FAMOUS (1948) The 41 ton 57 foot wooden oil screw Famous stranded and was lost November 23, 1948 at Point Alba.
Mapping and Location: Alaska Unknown
Comment: Maybe Point Alava, further research warranted. WG
Additional Information: Tonnage 41 Gross 28 Net, Length 57.5, Breadth 16, Depth 5.7, Built 1901 at LaConner WA, Service freight, Crew 3, Horsepower 100, Owner Dan Starkweather, Registered Seattle, ON 121180
Sources: 1. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1951) Pg 179, 2. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1952) “Vessels Reported Lost” Pg 956
FRANCIS ALICE (1905) The 131 ton two masted schooner Francis Alice was wrecked in 1905 in the Bering Sea. The six crewmen aboard survived but the Francis Alice was a total loss.
Mapping and Location: Alaska Unknown
Comment: U S Revenue Cutter microfilm has same name vessel lost at Indian Point on the Siberian Coast October 3, 1900. WG
Additional Information: Tonnage 131 Gross 125 Net, Built 1881 St Helens OR, Length 95.3, Breadth 24, Depth 10.2, Registered , ON 120455
Sources: 1. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore (1992), 2. Merchant Vessels of the United States (1905) Pg 61, 3. Merchant Vessels of the United States (1906) Pg 383
FRANCIS ALLEN (1905) The schooner Francis Allen was lost in 1905 in the Bering Sea.
Mapping and Location: Unknown
Source: The H W McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest (1966) Pg 115
FRIADA (1956) The 6 ton 28 foot wooden gas screw fishing vessel Friada foundered March 9, 1956 two miles west of Cape Baranof.
Mapping and Location: Alaska Unknown
Comment: Possibly Cape Burunof just south of Sitka. WG
Additional Information: Tonnage 6 Gross 5 Net, Length 27.9, Breadth 8.5, Depth 4.1, Built 1916 at Seattle WA, Horsepower 15, Owner Frank G Brandt, Registered Ketchikan, ON 218153
Sources: 1. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1956) Pg 190, 2. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1957) “Vessels Reported Lost” Pg 756
Fred J. Wood was a wooden four-masted schooner of 1,000 tons — 190 feet long. It sailed from S.F. To Nome (carrying coal and perhaps a few other items needed in Nome) the summer of 1923 ( I believe) and went aground on the return. I don’t know where it went aground, perhaps at the mouth of the Columbia River? My grandfather was on it for the trip up but had an injury which may have caused him to miss the trip back on that ship. (He was made the engineer at the age of 22 because of his experience with gas engines on his father’s ranch in Texas!)
I would greatly appreciate any further information you can give me about this ship as it fits into a book I am writing about discovering my birth family.
Namaste,
Patti B. Collins
Thank You for your inquiry. The Fred J Wood washed ashore and broke up in September of 1923 while anchored at Port Clarence north of Nome. I did not have this vessel in my records and will add it asap. I will email you a few of the articles I have located that mention the loss and subsequent disposition of those on board.
I had forgotten that I’d done this! (Dealt with surgery and many other things!) I would greatly appreciate more details about the Fred J. Wood. I know that my grandfather Robbins Smith and his brother K.D. Smith both survived the mishap. Robbins ended up dying from crashing in a glider in Sept. 1938 (as I recall.) in California desert.
Did you get the newspaper articles that I sent you? I will attach them to an email and send them again.