Tuesday, 11 February 2025
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Representatives of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced that the exact position of the wreck of the steamer SS City of Rio de Janeiro has been determined. The sinking of the vessel full of immigrants is considered one of the greatest maritime tragedies to have occurred in the San Francisco Bay area.
NOAA, together with its partners, today released sonar-produced 3D maps and images of the wreck of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, which sank more than 100 years ago. The ship, carrying mostly people, crashed into the rocks near the legendary Golden Gate Bridge on 22 February 1901 as a result of dense fog and went down almost immediately. The disaster killed 128 of the 210 people on board.
With the help of local fishermen, 82 people were rescued. Many of these people were found clinging to the remains of the ship and makeshift rafts, drifting in the waters of the bay. In addition to the Chinese and Japanese immigrants, the US Consul General in Hong Kong, who was on his way back home, died on board the ship along with his entire family.
The wreck was found at a depth of almost 88m, as part of a two-year project in which scientists search for and document wrecks in the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the nearby Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
“We undertook the exploration in the San Francisco Bay area for several reasons. We certainly want to learn more about the history hidden in its waters, and we also want to test the capabilities of the technologies available today to better understand and protect the heritage resting at the bottom,” said NOAA’s James Delgado.
To date, NOAA has managed to inspect 9 of the nearly 200 vessel wrecks, including 4 that are unknown and have never been investigated before.
In November of this year, Hibbard Inshore and Bay marine Services donated an ROV research vehicle to NOAA, along with a team of people trained in its use. This was done in order to properly mark and map the wreck of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro using the Echoscope® sonar developed by Coda Octopus.
The wreck of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro was found as early as 1980, but the coordinates and reported position were so inaccurate that NOAA staff have not been able to match them to any known sonar charted craft over the years.
SS City of Rio de Janeiro was launched in 1878 and joined the Pacific Mail Steamship Company fleet. It transported mainly passengers and cargo on the route San Francisco – Honolulu – Yokohama – Hong-Kong. Most of the ancestors of today’s Americans, coming from the Far East, arrived on ships like the aforementioned SS City of Rio de Janeiro.
As for the ship itself, for many years rumours circulated about the treasure it was to carry. Its holds were to be filled with bars of silver. Unfortunately, the ‘Chinese silver’ turned out to be in fact bars of tin.
Source: noaa.gov
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