On October 23, 1918– six years after the sinking of the Titanic—the SS Princess Sophia sailed out of Skagway, Alaska. Four hours later the ship slammed into a coastal reef killing all aboard. These men and women formed the backbone of the North and it was a devastating tragedy for the Pacific Northwest. More than 60 people are buried at Mountain View Cemetery. This is an excerpt from my book Sensational Victoria.
I first heard about the Princess Sophia in 2004 when the Vancouver Maritime Museum held a memorial service for the 350 passengers and crew killed in 1918. The Museum had recently acquired the ship’s bell from Betty Mantyla. Betty was given the bell by her grandmother, who was given the bell by a diver.
When the Princess Sophia sailed out of Skagway 94 years ago, it was the final voyage of the year before the big freeze set in and she was jammed from cabin to steerage. There were pioneers of the gold rush, riverboat captains, 50 women and children, and newly enlisted soldiers on their way to fight in the Great War. Lulu Mae Eads was aboard, the same Lou that Robert Service wrote about in The Shooting of Dan McGrew. There were 24 horses and five dogs in the hold.
Captain Leonard Locke, 66, had spent his life at sea and had made this voyage many times. But four hours after setting sail, the Sophia slammed into Vanderbilt Reef. The Sophia wasn’t taking on water and Locke felt that the ship could float free off the reef at high tide. But the wind increased and the snow thickened, and after almost 40 hours the Sophia slid backward off the rocks and went stern-first into the sea. The boilers exploded. Those passengers not trapped inside the ship, suffocated in the oil from the fuel tanks.
Those bodies that were recovered returned to Vancouver on the Princess Alice on November 11, 1918—the day the war ended.
An inquiry found that the ship was lost through “peril of the seas” and not through the fault of Captain Locke. Newspapers blamed him anyway.
Legal battles stretched on until the early 1930s. Emily, Locke’s widow received $2,249.99. The passengers’ relatives got nothing.
There have been books written about the Sophia, but unlike the Titanic which had little effect on the Pacific North West, most people have never heard of the disaster.
I met Syd Locke, the grandson of Captain Locke at the memorial service. He lives in Seattle. His father Frederick, was one of Locke’s five children with wife Emily. Born in 1891, he was with the Canadian Engineers during WW1 and drowned in a tugboat accident in Seattle when Syd was 11.
“All of my ancestors have drowned as far back as anybody remembers. My mother wouldn’t let me go to sea. ‘It’s going to end here,’ she said.”
Although Syd never met his grandfather, what upsets him most is that accounts of the shipwreck don’t address the human side of the tragedy. There was Walter Gosse, for instance, a lookout and the younger brother of second officer Frank Gosse. Both brothers were at a dance. Frank made the sailing, but Walter was left behind. And there was Archibald Alexander, chief engineer from Victoria, who stayed behind because his twin daughters were seriously ill with Spanish flu. “How did he feel when all his friends went down?” asks Syd.
The shingled Edwardian house at 1005 Cook Street in Victoria that Locke built in 1907 is still there. The house is now a commercial building and has a heritage designation.
© All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus.
31 comments on “The Sinking of the Princess Sophia”
Eve, I never expected to be “Quoted”. You write well. Awaiting publication! Syd
Thanks Syd. The story in the book is quite a bit more detailed. Hope you will like that as well.
Best,
Eve
This is an interesting and sad piece of history that I didn’t know about. Thanks for sharing this story, Eve.
Actually, Vanderbilt Reef is in Southeast Alaska, not British Columbia. The residents of Juneau, Alaska retrieved the bodies as they washed up on the shore and cleaned them and prepared them for burial. At least 21 of the victims are interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Juneau.
We’re all in this together.
Hi Eve, I wrote a short story (2,000 words) for a writing contest (I’m just a raw amateur). Anyway, it won. However, my point is that my story of the SS Sophia grew from researching the parrot belonging to Captain James Alexander, a passenger on the Sophia with his wife. I have stood at their grave in Fraser View Cemetery, Vancouver, where it clearly says her name Louise Alexander. However, in my Internet research for my story, I found one site that claimed Louise was in England with their daughter at the time of Sophia’s sinking. What a lot of speculation that could generate. Their (black) dog was the sole survivor of the wreck, and apparently saw out it’s days in comfort in North Vancouver.
Congratulations on winning the writing contest! The story of the Princess Sophia is so compelling, I knew about the dog, but not the parrot. It’s surprising that so little is known about it, when you think what happened with the Titanic just a few years before. Were you able to find a death certificate for Louise to solve the mystery?
Re your meeting with Syd Locke mentioned his father Frederick was the youngest of Capt Locke’s children ..Not true ..my father born Leonard Locke in Vancouver was born Jan 2 1918 and was 10 months old when the Sophia went down. Bertha Locke at the time was also pregnant and delivered in 1919 a baby girl . Both children were adopted to families on the West Coast and the East. My father found his sister after 60 yrs.
Thanks so much for adding to the story!
That is so interesting about the other kids. My dad is Leonard Locke, captain Locke’s grandson. I will share this with him.
Jillian, I would love to contact yo about Leonard Pye Locke. He was my great grandfather, and I am currently working on a biography ‘Before the Sophia’.
To Lenore O’Rourke – your father Leonard Locke born Vanc. 1918 is
not the son of Capt. Leonard Pye Locke & Emily Puttock.
Frederick Scott Locke born 18 March 1891 in Liverpool, Lancashire England was the last child born to Leonard Pye Locke & Emily Puttock.
Emily Puttock Locke was born 1856 in London England.
She would have been 62 years old in 1918 .
Frederick S. Locke married my aunt Marian Pollard, she was born 24 April 1901 Westward Ho!, Devon England. Frederick S. Locke & Marian Pollard were married in Seattle in 1927.
