The Sujameco Shipwreck
There are over 200 shipwrecks along the Southern Oregon Coast. The Sujameco is located at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Once you get here head toward Horsfell Beach. Once you get to the beach take a walk to the observation platform and if you look down and slightly to the left you will see the old shipwreck. I would recommend coming here during low tide. Here is a website with a tide chart:
If you do come here during low tide you may be able to walk down to the beach and see the shipwreck. This is not guaranteed because of the weather and the shifting sand.
Constructed in 1920, the Sujameco was a steamship that became a regular part of the lumber trade with the Atlantic coastline. She was capable of hauling 2,600,000 feet of lumber. The steel-hulled vessel was at its demise owned by the Trans Marine company and burned oil to zip her along.
On March 1, 1929, sometime in the morning, Captain JF Carlson was leading the Sujameco and its 35-man crew to Marshfield for the first time. It was to be at one of the docks in Coos Bay at 8 p.m. that night, to take in 1,800,000 feet of fir tree cuts bound for San Francisco.
Heavy fog hit. Carlson became confused about where he was and he later admitted he miscalculated his position. Meanwhile, a warning about being too close to shore came from over the wireless from officials at Marshfield, but Carlson didn't receive it in time.
These pictures were taken when it wasn't low tide.
The Sujameco grounded in the sand about 9:30 in the morning, local newspapers reported. Somewhere about 2:30 in the afternoon, he wired his position to authorities as being eight miles north of the south Oregon coast bay. He also informed them that the cutter Redwing from Astoria was speeding its way south, and the British steamer Kelvina was standing by, not to attempt to yank the ship out of the sand like the Redwing, but in case the crew needed help. The surf was a little wild about now, too.
By this time, the US Coast Guard had teams from Coos Bay standing by, as were teams from the Umpqua station at Bandon.
At 3 p.m., Charleston lookouts noticed the seas had begun calming down, and authorities were hoping to attach a line and pull the Sujameco out. For reasons not entirely clear, that didn't happen, but it seems there just wasn't the right ship available.
Photo courtesy of Coos Bay History Museum
On March 2, the Redwing arrived but the Sujameco had been pushed farther up the sands. Still, the seas were calm, newspapers reported she was in 12 feet of water, and there was no possibility she would break up. There was no danger to the 35 crew onboard and the ship was on an even keel. However, because of big shoals right offshore no one could get close enough to do any tugging.
Joining all these ships standing by offshore was a dredge now. By March 4, according to The Oregonian, towing attempts had continued, but at 6 a.m. the only 12-inch cable anyone had broke in two. Called hawsers, these specialized kinds of cable were now a hot commodity. What was left wasn't long enough.
Then things took a few steps back: the ship had taken two hours to move 20 degrees, but by nighttime on the 4th it was back in the same position. Rough seas hit, and at times breakers came over the deck by this time. Later in the night, the ship was even further up the beach.
“Now, it was so far in-shore the crew could walk off it at low tide,” The Oregonian said in its coverage. The ship was settled into the sand a full seven feet. And though a tug from Astoria was bringing more hawser, this was the last or nearly last attempt at pulling the ship out.
Whatever happened next was puzzling, but the decision was made not to unload the crew for another whole month. There's not much on this, unfortunately. They sat aboard, getting antsy and very homesick, living aboard a ship that was going nowhere.
However, thousands of people that month came out to check out the wreck, and some interacted with the crew. One poignant story covered by the local Coos Bay Times (later The World) talks of a group of Boy Scouts coming up and handing them newspapers and treats.
Photo courtesy of Coos Bay History Museum
The Sujameco tale takes another distinctive turn here. Unlike most other shipwrecks along Oregon's coastline she was left alone and the ship lay intact for over ten years. Finally, in World War II, she was stripped to bare bones for what the military needed, and sand filled her up.
Notes: The best time to see the Sujameco is during the winter months and at low tide. The year 2023 has been a very different year because the outline of the shipwreck has been exposed for almost the whole year.
Directions To Wreck of the Sujameco. Directions to the wreck are essentially the same as to the main access of Horsfall Beach. It lies out in front of the wooden viewing platform at the end of Horsfall Beach Road. From Highway 101 and the McCullough Memorial Bridge over Coos Bay, take the Jordan Cove Road westward .08 miles; stay to the right .2 miles on Trans-Pacific Lane. Turn right on Horsfall Beach Road and go 1.4 miles to the end.
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