Northern Ships and Shipping

The information on the Seattle No. 3 that follows is simply a cut-and-paste from my database, compiled from a wide variety of sources, primarily the White Pass & Yukon Route corporate records (COR 722) at the Yukon Archives and newspapers including the Klondike Nugget (KN) and the Yukon Star.

• U.S.Reg. #116854, registered at St. Michael.

• wooden sternwheeler; 151 feet long, 34.9 foot beam, 6.2 foot hold (Affleck says 150x32.5x6 feet). Gross tonnage 548.12, registered as 326.45 tons. Two decks, plain head and square stern.

• 1898, built at Dutch Harbour by Moran Brothers, for the Seattle-Yukon Transportation Company.

• August 28, 1898, arrived at Dawson with 175 tons of freight (MacBride). Included were 3,000 cases of coal oil for the Standard Oil Company (KN, Sept.10).

• 1898-1899, wintered at Steamboat Slough. Her first trip was to St. Michael with a barge full of cordwood (KN, May 31).

• n.d., photo in Downs, p.70 shows her "after she was pitched ashore by ice at Rampart."

• 1899, in command of Captain H. S. DePuy, famous Kootenay Master.

• December 8, 1899, Captain DePuy is released from the Good Samaritan hospital, recovered from typhoid fever (DDN, Dec.9).

• 1899-1900, wintered at Stewart (Yukon Star, Apr.29)

• 1900, operated by the Northern Navigation Company.

• 1900 season crew: Master, Depuy; Pilot, Harry Young; Chief Engineer, Burt; Purser, Depue (Yukon Star, Apr. 29)

• April 1914, bought from the Northern Navigation Company by the newly-formed American Yukon Navigation Company.

• 1914, not used; overhauled at St. Michael.

• 1914-1915, wintered on the ways at St. Michael (COR722)

• 1915, only made 2 trips, to Holy Cross and Kaltag in the fall (COR722).

• 1916, used only as a relief boat when necessary.

• 1917, $12,000 spent on overhauling the machinery and rewiring the boat at Whitehorse, to conform to new Codes (COR722).

• 1917, operating on the Tanana River (COR722).

• On October 25, 1918, 87 employees of the White Pass & Yukon Route died in the sinking of the Princess Sophia, including 7 crew members of the Seattle No. 3: A. Bellison, cook; Charles G..., cook; J. Haynes, fireman; W. Murphy, deckhand; M. Moyer, cook; B. Van Valkenberg, cook; J.C. Zone, cook.

• 1918-1922, working on the St. Michael-Tanana run (COR722).

• 1920, had "a thorough overhauling," is now in first class condition (COR722).

• October 1920, caught by ice at Rampart; her crew mushed overland to Seward (COR722).

• fall 1922, abandoned on the ways at BYN's Dawson Shipyard, now known as the "Sternwheeler Graveyard"; the ruins remain there, with the name still visible of the hull (2017).

• 1927, compound engines removed and installed in the TUTSHI; a fuel saving of 30% resulted for the TUTSHI (COR723).

• 1943, Affleck incorrectly states that she was sold to the Alaska Railroad.

• 1943, an assessment by J. Gaudin reported no hog chains remaining, but the 8-foot boiler, and funnel, were still in good condition.

Seattle No. 3 at the Sternwheeler Graveyard, July 17, 2003