Rocketgirl's Full Review: David H. Grover - The Unforgiving Coast: Maritime ...
This is a good book for those interested in maritime history and in particular, shipwrecks. The book focuses on a series of shipwrecks that happened on the Oregon and Washington coasts. These wrecks happened during the first 30 years of the 20th century. Though this seems like fairly modern times, many of the ships described weren't modern, and in fact some were past their prime. Most were wooden boats, many without compartmentalization, many without radio communication. This particular part of the coast is especially hazardous because of the rocky cliffs and submerged rocks all along the coast. In addition, many of the ports and the mouth of the Columbia River have sand bars that make navigation hazardous. Plus winter time weather combined with the general coldness of the water make for hazardous storms.
The book is divided into ten chapters. The first chapter discusses the different types of ships involved such as a lumber ship or a tanker. It discusses the uses of these ships and their various owners. It discusses weather factors and the geographical features. It describes how ship's captains navigated using landmarks and dead reckoning and by taking soundings. It discusses the lighthouses and light boats in general use at the time. It also describes the various agencies such as The Lifesaving Service and others that eventually joined to form the U.S. Coast Guard.
Chapter 2 - The Queen - was built in 1882 and sank in 1904. A fire started on board. She sank in heavy seas off the northern Oregon coast.
Chapter 3 - The Valencia - was built in 1882 and wrecked in 1906. The ship was bound from San Francisco to Puget Sound. It became lost in fog and ran aground in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington's Olympic peninsula and Vancouver Island of British Columbia.
Chapter 4 - The Rosecrans - was a tanker. She was sailing north from southern California to Portland Oregon, with 18,000 barrels of oil on board. She floundered at the mouth of the Columbia River on the treacherous sand bar in 1913. This area, with the Clatsop spit to the south and Cape Disappointment to the north has long been known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.
Chapter 5 - The Mimi - was northbound from Peru. Most of the voyage was in dense fog in February 1913. The ship ran aground in Nehalem Bay on the central Oregon Coast.
Chapter 6 - The Francis H. Leggett - was carrying a full deck load of lumber south in February 1913. The ship departed Grays Harbor on the Washington Coast and cracked up on the Oregon Coast further south.
Chapter 7 - The Santa Clara - left Portland, Oregon in November of 1915. The boat cracked up while attempting to enter the treacherous harbor at Coos Bay, Oregon.
Chapter 8 - The J. A. Chanslor - was built in 1910 and wrecked in 1919. The ship had gone north from California and unloaded 30,000 barrels of oil at Portland. She became lost on her routine journey and crashed ashore at Cape Blanco, Oregon.
Chapter 9 - The South Coast - was a steamship built in 1887. She left Crescent City, California for Coos Bay on September 16, 1930. She carried a full load of cedar logs. The ship never arrived at her destination. Nor was any explanation found for her disappearance. Her two lifeboats and part of the forecastle were found, but unfortunately sank by rescue boats, common practice at the time to keep debris from being a hazard to other ships. However, the wreckage might have had clues to the ship's disappearance.
Chapter 10 - The Iowa - was built in 1930 and wrecked in 1936. She was leaving Portland on January 11, 1936 with a load of timber. She cleared certain buoys but was having difficulties. By that time river pilots were available to guide ships through the hazardous bars, especially during inclement weather. However the caption did not take this assistance. He drifted too far north off course and got his boat stuck in the shallow sediments north of the Cape Disappointment jetty.
A couple of minor complaints. I hated the type face. It was still a serif font, so that was good, but the letters were somehow very narrow and smashed together, and just overall harder on my eyes than something like Times Roman. I also did not like that the author, who must have been in the military at some point, kept writing out all the dates in day, month, year format. This is not the convention when the month is spelled out and is awkward to read for those of us not military minded. His editor must have also been in the military and so didn't notice this, but it is definitely not a convention generally.
I did like that each chapter explained first the origin of the ship being discussed, and previous voyages they had been on, some with other mishaps. Then the chapter told about the wreck, what factors are thought to have led to it, and what rescue attempts were made. Then numbers of casualties are discussed as well as factors that may have made a difference in lessening those casualties. Each chapter discusses the aftermath too as far as subsequent investigations into the disasters and changes in maritime law that were made to try to make things safer.
There are extensive notes, bibliography, and index, that are helpful if looking for specific information within this book, or if you want more information. There are also numerous photos, which were interesting. A few more maps might have been helpful though.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed learning how far technology has come that makes this kind of disaster pretty much a thing of the past. I have been to many of the areas discussed such as Cape Blanco in Oregon. It is amazing to me that a ship could see that light from 20 miles away. I was there when it was overcast, foggy, and raining, so I can appreciate how difficult it must be to see where you are going. I think I will still limit my ocean travel to ferry rides in Puget Sound.
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