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Hello wreck divers: The following article on the steamship Islander was in the local Juneau newspaper a few nights ago. She was a famous Klondike gold rush era steamship that sank near Juneau in 1901. I've done some personal research on the Islander. According to the historical records, she originally sank in 240' of water and rumors of large amounts of gold on board let to various dive and salvage attempts from 1901 through 1934. In 1934 the Curtis-Wiley salvage group floated 2 barges over the wreck site and hauled her up with cables and she was eventually beached in Greens Cove where she was ripped apart with shovels and the debris was sluiced. The vessel's safe was found with minor amounts of Canadian currency and small amounts of gold inside. The entire salvage effort cost over $200,000 in 1934 dollars. In 1954 a Seattle firm bought the salvage rights, dismantled the remains and shipped it to Seattle but there are no reports of gold from this last operation. Not much remains at the site. One of the 1934 salvage vessels, the Forest Green, was wrecked in the attempt and her remains are scattered about and frequently mistaken for the Islander. It was rumored that the bow of the Islander broke off in the 1934 salvage effort but no local divers have been able to find it but I don't know anyone who has gone deep at that site. The wreck site was about 240' of water and the fjord slopes down to over 600 ft. Perhaps the bow is what Ocean Mar is after. It will be interesting to see if these folks can actually find anything or if they just blow a lot of money. There's certainly no intact wreck to be found at that site but there might be some rubble and remains. Kent Lind Juneau, Alaska --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Court gives go-ahead for company to salvage sunken ship near Juneau" By MARK SABBATINI THE JUNEAU EMPIRE Wednesday, September 9, 1998 --------------------------------------------------------------------- A victor has been named in the legal battle to salvage a ship that sank nearly 100 years ago near Juneau. Perhaps more important, a court has declared it likely that a considerable amount of gold is aboard. Ocean Mar Inc., representing insurers who apparently paid a Canadian bank for its gold loss, was awarded the right to salvage the S.S. Islander in a ruling issued by H. Russel Holland, a U.S. District Court Judge in Anchorage. The 240-foot-long ship sank Aug. 15, 1901, while returning from Skagway with miners from the Klondike Gold Rush. ``Based upon the evidence which has been produced,'' Holland wrote in his Aug. 28 ruling, ``the court finds that the Canadian Bank of Commerce of Dawson, Yukon Territory, more probably than not made a large shipment of gold in August of 1901 which was in the custody of the Northwest Mounted Police as registered mail matter from their departure in Dawson, Yukon Territory, until the sinking of the S.S. Islander.'' Salvaging work by Ocean Mar also revealed a single, partially buried gold bar near the wreckage, according to the ruling. Some longtime regional residents have disputed the notion that any gold was on the ship. John Treptow, an Anchorage attorney representing Ocean Mar, did not return phone calls made this week to his office. The other party is Yukon Recovery LLC, a four-person salvaging group based in Puyallup, Wash., which claims they have rights to the ship under maritime salvage law. Rick Hansen, a member of the group, said it will appeal the ruling and hope for a judgment by next summer, the earliest time when salvaging will be possible. Rumors after the sinking, which killed 39 people, were that more than 30,000 pounds of gold were aboard. None has been found during previous salvaging attempts, but Holland said it appears the gold was stowed in an area not yet salvaged. The ship sank about 30 miles south of Juneau after hitting a rock or an iceberg. Holland ruled that the companies represented by Ocean Mar likely paid the insurance claim for the loss, despite ``a dearth of business records'' surrounding the sinking. The judge also ruled that Theodore Jaynes of Ocean Mar and Robert Mester of Yukon Recovery both learned of the sinking in the mid 1980s, but Jaynes began formal research of the area in 1993 while Yukon Recovery started in 1995. Because it is possible others claiming a right to the gold may come forward, Ocean Mar must keep detailed records of all property salvaged and keep any gold from the Canadian bank segregated, Holland ruled. Both companies have agreed to turn over any artifacts to the state of Alaska. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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