Brother Jonathan (steamer)
Brother Jonathan after her 1861 refit
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| History | |
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| Completed: | 1851 |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 220 ft (67 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft (11 m) |
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Brother Jonathan (Shipwreck Site)
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Brother Jonathan as she was built in 1851
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| Location | About 4.5 mi (7.2 km) SW of Point St. George |
| Nearest city | Crescent City, California |
| NRHP Reference # | 02000535 |
| CHISL # | 541 |
| Added to NRHP | 21 May 2002 |
Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer that struck an uncharted rock near Point St. George, off the coast of Crescent City, California, on 30 July 1865. The ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew, together with a large shipment of gold. Only 19 survived, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States. Although accounts vary, inspection of the passenger and crew list supports the number of 244 passengers and crew lost with 19 surviving. She was named after Brother Jonathan, a character personifying the region of New England.
The ship was commissioned by Edward Mills, a New Yorker who tried to operate a shipping business during the California Gold Rush. When built in 1851, she was 220 feet (67 m) long and 36 ft (11 m) wide. Her route was from New York to Chagres, Panama and on her first journey set a record for the then-fastest round-trip — 31 days. Passengers would cross the Isthmus of Panama and make their way north to California via another ship.
In 1852 the ship was purchased by Cornelius Vanderbilt, who operated a competing line, to replace one of his ships that had been wrecked. Vanderbilt had Brother Jonathan sail around Cape Horn and used her on the Pacific side of the route. Vanderbilt also had the steamer modified to accommodate more passengers.
Vanderbilt's company had had an exclusive contract ferrying passengers across the isthmus through Nicaragua, but in 1856 the Nicaraguan government cancelled the agreement. The ship was then sold to Captain John Wright, renamed Commodore and put on West Coast routes, including from her home port of San Francisco to Vancouver, British Columbia, as gold prospectors travelled to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.
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