SS San Juan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pacific Mail Steamship Company- 1882–1925
- White Flyer Line
- 1925–1927
- Los Angeles and San Francisco Navigation Company
- 1927–1929
 An 1895 illustration of San Juan. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | San Juan |
| Owner |
|
| Route | Los Angeles, California to San Francisco, California |
| Builder | Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine Works (Chester, PA)[1] |
| Launched | July 1882[1] |
| In service | 1882-1929 |
| Fate | Sunk in collision August 29, 1929 |
| Notes | Collided with oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Coastal passenger liner |
| Installed power | A single two-cycle compound steam engine rated at 1,250 hp (932 kW) |
| Propulsion | Propeller |
| Capacity | 132 passengers |
| Notes | Running mate to Humboldt. Carried six lifeboats, 110 adult lifejackets and 17 child lifejackets, two luminous buoys and a lyle gun. |
SS San Juan was a passenger steamship owned by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Navigation Company. Previously, she was owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and White Flyer Line. At the age of 47 years, San Juan was involved in a collision with the steel-hulled oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd. Because of her aged iron hull, San Juan was fatally damaged in the collision and sank three minutes later, killing 65 people. The loss of San Juan was strikingly similar to the loss of Columbia.
San Juan was constructed at John Roach and Sons of Chester, Pennsylvania in 1882. Her eventual running mate was SS Humboldt.
In 1895, while San Juan was in service with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, the passenger steamer Colima sank in a storm off Mazatlán, killing 100 people. San Juan arrived at the scene of the Colima's sinking and rescued her survivors. The crew of San Juan were later blamed by Colima's survivors for being negligent and leaving the scene of the disaster too soon.[2]
In April 1905, San Juan was caught in a storm, which nearly capsized her. The storm damaged all her machinery, including her engine. Due to this, San Juan, now 24 years old, arrived late to San Francisco, California. At this point in her career, San Juan was known for being unreliably slow.[3] In June 1905, San Juan carried 58 Russian immigrants from Panama to California, where they joined a Slavic community in Los Angeles, California. The immigrants came from Batum. One Russian girl on San Juan was supposedly suffering from trachoma, which threatened to have her deported when the steamer reached its American dock.[4]
On August 29, 1907, John P. Poe Jr., a man known for being a successful football player, miner and dedicated soldier, travelled on board San Juan from Nicaragua to San Francisco. He had previously been arrested in Nicaragua when attempting to volunteer for an upcoming war.[5] In November 1909, San Juan carried 1,673 tons of cargo and valuable treasure from the Charles Butters Mine in El Salvador. A fireman from the steamer Peru, Robert Latewitz, was also onboard San Juan, having been removed from his ship due to insanity. Latewitz was reported to have acted like a dog and walked on all fours across San Juan's deck.[6]
In October, 1910, San Juan was involved in a collision with its fellow Pacific Mail Steamship Company steamer City of Sydney. The collision occurred while San Juan was docked at the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's pier in San Francisco. The incident was attributed to a misunderstanding of signals.[7]
San Juan was owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company until it was acquired by W.R. Grace and Company in 1925. The newer and stronger vessels were kept by Grace, while the older vessels, including San Juan, were immediately offered for sale. San Juan and another aging steamer, Humboldt, were then purchased by the White Flyer Line and placed on the San Francisco to Los Angeles route. Both ships were operated on cut rate services.
In 1927, the White Flyer Line declared bankruptcy and San Juan along with Humboldt were sold to the Los Angeles and San Francisco Navigation Company. Despite the change in ownership, San Juan and Humboldt continued operating cut rate service along their usual route. The minimum cost of a ticket on board San Juan and Humboldt was $8.00. Despite their lack of luxury and old age, both San Juan and Humboldt appealed to many middle-class residents of Los Angeles and San Francisco traveling between the two cities for business purposes.
