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S.S. Admiral Sampson
Report From
May 11, 2000
A
exploration team of divers from the Submerged Cultural Resources Exploration
Team (SCRET) successfully completed an deep wreck dive on the S.S. Admiral Sampson.
History:
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 lays in 320 feet of water, off of Point
No Point. She lies in the southbound vessel traffic lane of Admiralty Inlet.
Her
hull is in two pieces. The main portion of the vessel sits upright on the bottom,
with the wooden structure collapsed onto the steel hull. The smaller stern section
is twisted off to one side, with its deck at a 45-degree angle.
Planning the Dive:
We
planned our dive with the current owner of the wreck, Argonaut Resources, Inc.
(Kent Barnard and Gary Severson). Argonaut Resources located the Admiral Sampson
in 1991 and, working through various state agencies and federal courts, secured
exclusive salvage rights to the vessel in 1992.
With the help of local investors, Argonaut Resources financed several trips to the wreck and used a small submersible, ROVs and a Newt suit to recover artifacts and video the wreck. Both Kent Barnard and Gary Severson were excited to return to the wreck and see what we could accomplish.
Our dive also required 
approval
from the US Coast Guard to conduct diving operations in the commercial VTS lane,
and coordination by radio with the VTS controllers. May 11, 2000: We launched
the boats at the Everett launch and headed out.
Our skippers fought rough water all the way around the south end
of Whidbey Island. As we entered Admiralty Inlet, the ride got smoother. 
We
did not have any trouble locating the wreck. However, we had to stop and move
aside while a commercial freighter passed close to the site. We hooked the wreck
and our surface support helped the mixed gas divers don doubles and stage bottles.
The Dive:
Our
gavin scooters were handed to us as we hit the water and we started down. Initially
the line went almost straight down. However, at 290 feet, we hit the bottom
current and the line made a sharp angle and the last 100 feet was almost parallel
to the bottom. 
We
hit the wreck at about 300 feet and tied in a reel. We headed up the wreck (we
thought) fighting the current with the scooters. Visibility was 10 - 15 feet.
We marveled at the amazing amount of life on the wreck. We came to an end of
the wreck, and a quick glance at our bottom timers told us it was time to turn
around and head back. This was an incredible dive.
The divers spent 20 minutes on the wreck at an average depth of 305 feet, followed by 100 minutes of decompression. The dive went flawlessly and the team returned with some great video footage.
Review
of this footage indicates that the divers were on the smaller stern section
of the wreck and turned around at the actual stern. Further exploration is planned.
According
to the owner of the wreck, Argonaut Resources, this is the first time scuba
divers have visited the Admiral Sampson.
The
SCRET team consisted of: Mixed Gas Divers Kevin Connell Andrew Georgitsis (Video)
Walter Jaccard Brock Wheaton Support Divers Mark Tourtellot Miranda Alldritt
Boat Captains Jay Jordan Arron Pailthorpe Surface Video Gary Severson Surface
Support Kent Barnard Sonya Tittle
Want to see a preview of the video click here.
