History is filled with mentions of ghost ships, and perhaps the most famous is the Marie Celeste. But BC has its own ghost ship story, too.
Something about ghost ships triggers the spooky sector of our imaginations. Perhaps the idea of a large ship, devoid of humans, drifting on the waters makes it unsettling and creepy.
BC’s SS Valencia is one such ship.
It was lost in the Graveyard of the Pacific over a century ago and is said to sail those waters to this day.
The SS Valencia was launched on March 11, 1882, and operated on the east coast from New York City to Laguayra (now La Guaira), Venezuela. In 1886, she was sold to the Pacific Steam Whaling Company and began a new life on the West Coast.
The ship saw service during the Spanish-American War as an American troop ship before returning to civilian service on the West Coast after the war.
As a smaller ship, the Valencia had trouble handling the winter months on the Pacific Coast.
Her 30-metre bow reduced visibility from her bridge, and the sound of the waves hitting the bow interfered with crew communication. She was also cold in the winter months, slow and not equipped with a double bottom.
On January 20, 1906, the Valencia was put on the San Francisco-to-Seattle route. It was a fateful decision.
University of Washington Digital Collections
At 11:20 a.m., she left San Francisco in clear weather with nine officers, 56 crew, and 108 passengers. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse on January 21. The crewmembers could not make celestial observations to mark their position and had to rely on dead reckoning.
As a result, she missed the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Two days later, the SS Valencia struck a reef 18 kilometres off Cape Beale on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.
A large wave hit the ship immediately after she ran aground on the reef, lifting her off the reef and into the water. A large gash was cut into the side, and her captain ordered the ship to be run aground to prevent it sinking. She was run aground on the reef again, this time on purpose.
Despite the captain’s orders not to lower lifeboats due to the rough waters, six were lowered. All were improperly operated, and three flipped into the ocean.
Only 12 men made it to shore, and waves immediately washed away three. A distress call went out from the telegraph station on the beach, and rescue efforts began.
Three ships were sent out from Victoria to rescue passengers, but none were able to reach the wreck due to rough seas. Two more lifeboats were launched. One was picked up with 18 survivors by a ship, while another with four people reached a First Nations village on the island.
As the waves battered the SS Valencia, people hung onto her rigging as the ship sank off the reef. The ship’s funnel collapsed, which was the last bit of protection people had from the waves. The storm battered the ship, and rescuers could not save the passengers.
Frank Lehn, a survivor, wrote later about the horror of the night:
“Screams of women and children mingled in an awful chorus with the shrieking of the wind, the dash of the rain and the roar of the breakers.”
Survivors in a lifeboat next to SS City of Topeka (University of Washington Digital Collections)
Within an hour, a large wave hit the ship and knocked it deeper into the ocean, where it sank. The remaining passengers on the ship all died.
The sinking killed at least 100 people, including every woman and child. To this day, pieces of SS Valencia can be found on the shore at Pachena Bay.
Yet, that is not the end of the story of this ship.
Six months after the disaster, a Nuu-chah-nulth man named Clanewah Tom and his wife reportedly found a lifeboat with eight skeletons in a sea cave at Pachena Bay. It is believed the eight people were alive when they drifted into the sea cave, but they died of starvation there. There is some speculation that this story is apocryphal, as no evidence remains.
Here is where things get a bit more…spooky.
Many mariners in the area over the years have reported seeing lifeboats being rowed on the ocean near the disaster site by skeletons.
The SS City of Topeka, transporting survivors from the wreck, stopped briefly to telegraph news of the sinking to another passing vessel.
People on board said that when the ship stopped, they could see the shape of the Valencia in the black exhaust coming out of the City of Topeka’s funnel.
As Topeka continued on its journey, another ship approached, and, according to legend, the people on board were horrified to see that it was the SS Valencia heading towards its doom once again.
This time, all the passengers on the ship were skeletons.
To add a chilling detail to this story, it was stated that the Valencia telegraphed the City of Topeka as it passed.
Stories of seeing the SS Valencia on the water, sailing towards her doom with skeletal figures clinging to the rigging for their lives have continued for years.
In 1910, The Seattle Times reported that sailors had seen a ship resembling the Valencia stuck on the rocks. The ship disappeared as they approached.
In 1933, the ship’s No. 5 lifeboat was found drifting in Barkley Sound. There were no human remains in the lifeboat. More mysteriously, the lifeboat was in perfect condition despite floating on the ocean for nearly 30 years.
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