Flavel
The steam schooner Flavel (Captain H. Johnson), carrying lumber from Aberdeen, Washington to San Pedro, California, went ashore after midnight in the fog near Cypress Point off “The Loop” on Seventeen-Mile Drive. The likely cause of the accident was routing a course too close to shore. After launching their boats, the captain, two officers, and crew of 22 men were taken up by Captain Kaichi Takigawa of the Paladini launch Normandie (a fishing boat). Lumber was piled along the beach for a distance of 3 miles. Flavel’s cargo consisted of 1,118,249 feet of lumber. The ship itself was valued at $250,000. According to Reinstadt (1975), the wreck of the lumber schooner generated more “local” excitement than any shipwreck before or after this half-century old mishap. Two days after the wreck, more than 10,000 people visited Cypress Point to view the crippled ship (“Schooner Wreck,” 1923). Several interested parties battled for the rights of salvage and to board the abandoned ship, including The Hammond Lumber Company, insurance companies, Del Monte Properties Company, and Paul Flanders of Carmel and James Meehan of Monterey.
Ship Stats:
Vessel Type: Steam Schooner
Casualty Location: Cypress Point, Del Monte Forest, Monterey County, CA, USA
Location Status: Located (see Important Note)
Casualty Date: 1923 (Dec 14)
Owner: Hammond Lumber Company
Home Port: San Francisco, CA
Length: 209.8 feet Beam: 42.0 feet
Gross Tonnage: 967 Cargo: lumber
Builder: McDade
Launched: 1917 (Fairhaven, California, USA)
Official Number: 214907
Nature of Casualty:
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Transcription: BIG LUMBER SCHOONER GOES ON ROCKS OFF “THE LOOP” ON SEVENTEEN-MILE DRIVE
Source: Peninsula Daily Herald (Monterey, CA), December 14, 1923, p1, cols 1-2; p4, cols 2-3.
Hammond Company’s “Flavel,” Carrying Million Feet From Aberdeen To San Pedro, Gets Off Her Course By Several Miles And Tears Out Her Bottom On Jagged Reef
FORMER NAVY MAN FIRST TO GET SIGNAL
Paladini Launch Normandie Goes To Rescue And Takes Captain And Crew Of 22 To Safety; Effort Being Made To Salvage Some Of Cargo; Watchers Maintain Vigil
Possibilities of a great fight for possession of the steam schooner Flavel, which went ashore at “The Loop,” on Seventeen-Mile Drive this morning, loomed today, following the announcement of a decision of Del Monte Properties company to seize the vessel under the terms of maritime law, permitting the first person to board a ship abandoned by its master and crew, possession thereof, together, with all privileges of salvage on both ship and cargo. The Flavel is valued at in the neighborhood of $50,000 and her cargo of lumber is estimated as worth an additional $65,000.
Following their decision this morning, Del Monte Properties company wired San Francisco for a Red Stack Tug to take charge of the wreck. On its arrival at 6:00 o’clock tonight, its crew will board the Flavel, to take possession.
Captain H. Johnson, master of the Flavel, after one attempt to board his ship this morning, abandoned it, once more, announcing that he would turn it over to a representative of the U.S. Marshal’s office in San Francisco.
It is understood that Captain Johnson disagrees with Del Monte Properties company’s belief in the right to board and seize the ship, claiming that the provision of maritime law thus cited pertains only to ships abandoned by master and crew without the three mile limit.
Hammond Lumber Company’s three-masted schooner Flavel, Captain H. Johnson, carrying more than 1,000,000 feet of lumber from Aberdeen to San Pedro, went ashore in the fog off “The Loop,” near Cypress Point, on the Seventeen-Mile Drive, at 12:18 last night. The captain and crew of 22 men were taken up, after they had launched their boats, by Captain Kaichi Takigawa, of the Paladini launch Normandie, and brought into port, none the worse for their experience save for a wetting and a considerable scare.
Routing a course too close to the shore is likely responsible for the accident. The schooner is almost a complete loss, although it may be possible to salvage some of the cargo. The beach for many hundred yards each way from the scene of the accident was strewn with wreckage this morning.
Distress Signals Heard
News of the accident came to Monterey Peninsula in an unusual way. H.R. Lyons, of Pacific Grove, returning home from a dance late last night, had his attention attracted by a signal whistle. Mr. Lyons, formerly a chief quartermaster in the U.S. Navy, promptly recognized the maritime distress signal, and turned the nose of his car out the Seventeen-Mile Drive in the direction of the whistle.