Kathy, I would love to contact you about Leonard Pye Locke – he was my great-grandfather and I am currently working on a biography of his life ‘Before the Sophia’.
Lenore, I would love to make contact with you re your father Leonard Warren Locke. I am the great granddaughter of Leonard Pye Locke and I am currently researching his life “before the Sophia”. So far I have been unable to contact any descendants. It seems I am just a year or two late as all his grandchildren, including my father, have died and I have been unable to reach any of their children.
I have stood at their grave in Fraser View Cemetery, Vancouver, where it clearly says her name Louise Alexander. However, in my Internet research for my story,
MY name is Loretta Beaton I was named after my aunt a nine year old girl that drowned on the Princess Sophia. There were huge amounts of gold being transported on this ship from the Iditarod Mining District. Do you no anything about this?
That’s a very close connection to the tragedy. The gold sounds familiar, I may have read something in it in one of the books about the Princess Sophia.
Please tell me the name of the English Setter Dog that survived after swimming ashore? I saw a picture of him. Please help? Thank You, – Steve
I am planning to build a model of the Princess Sophia. Do you know of any plans that may be available. I have built many model ships and as a past resident of Juneau and a visitor to Whitehorse, Haines, etc., I’d like to start this project. I can do this with the general pictures but something a little more detailed would be good. It is a very sad tale.
Just came across your story…which I know well, as my great grandmother and great aunt were passengers, and both perished on the Princess Sophia. Their last name is Very, documented on the passenger list.
The story goes, they were found frozen together miles up a river near Juneau, 5 months after the disaster. My mother was named after her aunt. They were heading back from Dawson City after the gold rush on route to Seattle, where the family owned a hotel. I have read the book and own a copy of the PBS documentary as well.
From Burnaby (Vancouver) I have been able to visit Alaska several times and Yukon as well. I have chatted to book store owners etc., in Juneau and mention the story. Most people in BC are not aware of the marine disaster, but most people I have spoken too up north are very familiar. I have heard different stories (and have some legal documents, that one of my aunts retrieved while she was researching the history of it, on how the SOS was called and maybe could have been a different outcome.
Anyhow, thanks for posting the story….it always hits home with me.
regards
Wendy MacDonald
And, thanks for stopping by and adding to the story.
Thank you for keeping the story alive. You mention the chief engineer Archibald Alexander who stayed behind as his twin daughters had the Spanish flu, but someone had to take his place. That would be my grandfather, Charles Waller of Victoria. He left behind my grandmother and three small children. My father was the youngest and just a baby who never got to know his father. I cannot remember exactly the amount my grandmother received but it was pittance. Something like $25 for herself and $5 for each child.
Such a sad story!
My Mother was employed by Doctor James Donald Hennessy, son of Thomas Hennessy (body 71), passenger on the Sophia. Dr. Hennessy was age 9 at the time of the sinking and living in the Michigan upper peninsula. The son went on to be a noted neurologist and surgeon in Council Bluffs Iowa.
Thanks so much for adding to the story of the Princess Sophia!
Thankyou Eve for setting this communication piece up…We continue to learn more about this tragedy and all of us with the connected history must wonder from time to time how our lives would have taken such different paths ..or not at all..if this sad event didnt take place.
The soldiers were not newly enlisted on their way to fight in the Great War….they had in fact been stationed at Fort Gibbon with the US Signal Corp. My cousin was one of them and had been in Alaska since 1914.
I have spoken to someone who had dived the wreck many many times and she says that the boilers did not in fact explode as they are intact on the bottom of the Lynn Canal.
My late mom’s maiden Chinese name
was : Lee (Mee Jean)
Her uncle Lee was 3rd cook on the ship.
2nd Cook (Lee) was a close family friend who had returned for a visit to the village. He had asked if his young friend was interested in getting work as a cook on the Princess Sophia. And got him hired.
Mom had always been close family friends with auntie Ping Sue Lee. They were from the same village . It was auntie Ping Sue’s grandfather’s brother who was 2nd cook.
Mom’s uncle’s bones were repatriated to the family in China for proper burial about 10 years later by the Wing Sang Co. of Vancouver. This was common custom ( where possible $) to repatriate the bones of the bachelor men back to their homes for traditional proper burial.
Her grandmother received a letter to travel to Canton (Guangzhou city) to pickup the remains, so she sent her younger son (my grandfather) to pickup.
My mom had mentioned this story of her uncle Lee going down with a Canadian ship, but didn’t know the name. A few years ago, the Vancouver Maritime Museum held an exhibit on the Princess Sophia sinking, and I was able to take mom and auntie Ping Sue to see it.
This is such sad, but amazing family history. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Where can we buy your book?
My great grandfather was on the SS Princess Sophia when it sank. He worked as an engineer on a Yukon Steamer and was on his way back to Seattle/Portland for the winter. We believe he was one of the original Yukon Gold Seekers. His sister claimed his body and had him buried in near Portland Oregon. Charles Albert Craven was his name.
In 2002 we took an Alaskan Inside Passage Cruise but went by Vanderbilt Reef at 2 a.m. in the morning. We did go to Vancouver Island to the Vancouver Maritime Museum to see the Sophia ship model. Very moving so see this.
That’s a fascinating connection with the Princess Sophia!
If you are in BC, most bookstores will be able to order it in for you if they don’t have it, otherwise you can order online directly through the publisher, Anvil Press: https://www.anvilpress.com/books/sensational-victoria-bright-lights-red-lights-murders-ghosts-gardens
I do wish I had been able to read all these comments as they were posted! Leonard Pye Locke was my great-grandfather. I am currently publishing book that includes information about his sisters, Eva and Emma, and I am working on a biography of Leonard ‘Before the Sophia’.
I do hope that through this chain others will be able to contact me.