Turn On It, Tune Out, Drop In

NW WIND 10 TO 15 KT...VEERING TO N IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

The Sloop of War U.S.S Peacock was launched in 1828. She was 118 feet long, 31.5 feet in the beam, had a draft of 15.5 feet, top speed of 11 knots, a crew of 130 and carried 10 guns. The Peacock joined a U.S. expedition of discovery that had commenced in August of 1838 and arrived, after 3 years of exploration of South America, Australia, New Zealand and numerous South Sea archipelagos, on the northwest coast near the Columbia River on July 16, 1841. The ship's captain, Hudson, had instructions for navigating the unimproved bar from his commander, Wilkes, who had obtained them from a merchant ship's master in Honolulu. What Hudson found upon his arrival were the expected treacherous bar conditions that the mouth of the Columbia already had a reputation for. Yet the weather was calm, and on July 18th, following a Sunday morning service, Hudson attempted to guide the Peacock across the bar.

Hudson's first attempt to enter failed and he steered the ship towards a section of calm water that was too shallow and the Peacock's keel hit bottom and stuck. As heavy current and tidal forces drove the ship onto a shoal, Hudson took the sails in and determined to drag the ship off by kedging - a technique of towing the ship anchors out and pulling the ship towards them by winding the chains on the capstan. Before he could effect this plan, the heavy seas had begun to cause numerous leaks. Although the crew manned the pumps all day and night, by dawn the ship's condition was hopeless. The Peacock launched it boats, salvaging as much as they could of the ships charts, books and papers. The boats made two trips between ship and shore, but eventually the scientific specimens on board had to be abandoned. The seas rose again towards noon and overwhelmed the ship. Hudson and some of crew remained on board during the evacuation, trying to save as much as they could, even by throwing light items overboard to be carried ashore by the tide. At 5 pm Hudson left the ship and by the next day the Peacock had broken into pieces.

The crew was assisted by Methodist missionaries out of Astoria who provided them with tents and supplies. The survivors dubbed their little tent city Peacockville and the infamous Peacock spit bears the name of Captain Hudson sloop to this day.