Elleda Wilson: Charged with negligence
Feb. 16—The steamship Admiral Benson, carrying 39 passengers and 65 crew, ran aground on Peacock Spit near Cape Disappointment in dense fog on Feb. 15, 1930. Capt. Charles C. Graham wasn't worried at the time, since the sea and wind were calm, so he only sent a call for assistance, not a distress signal.
Consequently, surfboats from the local lifesaving stations didn't turn up till the next day to take 34 off the ship. The captain tried to get the ship floating again at high tide, but it wouldn't budge. The weather was turning nasty by Feb. 17, so the U.S. Coast Guard removed the rest of the passengers and most of the crew.
On Feb. 18, weather got even worse, so everyone but the captain was removed by a breeches buoy. On Feb. 23, the captain gave up, and had his date with the breeches buoy during a lull in the storm.
At a hearing in Portland on Feb. 25, the captain was found guilty of negligence for grounding the ship, and his mariner's license was suspended for six months. A salvage crew removed as much of value as possible, and she was abandoned on Peacock Spit. Salvagers got whatever was left inside, and she broke up where she lay.
Benson Beach, on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula, is named after the wreck. Sometimes, at very low tide, what's left of her is visible. (Photo: NorthHeadLighthouse.com)
