Thursday, February 21, 2008

The George L. Olson


E WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT...BUILDING TO 4 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 12 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 13 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
The heavy surf, tides and wind have all contributed to this being a memorable winter for revealing remnants of Oregon's maritime history.
It was front page news when this mystery ship was dredged from its resting place of decades.
Now the mystery is over...the ship is the George L. Olson, a 223-foot-long wood-hulled schooner, launched on Jan. 22, 1917, from the W.F. Stone shipyards in Oakland, California.
Originally launched as the Ryder Hanify, sold and renamed the Gabriel and ultimately purchased and renamed again the George L. Olson by a California shipping company.
The ship was powered by a 1000 horsepower engine and served as a lumber carrier. The ship moved lumber for over 25 years until it ran aground on Coos Bay’s North Jetty on June 23, 1944 and then drifted aground on Guano Rock inside Coos Bay. In December of that year, the hulk was towed out and cut adrift to beach on the North Spit.
Now over the past week, two cannons were recovered near Arch Cape, believed to have been from the wreck of the Shark. Two more shipwrecks have emerged from the sand, the Sujameco, at Horsfall Beach; and another near the Siuslaw river.
Below is a shot of the George L. Olson, as the Ryder Hanify.

3 comments:

Gaz said...

We are the proud owners of a wrecked car on the other side of the cape, resting comfortably on it's hood the past 20 odd years.

Uncovered and already recovered by the ocean, otherwise I would post a pic. Could be a Gremlin, now THAT'S some maritime history for you!

J said...

any gold show up? :)

David J. Hirsh said...

Too cool. Thanks for the historic background.
David