxury liner departed Seattle for Alaska with a full load of passengers and crew. While passing Point No Point, the Admiral Sampson was sliced almost in two by the knifelike bow of another passenger liner, the Princess Victoria. Both vessels had been moving at crawl speed of 3 knots, navigating in the thick fog, with the help of warning blasts from their ship's whistles and reports from lookouts.
When that primitive system failed to keep the ships from colliding, most of the Admiral Sampson's 160 passengers were forced to scramble over railings from one wounded liner to the other. The Princess Victoria limped back to Seattle with a 14-foot rip through her bow. The Admiral Sampson was torn badly on the port side, about midway between mid-ships and her stern. She sank quickly stern first, taking with her Capt. Zimro Moore, four crewmen and 11 passengers.
The Admiral Sampson now lies in 320 feet of water, off of Point No Point.
Read about SCRET's May 2000 dive on the Admiral »
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