Cowichan (steamship)

Cowichan was a steamship which was operated in British Columbia under the ownership of the Union Steamship Company. "Cowichan" sank in 1925 following a collision with another ship.
Nomenclature.
"Cowichan" was originally launched under the name "Cariboo". "Cowichan" comes from the Halkomelem word "Q(a)w-(a)can", which means "warm mountains". This is believed to refer to hills at the head of the Cowichan River. The tribe of the First Nations called "Cowichan" lived on southeast Vancouver Island.
The popular name for the ship was "The Cow".
Design and construction.
"Cowichan" was designed specifically to serve the remote logging camps of coastal British Columbia. A larger vessel could not maneuver in the narrow inlets such as Minstrel Island, Wells Pass, and Kingcome Inlet. Two new design aspects of the ship were a larger wheelhouse and relocating the bridge further forward so that both the quartermaster and the navigator could see over the bow.
"Cowichan" was built in Troon, Scotland, in 1908 by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company. The Ailsa firm was chosen over Bow, McLachlen & Co. because Union Steamship Co. was then in litigation with Bow, McLachlen over repairs to another one of the company's ships. Dimensions of the ship were in length, beam and depth of hold , 962 gross and 520 registered tons. Cargo capacity was 125 tons. "Cowichin"'s ship's twin triple-expansion steam engines, built by MacColl & Co. and twin propellers drove the ship's speed was . There were two boilers, manufactured by D. Rowan & Co., which were originally coal-fired.
First class accommodations consisted of 53 stateroom berths. There were 34 crewmembers. In 1914, the ship was licensed to carry 225 passengers. The ship's Canadian registry number was 126210.
The ship had separate cabins for members of the First Nations and for Japanese and Chinese persons. Loggers were also accommodated separately.
Delivery.
"Cowichan", proceeding under the name "Cariboo", was delivered to British Columbia by way of Cape Horn, there being no Panama Canal at the time. The ship was commanded by Capt. Charles Polkinghorne on the 90-day voyage, and the vessel was found to be seaworthy during the moderate storms encountered on the trip. "Cariboo" arrived at the Union dock in Vancouver on July 21, 1908. It was then discovered that there was already a Canadian vessel named "Cariboo" on the Great Lakes and so the name was changed to "Cowichan".
Operations.
Following a trial trip to Van Anda, on Texada Island, "Cowichan" replaced the "Cassiar" on the Kingcome Inlet route, and then, on August 20, 1908 temporarily took the place of the "Camosun" on the company's most important route, to Prince Rupert.
"Cowichan" eventually was assigned to its own route. Every Monday and Thursday, the ship departed Vancouver bound for Campbell River and the Rock Bay region. On the Monday trip the ship went further north, to Loughborough Inlet. The ship was also placed on a Saturday Vancouver Island run for a while, making calls at Nanaimo, Denman Island, Union Bay, and Comox before returning to Vancouver at midnight on Sunday.
The first captain of "Cowichan" was Charles Moody. All the Union steamers at that time, including "Cowichan" had only three deck officers, the captain and two mates.
In 1908, coaling was usually done at the company wharf in Vancouver unless a stop was scheduled for Nanaimo, where there were substantial mines and coaling facilities.
In 1912 "Cowichan" was converted to oil fuel.
Loss.
On December 27, 1925, Cowichan sank following a collision with "Lady Cynthia", which was also owned by Union Steamship Co.
The accident occurred when the "Lady Cecilia" had brought a Christmas excursion of mostly lumber mill workers south from Powell River to Vancouver. Other passengers had come from the north over the holiday, and the numbers returning to Powell River exceeded "Cecilia"'s capacity. Harold Brown, the company's general manager, had ordered that "Lady Cynthia" be held on standby with steam up in such an event, and the additional 200 passengers beyond the 400 on "Cecilia" were embarked on "Cynthia."
Meanwhile, "Cowichan" was coming south under Captain Robert Wilson and encountered fog off Roberts Creek. Captain Wilson was proceeding slowly, listening carefully for the sound of "Cecilia" 's whistle. "Cecilia" passed safely by, but then Wilson was taken by surprise 15 minutes later when "Cynthia", under Captain John Boden appeared out of the fog, striking "Cowichan" bow-on amidships. Captain Boden shouted down from "Cynthia" 's bridge that he would hold the bow into "Cowichan" to hinder the ship from sinking. There were only 45 people on board "Cowichan", including 31 crew. Captain Wilson helped all board onto "Cecilia"'s foredeck.
Captain Wilson was the last to leave "Cowichan". When he stepped onto "Cecilia", he called out to Captain Boden:"Pull her out now, Cap, or she'll take us down with her." When "Cecila" backed away, "Cowichan" sank almost immediately. It was reported that once "Cowichan" had sunk, Captain Wilson turned to Captain Boden and said: "Well, that's it. Let's go below and have coffee."
Discovery of wreck.
In May 1997, after a year of searching, a team of wreck hunters on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police patrol vessel "Lindsay" in connection with a training exercise, located what they claimed was the wreck of the "Cowichan" south of the White Islets off Roberts Creek, British Columbia. The water over the wreck site was 128 meters deep. Subsequent research has shown, however, that the discovered wreck was not, in fact, the "Cowichan" despite all the breathless newspaper reports to the contrary. Her final resting place is still not known with certainty.