The Tragic Loss of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company's SS City of Rio de Janeiro, launched March 6, 1878, was an aging but popular liner on the Pacific, connecting San Francisco with Hawaii, Japan, and Hong Kong. On a routine voyage, she got stuck in a fog bank at Golden Gate, right at the mouth of her home port in San Francisco Bay. On February 22, 1901, she crashed into the rocks at Fort Point and sank within minutes, leaving behind the deadliest disaster in San Francisco history before the Great Earthquake of 1906.

Sources:
Great Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast by Robert Belyk
The San Francisco Call Archives
The San Francisco Examiner Archives

This disaster was widely covered by local San Francisco newspapers, providing numerous detailed eyewitness accounts and images. I highly suggest checking them out if you're interested!

Chapters:
0:00 San Francisco Fog
2:02 Chapter 1: An Unlucky Career
6:23 Chapter 2: Disaster at Golden Gate
10:47 Chapter 3: Lodged on the Rocks
14:51 Chapter 4: Sudden Chaos
19:16 Chapter 5: The City Wakes to Tragedy

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[BigOldBoats]

Thank you so much for watching! This was a sad one but I hope I was able to do the story justice.

[darkprincessmelly]

As someone who's lived in central California for all my 63 years I can say anyone who tried to go into that Bay in dense fog was an absolute fool. You cannot see the hand in front of your face. Heartbreakingly well done.

[RR]

The use of the old nature film in the opening sequence was super evocative. Such a storied ship - and a inevitabile doom.👌

[gordoncarass]

As a retired Merchant Navy officer I had never heard of the SS Rio Janerio sinking despite visiting San Francisco several times. A great tragedy that should never be forgotten.

[toolsteel]

The stories behind these these ship losses are so interesting. I absolutely love these. When you said no interior bulkheads and single plated bottom, I knew a disastrous outcome was in store. As I’ve mentioned in other presentations, I really love that era of shipping of dual modes of propulsion, steam and sail. The maritime art, often depicting ships struggling in heavy seas are beautiful. Thank you for sharing these enlightening stories.

[greenfuzz]

Thank you for producing this. I am a former 20 year resident of San Francisco and knew of the SS City of Rio tragedy anecdotally but was never able to find any detailed accounting of the accident. Thank you for putting names and faces and a proper time-line to this story. There is some mythology that the Rio was carrying a load of silver ingots and the fact that occasional artifacts from the ship are found near the base of the GG Bridge has fueled belief in the existence of this "missing" cargo, sometimes referred to as "chinese tin" in freight manifests.

[ikatmax]

"Daring us to believe we will live forever..." the single most beautiful line I have ever heard in a youtube video. Wow. This video is something special.

[aliciaplaidcat]

I know next to nothing about Maritime History and had never been interested until I began watching your intelligent, informative and well-written videos. I appreciate most of all your attention to detail and your use of relevant historical visuals to tell these incredible stories of seafaring vessels. Great work.

[SakuraAsranArt]

The death of Alfred Daniel Jones aboard the ship in 1883 caught my attention and after doing a bit of research, I think the poor bastard probably had syphilis and the onset of insanity associated with the final stage of the disease happened to occur while he was aboard the ship an is what killed him.

[sawahtb]

I lived in San Francisco for about 30 years and I loved the sound of the fog horns at night. Yes, the fog gets so dense that you can barely see the lights of the buildings when walking down the street. I've driven in fog so thick that even though I knew the road very well I drove about 15 mph with hazards lights on. The thought of a ship attempting to navigate in it just sounds insane.

[ernestweaver]

I would lay odds that if the Captain stood his ground everyone would have survived.
RIP too all those lost.
Another great story.
Thank you.

[arashi]

This was great. I'd love to see you do a video on the collision between the SS City of Chester and the SS Oceanic. Similar to the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, its Chinese crewmen were initially falsely blamed for not doing anything to help the passengers, until several heroic actions by them came to light due to survivor testimony, including one crewman Ah Ling who jumped into the water at his own peril to save a young boy.

[fredhayes]

Some friends and I tried diving on her being led by a very experienced diver who went to her many times before. She lies mostly buried in mud and mud covered with occasional bits of metal protruding. 110ft to the upper iron. Nothing but the shape of a hull, and visibility about 5ft at best. You can only get to her during the few minutes of slack tide else you risk being swept into the iron and rust, and bottom time is minimal. . I know of no one who has ever gotten a plate or cup from her (the trophy of divers BTW). Not a dive I'll risk again.

[charlesnolan]

I was born in Chester, Pennsylvania where the Rio was built. Chester had a big ship building history through the 1960's...

[NonsensicalNauticalRambings]

I appreciate the aesthetic of this video. The old footage, the slideshow projector clicks, and your commentary. Interesting story, nice to see a video on it.

[Arandohistorian]

i wish that model companies would make more old ships like these

[SpearFisher]

That last line about daring us to live forever was haunting and beautiful

[BabyScatha]

21:19 the editing, the music, photos of the dead and the old footage makes such a beautiful and touching clip. Feels very respectful of the loss of lives. There's many reasons why I keep coming back to your channel, but moments like that leave a mark with me.

[lisadolan]

Narrator, I never knew I was interested in old boats until I heard your story telling and your voice. You are literally the ‘perfect’ narrator.
I’ve said it before, your articulation is perfect. Absolutely perfect. Not only is your English and grammar absolutely perfect, your voice and inflection is the perfect accompaniment to your research. I have used your video to show an example of perfectly delivered ‘English’. Content is so interesting, here I am, scared of the water and boats, pretty much now obsessed.
Thank you for your efforts Narrator. 🙏

[SteveInNEPA]

The crew always appreciates your work, Captain Bradley.