A look back at shipwrecks along the Sonoma Coast

The North Coast is known as a ‘graveyard’ for ships. Take a look at some of the area’s most famous shipwrecks.|

Rocky and foggy, the north coast has caught and destroyed many ships on its temperamental shores. As Gaye LeBaron said it best the northern coast of California is a “graveyard” for ships.

Famous crashes include the Frolic (1850), a Gold Rush era clipper ship from Baltimore, which crashed on the rocks near Mendocino’s Point Cabrillo cove, the

Pomona (1908), which dropped -87 passengers and crew men on the front yard of Call Ranch in Fort Ross, or the Kenkoku Maru (1951) which became a tourist attraction in the 50s when the Japanese freighter got stuck on the rocks near Sea Ranch thinking they had reached Golden Gate. But the North Coast’s sea floor is littered with many more.

One of the most significant crashes on the north coast was the Frolic, authenticated by Dr. Thomas Layton a Professor at San Jose State University. The legendary “silk ship” wrecked on the reef at Point Cabrillo, near present-day Caspar on the Mendocino Coast in 1850. Heading home to Baltimore, the boat carried a cargo of fine silks, precious Chinese lacquer ware and about 6,000 bottles of Scottish ale. The significance of the crash, came afterwards, when the ship’s 26 crew members traveled down the coast telling tales of the cargo sitting on the reef. When folks wandered north to have a look, they found an even greater treasure, abundant Redwood forests. The discovery led to the Timber Rush and the settlement of the North Coast.

Researchers project that there are more than 300 shipwrecks in the 1,300-square-mile patch of the Pacific Ocean stretching from Sonoma County south to San Mateo County alone. But under 20, most dating from the Gold Rush era to the early 20th century, have been visually confirmed by divers or by remotely operated cameras leaving an underwater museum in the sea.

Take a look at our gallery of North Coast shipwrecks. What new discoveries will archaeologists turn up next?

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