SS Valencia

The SS Valencia in 1904
History
United States
Name:	Valencia
Namesake:	Valencia, Venezuela
Owner:	Red D Line 1882–1898 Pacific Steam Whaling Company 1898–1901 Pacific Coast Steamship Company 1901–1906
Operator:	Red D Line 1882–1897 Ward Line 1897 Red D Line 1897–1898 Pacific Steam Whaling Company 1898 United States Army 1898 Pacific Steam Whaling Company 1898–1901 Pacific Coast Steamship Company 1901–1906
Port of registry:	San Francisco, California, United States
Route:	New York City to Caracas via Laguayra and Puerto Cabello (in 1882) San Francisco, California to Alaska (Normal route) San Francisco, California to Seattle, Washington via Victoria, British Columbia(At the time of sinking)
Builder:	William Cramp & Sons (Philadelphia)
Yard number:	228
Launched:	1882
Maiden voyage:	May 1882
In service:	1882–1906
Out of service:	22 January 1906
Fate:	Wrecked on 22 January 1906
Notes:	Ran aground near Pachena Point on Vancouver Island
General characteristics
Type:	Ocean liner/coastal passenger liner
Tonnage:	1,598 Tons (originally 1,200 Tons)
Length:	252 ft (77 m)
Beam:	34 ft (10 m)
Notes:	Carried six lifeboats, one workboat, four life rafts and one dual purpose workboat. Also equipped with a lyle gun. A 100 ft (30 m) long bow gave the Valencia the false appearance of a fast vessel. It also reduced visibility during fog, as the ship was originally designed for east coast service. She was the sister ship to the Caracas.

The SS Valencia was an iron-hulled passenger steamer built as a minor ocean liner for the Red D Line for service between Venezuela and New York City. She was built in 1882 by William Cramp and Sons, one year after the construction of her sister ship Caracas. She was a 1,598 ton vessel (originally 1,200 tons), 252 feet (77 m) in length. In 1897, Valencia was deliberately attacked by the Spanish cruiser Reina Mercedes off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The next year, she became a coastal passenger liner on the U.S. West Coast and served periodically in the Spanish–American War as a troopship to the Philippines.Valencia was wrecked off Cape Beale, which is near Clo-oose, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1906. Since her sinking killed 100 people (including all of the women and children aboard), some classify the wreck of Valencia as the worst maritime disaster in the "Graveyard of the Pacific", a famously treacherous area off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.

The Red D Line had been operating a well established sailing ship service to Venezuela since 1839. This service continued uninterrupted for almost 40 years. By the summer of 1879 however, the company decided to modernize its service with steamships. Three German vessels were leased to begin this service, but it soon became clear that a permanent fleet would need to be provided. Resulting from this decision, two steamships were ordered from William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia. Both ships were to carry a combination of passengers, cargo and mail, sail under American Registration and be manned by American crews. In 1881, the first of this duo, the 1,200 ton Caracas, was completed and began service in July 1881 between New York City and Caracas via Laguayra and Puerto Cabello.