| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Admiral Sampson |
| Owner | American Mail Steamship Company |
| Port of registry |  United States |
| Builder | William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia |
| Yard number | 297 |
| Launched | 27 September 1898 |
| Completed | 1898 |
| In service | 1898 |
| Out of service | 1906 |
| |
| Name | Admiral Sampson |
| Owner | Alaska Pacific Steamship Company |
| Port of registry | United States |
| In service | 1906 |
| Out of service | 1912 |
| |
| Name | Admiral Sampson |
| Owner | Pacific-Alaska Navigation Company |
| Port of registry | United States |
| In service | 1912 |
| Out of service | 1914 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Rammed and sunk on August 26, 1914 in Puget Sound |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Admiral-class steamship |
| Tonnage | 2,262 GRT |
| Length | 280.0 ft (85.3 m) |
| Beam | 36.1 ft (11.0 m) |
| Depth | 22.7 ft (6.9 m) |
| Installed power | 2,500 hp |
The SS Admiral Sampson was a U.S.-flagged cargo and passenger steamship that served three owners between 1898 and 1914, when it was rammed by a Canadian passenger liner and sank in Puget Sound. Following its sinking off Point No Point, the Admiral Sampson has become a notable scuba diving destination for advanced recreational divers certified to use rebreathing equipment.
The Admiral Sampson was one of several Admiral-class steamships built by William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the American Mail Steamship Company.[1] Named in honor of U.S. Navy Admiral William T. Sampson, the other ships in the class were the Admiral Dewey, Admiral Schley, and Admiral Farragut. The Admiral Sampson was a steel-hulled, twin-propeller design with two upper decks constructed of wood, and a single smokestack.[2][3]
Ordered by the American Mail Steamship Company, it was put in the service of the United Fruit Company and made regular trips between Philadelphia and Caribbean Sea ports.[4] In February 1900, it came to the rescue of the U.S. Army transport ship McPherson, which was disabled by a broken propeller shaft off Hampton Roads, Virginia.[5] On 4 November 1902 she sank the cargo schooner Charlie Bucki ( United States) in a collision in Massachusetts Bay in dense fog. Bucki's Captain and three crewmen were killed.[6]
In 1909, the Alaska Pacific Steamship Company acquired the Admiral Sampson and its sister ship, the Admiral Farragut, as a result of its growing business on the West Coast shipping routes. Both ships were placed on the San Francisco-Puget Sound shipping route.[3] In 1912, the Alaska Pacific Steamship Company acquired the remaining Admiral-class steamships and merged with the Alaska Coast Company to form the Pacific-Alaska Navigation Company. The new company offered freight and passenger service between San Francisco and Puget Sound and Alaska ports as far north as Nome.[3]
- ^ DCS Films, "Admiral Sampson." Retrieved Aug. 28, 2014.
- ^ "Background information on the S.S. Admiral Sampson," www.scret.org. Retrieved Aug. 28, 2014.
- ^ a b c "The Pacific Steamship Company," The Pacific Marine Review. Volume 13, No. 11. San Francisco, Nov. 1916.
- ^ Knowles, Valerie. "From Telegrapher to Titan: The Life of William C. Van Horne," Dundurn, 2004. pp. 337.
- ^ "Agreement for Towing A Disabled Transport," Decisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury, Vol. 7. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901. pp. 365.
- ^ "Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1903". Washington: Government Printing Office. 1903. p. 34. Retrieved 4 May 2020 – via Haithi Trust.