“I’ve been at sea myself, and I know what it is to be wrecked,” was Lyon’s explanation to Mrs. Lyons, when she attempted to dissuade him from going out alone to make the investigation. But, like the good little scout she is, Mrs. Lyons accompanied her husband and stayed by thru-out the long night vigil maintained by a group of watchers on the point above the wreck.
Police Notified
Lyons, upon ascertaining the cause of the disturbance, returned to town and notified, first, the local police department, then Chief Wharfinger J.J. Harrington, both of whom responded immediately, and were soon on their way to the scene of the wreck.
The Harrington car carried a reporter for The Herald. When it arrived a score or more of people were already on the scene, and Harvey Mundell was off to Pebble Beach to send word to Captain Takigawa to come out to the rescue.
Through the earlier hours of this morning. Mr. Lyons and others attempted to signal those aboard the ship. For a time there were feeble efforts at a response, but finally all the lights went out and all was still, save for the pounding of the waves. The vessel, meanwhile, lay off the left side of “The Loop.”
Vessel Shifts
Shortly after 3:30 the disabled ship began swinging by her starboard bow and drifted across the face of the point, through a narrow channel in (Continued on Page 4)
Big Lumber Schooner Piles Up On Rocks
Courtesy of Monterey Peninsula Library. -
Transcription: (Continued From page 1)
Source: Peninsula Daily Herald (Monterey, CA), December 14, 1923, p1, cols 1-2; p4, cols 2-3 .
the reef, to a place well off the right side of “The Loop” and began drifting toward Fanshell Beach.
Captain John T. Pierce, Jr., of the Presidio of Monterey, kindly sent out a large truck with a squad of men and a spot light, to light the scene.
On land, the anxious watchers tramped the shore in search of any-one who might have come off the vessel, and waited for daylight. A ray of hope came when the lights of the Normandie were seen rounding Point Pinos. Finally, however, these disappeared and it was generally conceded that the heavy fog bank had engulfed the little launch, and that her skipper had been compelled to turn back.
Daylight Comes
After 4:00 o’clock the fog settled down to a drizzling rain, and the watchers huddled in their cars, or about the large fire builded on the rocks above the wreck. Finally the fog began lifting with the coming of daylight, and despite shouts, automobile horns, no sign of life could be detected aboard the domed ship.
At this point, tow of the party were dispatched back to Pebble Beach to get in touch with the Normandie, where they were told that Captain Takigawa had safely landed the entire crew.
Captain Keeps Rule of Sea
The story of the night of terror was briefly told this morning by Captain Johnson, who stated that the first boat, carrying all of the crew but two, and the first mate, put off from the ship at 2:30. At 3:30, after deciding that a longer stay aboard the wreck would be foolhardy, he and his chief engineer and the other man who stayed behind, put off in the second boat.
As the Normandie rounded the point on her way out, she encountered the first boat coming in. After having landed the crew she again put about and drove out through the fog to the rescue of Captain Johnson and his two intrepid men. The second boat was picked up off Seal Rocks.
Crew Returns To Ship
At 7:00 o’clock this morning Captain Johnson again had his crew aboard the Normandie and was head-ing out toward the wreck, with the hope of salvaging as much of the cargo as possible.
All hands were reticent about the crash, but it would appear possible that the ship lost her way in the fog. The place where the accident occurred is from three to five miles off the beaten path of the freighters plying up and down the coast.
Some Hard Workers
While it is most fortunate that their efforts were not needed to save the lives of the men aboard the Flavel, no mention of the wreck could be complete without some commendation of the work of the night operator at the local P.T. & T. switchboard, the Presidio of Monterey, Messrs. Lyons, Mundell, Harrington, Chief of Police Cording, and others who kept the vigil on the rocks above the doomed ship throughout the night.
Chief Engineer Admits Fright
The chief engineer, who remained with Captain Johnson after the first boat had put away to sea admits that he was one frightened individual, which is quite natural.
“I’ve been at sea all my life – I’ve been torpedoed – I’ve been wrecked in daylight – I guess I’ve had my share of accidents. But I was never so scared in my life as last night when the old Flavel was being whipped about in the seas out there. I thought I would be ‘brave man’ and stay behind with the skipper when the first boat went off, but inside of 10 minutes I wished I had gone with the first boat.
