SS Admiral Sampson
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| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | Admiral Sampson |
| Owner: | American Mail Steamship Company |
| Port of registry: |
 United States
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| Builder: | William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Completed: | 1898 |
| In service: | 1898 |
| Out of service: | 1906 |
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| Name: | Admiral Sampson |
| Owner: | Alaska Pacific Steamship Company |
| Port of registry: |
United States
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| In service: | 1906 |
| Out of service: | 1912 |
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| Name: | Admiral Sampson |
| Owner: | Pacific-Alaska Navigation Company |
| Port of registry: |
United States
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| In service: | 1912 |
| Out of service: | 1914 |
| Identification: |
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| 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 an American-flagged cargo and passenger steamship that served a variety of 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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
On the morning of August 26, 1914, the Admiral Sampson left Seattle en route to Juneau, Alaska with a full load of 160 passengers aboard. The weather was particularly foggy, and the ship's captain, Zimro Moore, ordered a slow crawl of 3 knots, extra lookouts, and the ship's whistle sounded at regular intervals. At the same time, the steamship Princess Victoria was inbound to Seattle with similar precautions in place.
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Wikipedia