NOAA Coast Survey Finds 19th Century Shipwreck in San Francisco Bay

Posted on April 27, 2014

The NOAA Coast Survey used a multi-beam sonar survey to locate a 19th century shipwreck off the Golden Gate Bridge. You can view a larger version of the above image here. The 202-foot long passenger steamer, called City of Chester (pictured below), sank in dense fog in 1888 after colliding with the Oceanic, which was arriving from Asia.

The City of Chester sank in six minutes and 17 people were killed. There was initially anger at the Chinese crew of the Oceanic, but this turned to praise as stories spread about how the crew rescued many passengers from the City of Chester. The SFGate says the discovery is a "silent reminder of a historic calamity that rocked a city steeped in xenophobia and racial hatred."

James Delgado, director of maritime heritage for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, says in a statement, "Discoveries like this remind us that the waters off our shores are museums that speak to powerful events, in this case not only that tragic wreck, but to a time when racism and anger were set aside by the heroism of a crew who acted in the best traditions of the sea."

NOAA's Office of Coast Survey Navigational Response Team 6 (NRT6) first located what they thought was the City of Chester while surveying another nearby shipwreck, the freighter Fernstream, which sank in 1952. The Coast Survey team followed with a multi-beam sonar survey after analyzing historic data. A sonar target that was the right size and shape was found. The team spent nearly nine months sorting through the data. A follow-up sonar survey confirmed the steamship was located 216 feet deep at the edge of a small undersea shoal.

ARCHAEOLOGY