Sinking of the Princess Sophia: Taking the North Down with Her

by Bill Morrison and Kenneth S. Coates

Book Overview

On October 23, 1918, a storm rose and the Canadian Pacific steamer Princess Sophia ran aground on Vanderbilt Reef, northwest of Juneau, Alaska. Tragically, there were no survivors. The 353 aboard represented a significant cross-section of the population of the Yukon and Alaska, and their loss was a heavy blow to a society that, with the end of the gold rush, was already in decline. This book tells the dramatic stories of many of the passengers,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0912006501
• ISBN13: 9780912006505
• Release Date: October 1991
• Publisher: University of Alaska Press
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

EXTREMELY WELL WRITTEN

One of the best shipwreck books to come along in a great while. This book is both readable and well researched (increasingly rare, in this field) with none of the flaws common to current maritime disaster books.....no recreated dialogue, no unsupported claims, no conspiracy theories, no "just plain making things up." If you are interested in this sort of thing, and have been disgusted as of late by the avalanche of really bad books (most of which relate to the Titanic) then this history of a little known tragedy might be just the thing for you.

An excellent coverage of a forgotten tragedy

As an amature local history buff, I'd heard of the Sophia tragedy, but this book beautifully illustrated who and what was lost that awful day, and her loss meant to the community. The author brings to life the people aboard her, the efforts to save them, and all the ironic poignancy that always accompanies a disaster? How could the captain have know that first day was the only chance he had of escape, that the weather would never improve? Definitely a good read.

Very good book about a little known diaster

When I read "The sinking of the Princess Sophia" I had no idea that it was that desperate, and that unfortunate of what had happen. This book is a very good book that coincides with the Titanic, it is a book that shows the passengers that went on the Sophia for her voyage, to the last trip, and the sinking. If you want to read a book that is about a little known diaster, but still has the qualities of a big sinking.Read it! It is thought provoking and very well written.