SS Northwestern (1889)

SS Northwestern (1889)

SS Northwestern in flames at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, Alaska SS Northwestern in flames at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, Alaska
History
United States
Name:	Northwestern
Namesake:	The Northwestern Steamship Company
Builder:	Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works
Launched:	23 November 1889
Fate:	Sank at mooring, Captains Bay, Unalaska Island
Status:	Hulk visible projecting from bay
General characteristics
Class & type:	Passenger and freight transport
Length:	336 ft (102 m)
Speed:	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
S. S. Northwestern Shipwreck Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Postcard image of the Northwestern covered in ice after a storm
Coordinates
NRHP Reference #	94001065
Added to NRHP	12 September 1994

The SS Northwestern, originally SS Oriziba, was a passenger and freight steamship launched in 1889 by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania which spent most of its career in service in the waters of Alaska. The ship from early in its career had a reputation for trouble, and was frequently involved in groundings, collisions with other ships, and with port facilities. She first served as a transport in the West Indies as the Oriziba, and was acquired by the Northwestern Steamship Company in 1906, sailed around Cape Horn, and renamed Northwestern. For the next thirty years she worked along the Alaska coast, transporting people, mail, and goods, as well as ore from mining operations at Kennecott.

The ship was pressed into service by the United States Navy, and was serving as housing for workers at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska when the area was bombed by the Japanese in June 1942. On 4 June she was struck by a bomb, suffering extensive damage. Her hulk was afterward loaded with scrap and towed to Captains Bay, in anticipation of eventually being towed to Seattle, Washington. Despite Navy records indicating this occurred, she remained in Captains Bay, and eventually sank around 1946; there are differing accounts as to the circumstances of the sinking. Approximately 50 feet (15 m) of her hull is normally visible at the head of Captains Bay.

The site of the shipwreck was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska