Historic Shipwreck Profile
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| Clipper Ship. Courtesy of U.S. Lighthouse Society (in Perry 1999). |
Carrier Pigeon |
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Medium Clipper Ship |
Casualty Location: near Pigeon Point, San Mateo County, California, USA
Location Status: Unlocated (see Important Note)
Casualty Date: 1853 (Jun 6)
Owner: Reed, Wade & Company
Home Port: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Length: 162 feet Beam: 33 feet 7 1/2 inches
Gross Tonnage: 843 Cargo: General Merchandise
Builder: Trufant, Drummond & Company
Launched: 1852 (Bath, Maine, USA)
Official Number: n/a
Description: "On the morning of June 6, 1853 Carrier Pigeon was sighted off Santa Cruz. The ship then continued northward as a thick fog blanketed the water, concealing the shoreline. By nightfall Captain Azariah Doane, believing he had veered far from shore, steered the vessel towards the coastline, hoping to catch sight of land. Suddenly, there was the sound of splintering timbers as the ship's hull drifted into the grasp of the jagged sea bottom. With fifteen minutes seven feet of water was sloshing through the ship's hold. Fortunately, the captain and crew made it to shore safely, and the next morning they sent word of the disaster to San Francisco. The news reached San Francisco the evening of June 7, and the U.S. Coast Survey steamer Active went to the scene to offer assistance. Soon, the sidewheel steamer Sea Bird also arrived, having been sent by the underwriters to salvage as much of the cargo as possible. The magnificent clipper was a sorry sight. her hull was wedged firmly on a ledge of rocks just 500 feet from shore, the tide ebbing and flowing through the ship nearly up to her between decks. The Sea Bird had been engaged in salvage work for only a day when it, too, ran into trouble. After breaking free from her anchorage in heavy swells, the ship began to drift toward the same rocks that claimed the Carrier Pigeon. The captain, however, was able to get up steam and run the ship upon the beach of Point Año Nuevo. A fourth ship, the Goliah, then came to the rescue. The Carrier Pigeon's crew and 1,200 packages of merchandise were taken to San Francisco by the Goliah. Although more cargo was taken from the Carrier Pigeon, by July the ship was breaking up. The Sea Bird was eventually refloated in October." (excerpt from Perry 1999)
Carrier Pigeon was valued at $54,000 and started out on its maiden voyage on January 28, 1853. After leaving Boston the ship rounded Cape Horn bound for San Francisco under the command of Captain Azariah Doane. The ship and its cargo were insured for about $195,000.
In honor of the clipper ship, the area where Carrier Pigeon ran aground is now called Pigeon Point. Other ships followed suit, and met their demise along this stretch of coast. After much deliberation on where a new light house should be built along the coast (see Perry 1999), construction at Pigeon Point began in 1871.
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| Pigeon Point Light Station, Pescadero, California. Courtesy of Robert Schwemmer (NOAA). |
Nature of Casualty:
Source: Sacramento Daily Union (Sacramento, CA), 9 June 1853, p. 2, col. 5.
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside.
Transcription:
POSTSCRIPT. Thursday, 2 o’clock, A.M. PER ADAMS & CO.’S EXPRESS.
...LOSS OF THE CLIPPER SHIP CARRIER PIGEON.—Tuesday afternoon a dispatch reached town announcing the stranding on the night of June 6th, of the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon, from Boston Jan. 28th. Capt. Doane dispatched three Spaniards on horseback with a note to the consignee, Mr. S. C. Shaw, the purport of which is that the ship had bilged and would be a total loss. The Carrier Pigeon drifted ashore about twenty five miles below the Heads. The Carrier Pigeon belongs to a line of clipper ships owned by Messrs. Reed & Wade of Boston. —Times and Transcript.
Additional Information: Wreck Event
(click headline to access full article)
Source: Daily Alta California (San Francisco, CA), 10 June 1853, p. 2, col. 2.
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside.
Transcription:
The Wreck of the Carrier Pigeon.
Source: Daily Alta California (San Francisco, CA), 13 June 1853, p. 2, col. 5.
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside.
Transcription:
Steamer Sea Bird Ashore — The Carrier Pigeon.
Source: The New York Herald (New York, NY), 12 July 1853, p. 8, cols. 4 and 5.
Courtesy of The Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Transcription:
Disasters.
SHIP CARRIER PIGEON, Doane, from Boston for San Francisco, went ashore on the 6th ult. in a thick fog, on Point New Year, about thirty miles south of San Francisco.
Additional Information: Vessel
(click headline to access full article)
Source: The New York Herald (New York, NY), 12 July 1853, p. 8, col. 3.
Courtesy of The Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Transcription:
Insurance on the Lost Ship Carrier Pigeon.
Boston, July 11, 1853.
Source: Daily Alta California (San Francisco, CA), 30 September 1853, p. 2, col. 2.
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside.
Transcription:
LOCAL MATTERS.
THE PEARL SHELL.— We fancy that one
Referenced and Additional Resources
- Bache, A.D. 1855. Appendix No. 61. Letter from Lieut. Comg. James Alden, U.S. Navy, assistant in the Coast Survey, detailing the search made, at the request of the owner, for the steamer Sea Bird, disabled near Point Año Nuevo, by an accident to her machinery. Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, Showing the Progress of the Survey During the Year 1854. Washington. p. 214.
- Bacon, J.S. 1871. The Shipwreck of the Carrier Pigeon. A California Sketch. Ballou’s Monthly Magazine 33:444-448.
- Baker, W.A. 1973. A Maritime History of Bath, Maine and the Kennebec River Region. Volume 1. Marine Research Society of Bath, Anthoensen Press, Portland, Maine. 564pp.
- Perry, F. 1999. Legacy of the Carrier Pigeon: A History of the Pigeon Point Light Station. The Keeper's Log, United States Lighthouse Society 15(3):2-15.
- Reinstedt, R.A. 1975. Shipwrecks and Sea Monsters of California’s Central Coast. Ghost Town Publications, Carmel, CA. 168pp.
- Semones, J. 2007. Shipwrecks, scalawags, and scavengers: the storied waters of Pigeon Point. Glencannon Press, Palo Alto, CA. 138pp.
- Wells, F., and Company. 1915. When Fargo was a Youngster. Wells Fargo Messenger 3(6):94.
Important Note: Section 922.132 of the sanctuary regulations prohibits or restricts several activities in order to safeguard sanctuary resources, including: Moving, removing, injuring or possessing historical resources.
For a complete “official text" of MBNMS regulatory prohibitions, see Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 922.132 published by the U.S. Government Printing Office.