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Hi Don,

I have an incredible story to share with the world of Sailing Ship lovers.

As you know Don, I was enticed to move here to Oregon's Coos Bay, two years ago, partly due to the photos of Tall Ships from the 1800s in the book Pacific Legacy (see book review section). Since that book mentions relatively little about Tall Ships being built on the U.S. west coast, I didn't expect to find much in the way of world class ships from here, but more coastal colliers, mosquito fleets, and river boats. In fact, many books I’ve read about Tall Ships from the 1800s say nothing about prolific shipbuilding out west, and yet that is what I’ve uncovered.

Shipbuilding as an industry was started in Oregon by Captain Asa Meade Simpson at his North Bend (Oregon) sawmill in 1858. Between 1859 and 1929 over 56 World Class Tall Ships were turned out on the Coos Bay from a handful of shipyards.  Among these vessels were three that were the first of their rig, including; the first four-masted Schooner, first five-masted Schooner and first four-masted Barkentine on the west coast. Also built at the Simpson shipyard in North Bend, was the only true Clipper ship built on the U.S. West Coast, the Western Shore.

While uncovering this history has been astounding to me, even more amazing has been a photo collection numbering over 1,500 original photos documenting this story, which has come into my possession.  So rather than tell you this story in words alone, let me do it with photos. I present to you:

The Tall Ships of the Coos Bay®

Coos Bay lies about half way between San Francisco and Seattle.

Coos Bay is about 15 miles long with several Marinas and lumber loading docks at Charleston, North Bend and Coos Bay.

Although this part of North America was explored by Magellan and Cook by sea and Louis & Clark by land, the rough 'bar' across the entrance to the Coos Bay kept  most explorers out until Captain Asa M. Simpson came here in 1855.

When Simpson rounded the north bend of the Coos Bay, he decided that would make the perfect place for a settlement, where he would build a lumber mill and shipyard. This early drawing shows the yard had two building ways, one covered, a sawmill, homes, and company dock.

In 1859,  Capt. Simpson launched his first ship built at the North Bend, Oregon shipyard, the Arago. She was 103 feet long and the first Brig built on the U.S. West Coast.  In this photo c.1870 we see the North Bend shipyard growing like a western boom town.

Here we see the four masted Schooner Alumna being launched from the Simpson North Bend shipyard in 1901. She was 182 feet long and 731 gross tons.

Like most ships sailing from Coos Bay, the Alumna here is laden with board lumber bound for worldwide ports.

Following prohibition, the Alumna served as a floating brewery off Alaskan waters, where she was referred to as a Schooner of Beer.

Here we see Edgar Simpson on board the Schooner Alumna with a deck load of lumber from Coos Bay for Cape Town, South Africa.

As wooden shipbuilding waned on the East Coast towards the end of the 19th Century, many talented shipwrights found their way to the shipyards on the Coos Bay.

Adjacent to the Simpson shipyard in North Bend, was the spar yard where yards and masts were rough hewn with a broad axe.  Photo circa 1880.

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Maritime News Page

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Captain Simpson found the Barkentine ships rig the most useful for transporting deck loads of board lumber. The picture above is of the Tam O'Shanter.

In the large title photo at the top of the page we see the 170-foot long, three-masted Barkentine, Gardiner City, which was launched on the Coos Bay in 1875. The crew men on deck give one a great perspective of just how tall these ships were.

The Gardiner City was launched on the Coos Bay in 1889. Built by John Kruse for the Sompson fleet, she was 169 feet long. Originally built as a schooner, a few years later the Gardiner City was re-rigged as a three-masted Barkentine. Like all the homes and businesses in Gardiner City, the ship was painted white. One morning in 1911 while bound up the coast from San Francisco, she met the schooner Alert bound for Hawaii. A few minutes later the Alert's bowsprit fowled the fore rigging of the Barkentine and her anchor raked the starboard side of the Gardiner City cutting every lanyard. The crew managed to jury rig and limp back to San Francisco where the ship was laid up, while the Alert continued on to Honolulu.

The first four-masted Barkentine launched on the West Coast, was the elegant Willie R. Hume.  She measured 183' on the keel, and was launched in August 1890. Note in this photo above (which was taken along what is today's Hwy 101 running through North Bend & Coos Bay), the ships boat is suspended in the rigging, to allow clearance to load lumber.  You may also notice that even though tied up to the dock, the ships anchor is 'hanging at the ready.'  Capt. Simpson lost so many ships on the hazardous Coos Bay bar, that all his ships were put under orders to have their anchors at the ready  when towed in or out of harbor or at anchor.

During the construction of this fine four-masted schooner, an argument took place between her builder Emil Heuckendorff and Captain Simpson, so K.V. Kruse was employed to take charge of the shipyard and complete the vessel. Before she was launched her name was changed from Aquinaldo to Admiral. Here she is loading lumber at Simpson's North Bend shipyard around 1900.

Not all ships built on the Coos Bay were intended for the lumber trade. The beautiful three-masted Barkentine Tropic Bird was built by John Kruse in 1882 for the South Sea Islands trade between San Francisco and Tahiti. Here we see the Tropic Bird, which measured 136 feet, drying sails, at Honolulu circa 1884.

