Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The big passenger steamship Spokane struck a rock, issued a wireless call of “sinking fast, rush help,” and went down off the coast of British Columbia.

The ship was negotiating the treacherous Seymour Narrows during a trip from Seattle to Alaska when it smashed into a rock and began to founder. With assistance from some other boats in the area, it managed to land most of its 160 passengers safely.

But not all. One passenger drowned. The ship ended up partially submerged in a bay.

The Spokane had been built in 1902 by the Pacific Coast Steamship Co. and for years had been the principal excursion boat between Puget Sound and southeast Alaska.

This accident was not the end of the good ship Spokane. It was refloated by the British Columbia Salvage Co. and resumed service with a new company, Pacific Steamship Co., in 1916. In 1921, it was overhauled and renamed the Admiral Rogers.

In 1946, it was towed to Shaw Island in the San Juan Islands, beached and turned into a resort hotel called the San Juan Admiral. The hotel was not a success. The old Spokane was sold for scrap in Seattle in 1948.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1936: The epic Civil War novel “Gone with the Wind,” by Margaret Mitchell, was first published in New York.