“When we went over the side the old tub rolled toward our little life boat, and I said, ‘Good night’ it’s curtains for us. But she rolled back again, the life boat righted and we paddled out through the inky black-ness, with nothing but a flash-light and the flare of the fire on the point to guide us. We were sure a tired trio when the Normandie picked us up, and turned her nose back to-ward Monterey.”
Courtesy of Monterey Peninsula Library.
Additional Information: Wreck Event
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Transcription: 15 RESCUED IN SHIPWRECK
Source: San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, CA), 15 December 1923, p 5, col 6.
Driven by a heavy wind and battered by high seas, the little steam schooner Flavel was dashed upon the rocks at Cypress Point, eight miles south of Monterey, early yesterday morning.
Unable to save their craft, the fifteen members of the crew took to their lifeboats and were landed safely at daybreak at Monterey.
Although officials of the Hammond Lumber Company, owners of the vessel, declare it is a total loss, Red Stack tugs from this city have rushed to the scene with the hope of salvaging the ship.
Commanded by Captain Harry Johnson, the Flavel sailed from Gray's Harbor December 9 for San Pedro. Her cargo consisted of 1,118,249 feet of lumber. The ship itself is valued at $250,000.
The point where the Flavel ran ashore is known as a "graveyard" for coast vessels. The place is located on the 17-mile drive, and is known as the "Loop the Loop."
It was at 12:10 yesterday morning that the craft hit the rocks. Unable to summon help by radio, as the vessel is not so equipped, Capt. Johnson blew his siren in distress.
The blasts from the whistle were heard by H. J. Lyons and wife of Pacific Grove as they were motoring home from a dance.
Lyons, unable to see the lights of the Flavel in the rain squall, went to the beach and lighted a fire from drift wood. He then sped to Monterey and spread the alarm. The Normandie, a fishing boat, went to the scene and picked up the small boats with the crew.
The Flavel was built in 1917. She is of 544 tons and 209 feet in length.
Captain Cecil Brown, representing the Marine Underwriters, was dispatched to the scene early yesterday to conduct the salvage operations.
As a result of the wreck the Del Monte Properties company, which owns the property where the Flavel went ashore, has claimed the steamer and cargo as salvage, according to an Associated Press dispatch from Monterey.
Courtesy of Newspapers.com. -
Transcription: BUILDING BOOM EXPECTED ALONG THE MONTEREY COAST
Source: Santa Cruz Evening News (Santa Cruz, CA), 17 December 1923, p 1, col 4
MONTEREY, Dec. 17. (AP) The last entry in the log of the good ship Flavel, wrecked in a fog near here Friday night while carrying a deck load of lumber from Aberdeen, Wash., was written by Father Neptune last night, when the ship broke open and settled beneath the water.
Lumber, one million feet or more, piled along the beach for a distance of three miles, is expected to cause a building boom in this region.
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside.
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Transcription: MANY CLAIM RIGHT TO SHIP NEAR MONTEREY
Source: Santa Cruz Evening News (Santa Cruz, CA), 17 December 1923, p 2, col 5.
MONTEREY, Dec. 17. (AP) Adventurers who would claim the wrecked hulk of the good ship Flavel, rock-torn and wave-racked in the ocean near here, appeared from all sides today, all, armed with the admiralty ruling which they claim gave them the right to both the ship and its fast dwindling cargo of good sound Washington state lumber.
The latest claimant, Paul Flanders, a young and wealthy adventurer from the Carmel colony near by, was on the scene early and with the announcement that he had hired James Meeham, a boss, stevedore at Pebble Beach, Meeham's launch and grappling outfit, boarded the Flavel today and raised his flag as the owner of the wrecked ship and everything on board.
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside. -
Transcription: GRIFFEN VIEWS WORK OF SALVAGING CARGO OF WRECKED FLAVEL
Source: Santa Cruz Evening News (Santa Cruz, CA), 17 December 1923, p 6, col 1.
C. H. Griffen, of the Homer T. Hayward Lumber company, yesterday visited the wreck of the Flavel, which went on Monterey reef last Thursday night.
Efforts to pull the Flavel from the reef yesterday were unavailing, Mr. Griffen stated. The vessel has broken in two places and is slowly going to pieces.
