The Alaska State Museum August artifact of the month is the steam pressure gauge from the wreck of the the S.S. Islander (Object ID: III-O-870).
At 2:00 am on August 15, 1901, the steamer ship was traveling through dense fog in Stephens Passage, carrying 107 passengers and 61 crew on its normal route between Skagway and Victoria, British Columbia. The Islander was passing the west side of Douglas Island near Juneau when it likely struck an iceberg. The hull was so severely damaged that the crew deemed it impossible to repair or beach on Douglas. The ship sank within 20 minutes of the strike. Of the 168 people on board, 40 died in the disaster. Lives lost included Captain Foote, 16 crew members, and 23 passengers. Passengers lost included Barbara Elizabeth McKay, the wife of Canadian politician James Hamilton Ross, their 1 year-old son William, and Barbara’s 15 year-old niece, Harriet Louise McKay. William and Harriet were the only two children lost in the disaster.
The Islander was a 240-foot (73 m) steel-hulled steamer ship with sleeping quarters for 130 people, commissioned, owned, and operated by the Canadian-Pacific Navigation Company. The ship was built in Glasgow by Napier, Shanks & Bell for the purpose of sailing in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia. It served as a daily ferry between Victoria and Vancouver before running between Victoria and Skagway for those seeking their fortune in the Klondike gold rush. Following its sinking, the Canadian-Pacific Navigation Company became defunct and was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Following the sinking, many attempts were made to salvage the ship and retrieve the estimated 13,304 ounces of gold bullion cargo it carried from the Klondike Gold Rush. Initial efforts in December 1901 to locate the sunken ship were unsuccessful, largely due to the technology available at the time. Finally, on July 14, 1904, Capt. Smith of the Neptune Company located the Islander. He reported the ship was 50 fathoms (300 ft or 91.4 m) down, “laying on her side”. Details of the salvage were kept secret, with the salvage crews threatening to sue if information was leaked to papers.
In August 1930, about $4,500 (~$88,000 in 2025) worth of gold and diamonds were recovered by divers. By 1934, ongoing salvage efforts had cost around half a million dollars (~$12 million in 2025) and retrieved about $40,000 (~$963,000) worth of gold and jewels. In 2012, more gold was recovered with more believed to be yet recovered.
In 1934, a large portion of the ship was floated about 600’ along the shore according to Capt. Charlie Hayes of the “Pewee.” However, the piece of the Islander and the salvage barge towing it (Forest Pride) were beached on Green Cove on Admiralty Island and can be seen today rotting on the beach. The ship’s bow remains on the ocean floor of Stephens Passage. The bow is thought to contain the remains of at least 11 stowaways.
The steam pressure gauge with S.S. Islander engraved, reading from 0 to 260, is currently on display at the Alaska State Museum. It was a gift of Norton Clapp (1957), and it's unknown when the gauge was removed from the wreck. It measures 13 inches in diameter, with the distinct blue-green patina of copper and brass that has been exposed to oxygen and water, telling of the tragedy that occurred 124 years ago.
Resources
Alaska State Library - Historical Collections. "General Marine Files, I." Captain Lloyd H. (Kinky) Bayers Collection, 1898–1967, ASL-MS-10. Alaska's Digital Archives. https://vilda.alaska.edu/digital/collection/cdmg21/id/12623/.
Delano, Leonard H. Sunken Klondike Gold: How a Lost Fortune Inspired an Ambitious Effort to Raise the S.S. Islander. Delano Publishing, 2011.
mdm. "S.S. Islander's Forgotten Gulf Ferry Service." Van As It Was (blog). September 8, 2019. https://vanasitwas.wordpress.com/2019/09/08/s-s-islanders-forgotten-gulf-ferry-service/.
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