Another Simpson built ship, the Klikitat, launched in 1881, traded most of the time she was afloat  between Puget Sound and the Hawaiian Islands. On November 9, 1912, the 31-year-old vessel stranded on Honlii Point, Hawaii and became a total loss.

Years after the first ship launched at the Simpson shipyard in 1859, the two-masted brig Arago, another of the Simpson fleet would bear this locally notable name. The 176' four-masted Barkentine Arago was launched in 1891, here seen off loading board lumber at San Pedro, California.

Another of the ships built at North Bend, Oregon, which was the first of her rig, was the four-masted bald head Schooner Novelty. Originally she had no bow sprit and no top masts which was unusual for schooners of that time. An article in the Coos Bay News stated that her name should have been Oddity, instead of Novelty.

In 1907 the Novelty was stranded 15 miles north of Coos Bay, on the Oregon Sand Dunes, allowing the crew to virtually walk ashore. As there were no appreciable roads at the time, the stage that went from Drain to Coos Bay, ran along the firm beach sands, giving photographers the perfect opportunity to photograph the wreck.

Another 'first of her rig' was the Louis, named after Asa Simpson's oldest son. This odd looking ship was the first five-masted schooner built on the U.S. West Coast. Launched in 1888 she measured 193' and was a stout 831 tons.

The 130-foot Schooner Dare was built on the Coos Bay in 1882. From her first arrival in San Francisco in June of that year she attracted the attention of persons with an eye for the beauties of naval structure. The Dare was owned by Captain Asa Simpson until lost on December 30th, 1890 off Victoria, British Columbia. 

The only full-rigged ship built on the Coos Bay, was the clipper ship Western Shore. She was launched in 1884, measured 204 overall and sailed the world's oceans at the same time as the venerable Cutty Sark. The Western Shore sailed primarily from West Coast ports to England, carrying cargos of coal outbound, and assorted goods on the return voyages.  The only records of the Western Shore are in paintings from the period.

The Western Shore set several sailing records from the West Coast to England, including one 97-day passage from Oregon to Liverpool, a record that stands to this day.

The Western Shore was a huge ship by clipper standards with sky sails on all three masts (6 yards), and the fore mast and main mast stood about the same height of 102 feet from the deck, and the yards on the fore and main were all the same size.  The 'Shore' struck Duxbury Reef (off Bolinas close to San Francisco) in 1878 and immediately sank, all hands making it to the boats.

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Directory

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Tall Ships Photo Gallery

Tall Ships Photo Gallery

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Now we enter the final phase of Tall Ship building on the Coos Bay, 1900 to 1924.  This is when I feel the most attractive of all ships was being built, including as seen here, the Churchill. Launched in 1900, the Churchill was a four-masted schooner, measured 178 feet long with a 38 foot beam. Here heavily laden with lumber, she is being tug towed from the Simpson shipyard & lumber mill at North Bend, Oregon. Note, as was required practice with Simpson ships the ship's anchor is hanging at the ready and would remain so until she cleared the harbor entrance and was under sail.

Here is another view of the fully laden four-masted schooner Churchill, sitting off Empire City, Coos Bay, awaiting a tow out of the harbor, circa 1902. The Churchill stranded off French Frigate Shoals in 1917, her crew of 14 being rescued a month later.

Another particularly handsome ship built at Coos Bay was the 200-foot long four-masted schooner, David Evans. She was built by Emil Heuckendorff from his Mashfield yard in 1901. Emil had worked for Captain Simpson as his master draftsman for 25 years before starting his own yard on the Coos Bay. The David Evans burned off South Africa in 1920 while under British Columbia ownership.

Another very attractive schooner built by Heuckendorff was the James Sennett. She was launched on the Coos Bay in February 1901 and measured 194 feet in length. The James Sennett had a very short life as she was lost on Unimak Island in December 1901.

The 195-foot four-masted Schooner Polaris was built by Heuckendorff at his Marshfield shipyard. Here we see how crowed the docks of Coos Bay were with Tall Ships. The Polaris met the same fate as the clipper ship Western Shore when she struck Duxbury reef in 1914.

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One of the largest ships of sail launched on the Coos Bay, was the 268-foot long Fort Laramie.

She was launched in 1919 for the U.S. Shipping board (World War One) as a ferris steamer. After the war, her engines were removed and she was converted to a six-masted schooner.

Towards the end of the era of the building of all wood Tall Ships on the Coos Bay, the 242-foot five masted schooner K.V. Kruse was built in 1920 for a group of Coos Bay area citizens. She was lost off British Columbia in July 1941.

The last ship built for Captain Asa Simpson at his North Bend shipyard was the 176-foot long four-masted schooner Marconi launched in 1902. Here in ballast she is docked along what is today Hwy 101 in Coos Bay.

The Marconi met her fate like so many other ships entering and leaving the Coos Bay, when she ran aground with a full load of lumber on her way to Valpariso, Chile in 1909.

Don, with this I bring to a close (a small) part of the story of the Tall Ships of the Coos Bay.  Over the next few months I will be restoring the remainder  of this tremendous collection of vintage photographs, and will forward copies for your wonderful web site.

All the best for the Holiday and New Years season,

Steve Priske ~ Model Shipwright ~ Coos Bay, Oregon.

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The History of the "Oregon Clipper"

Western Shore

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The "Oregon Clipper" Western Shore

Ship Model Page Four

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