Mr. Griffen said that while standing on the beach watching the wreck pound on the reef, the keel of the vessel worked from under it and came floating ashore, a great strip of timber, thirty feet in width and a hundred and fifty feet in length.
The deck load of the vessel is coming ashore and is being salvaged as rapidly as possible. Mr. Griffen estimates that if two or three hundred thousand feet of the cargo of a million feet of lumber is salvaged the owners and salvagers will have done well.
Disputes Settled
The dispute as to the ownership of the vessel since salvage proceedings have begun has been amicably settled, Mr. Griffen stated, the Hammond Lumber company, owners of the vessel and her cargo, to receive one and the Del Monte claimants to receive two-thirds of the salvaged property.
It is reported that the Homer T. Hayward Lumber company has purchased all salvaged lumber of value.
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside.
Additional Information: Vessel
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Transcription: FLAVEL IS LAUNCHED FROM YARDS ACROSS BAY
Source: The Humboldt Times (Eureka, CA), 4 March 1917, p 8, col 1..
Second of Wooden Fleet Being Built By Hammond Lumber Co. Takes To Water
Miss Ann Fenwick Christens Boat In Presence of Mayor Rolph of San Francisco, New Owner of Yards
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside. -
Transcription: Christened by Miss Ann Fenwick of Samoa and with Mayor James Rolph, Jr, of San Francisco as an honored guest at the ceremonies, the Flavel, second of the fleet of four vessels built and being built at the Fairhaven shipyards was launched at 8:30 o'clock yesterday morning. With all conditions favorable, at the appointed hour the Flavel slipped gracefully down the ways and amid the applause of the launching party Miss Fenwick, daughter of Manager G.W. Fenwick of the Hammond Lumber Company, broke the customary bottle of sparkling champagne over the bows of the Flavel. The vessel took to the water prettily and was immediately picked up by a tug and brought alongside the shipyard wharves when the last finishing touches will be put on the hull. She will towed to San Francisco within a short time to be engined. The Flavel is the second vessel of her type to be launched at Fairhaven for the Hammond Lumber Company. The first was the Santiam, completed last September. The third vessel of this fleet, the Trinidad, now is half framed at the yards while the keey of a fourth vessel, to be known as the Halco, will he laid where the Flavel was built. The vessels are being built by the Hammond company under a lease of the yards. At the expiration of the lease the plant will be turned over to the Rolph Coal and Navigation Company, under the terms of the purchase arranged by Mayor Rolph of San Francisco. The Flavel is in all ways a sister ship of the Santiam. She has a length of 220 feet, a beam of 42 feet and 14 feet depth of hold. Her tonnage 543 net and she is designed to carry 1,100,000 feet of lumber. The Flavel is the two hundred and seventh vessel built on this bay, according to maritime records, the first shipbuilding having been done here in pioneer days. Captain Self, now master of the steamer Necanicum of the Hammond fleet, is to command the Flavel as soon as she is in commission.
Source: The Humboldt Times (Eureka, CA), 4 March 1917, p 8, col 1..
Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside.
Referenced and Additional Resources
15 rescued in shipwreck. 1923 (15 December). San Francisco Examiner, 5.
Big lumber schooner goes on rocks off “The Loop” on Seventeen-Mile Drive. 1923 (December 14). Peninsula Daily Herald, 1, 4.
Building boom expected along the Monterey coast. 1923 (17 December). Santa Cruz Evening News, 1.
Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of Navigation. 1918. Fiftieth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States. Washington, Government Printing Office. p.105.
Flavel is launched from yards across bay. 1917 (March 4). The Humboldt Times, 8.
Griffen views work of salvaging cargo of wrecked Flavel. 1923 (17 December). Santa Cruz Evening News, 6.
Many claim right to ship near Monterey. 1923 (17 December). Santa Cruz Evening News, 2.
Reinstedt, R.A. 1975. Shipwrecks and Sea Monsters of California’s Central Coast. Ghost Town Publications, Carmel, CA. 168pp.
Schooner wreck broken up and ship goes down. 1923 (December 17). Peninsula Daily Herald, 1, 4.
Important Note
Section 922.132 of the sanctuary regulations prohibits or restricts several activities in order to safeguard sanctuary resources, including: Moving, removing, injuring or possessing historical resources.
For the complete text of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary regulations, see Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 922.132.