The Puget Sound Shipwrecks With The Spookiest Reputations
Puget Sound looks calm. Its history? Not so much. From fog-shrouded collisions to freak squalls, tragedies have sparked phantom ship stories. These seven wrecks have left scars on the maritime records in the Pacific Northwest. Get the ghostly scoop after the jump.
Table of contents
- Steamboat Dix (1906), Elliot Bay, Seattle
- SS Admiral Sampson (1914), Point No Point, Kitsap County
- SS Governor (1907), Point Wilson, Port Townsend
- Bark Andelana (1899), Commencement Bay, Tacoma
- SS Clallam (1904), Strait of Juan de Fuca
- SS Pacific (1875), Cape Flattery near Strait of Juan de Fuca
- SS Valencia (1906), Vancouver Island
- Sources
Steamboat Dix (1906), Elliot Bay, Seattle
Fate: Sunk in collision // Number of deaths: 35-41 (records vary)
What happened
The Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet steamer, Dix, left downtown Seattle for Port Blakely and crossed the bow of the much larger SS Jeanie. The Dix rolled to its side and water flooded into the lower levels. It sank in minutes. In 2023, the Northwest Shipwreck Alliance finally identified the wreck site in approximately 600 feet of water near Alki Point.
Why it’s spooky
The wreck is effectively a mass grave in deep, cold water. There’s no public recovery, just a memorial at Duwamish Head.
SS Admiral Sampson (1914), Point No Point, Kitsap County
Fate: Sunk in collision // Number of deaths: 9
What happened
In thick fog, the Canadian liner Princess Victoria rammed Admiral Sampson. Fire, oil, and a frantic transfer of passengers followed. The Sampson sank within 15 minutes. Today the wreck rests in halves about 320 feet under water off Point No Point. The Sampson’s captain, wireless operator and engineer went down with the ship after helping passengers to safety.
Why it’s spooky
Local divers talk about the eerie pull of that depth and current. The ship’s lore describes gold, jewelry and more treasures in her wreck. However, only the most technical divers can reach the ship. It also lies under one of the busiest routes for other ships. You’d need the Coast Guard to stop traffic to reach her.
SS Governor (1907), Point Wilson, Port Townsend
Fate: Sunk after collision // Number of deaths: 8
What happened
The steel passenger liner Governor collided with the freighter SS West Hartland off Point Wilson. The West Hartland tore a massive wedge in the Governor’s side, and she got pulled under Puget Sound’s dark waters in less than 20 minutes. In 1976 and 1981, salvage divers recovered select artifacts (like the whistle and telegraph), but not its most precious cargo …
Why it’s spooky
This shipwreck is a literal treasure trove. A safe, with over $1.5 million, still sits at the bottom of Puget Sound. Salvage attempts have failed to recover it. Perhaps it’s cursed?
Bark Andelana (1899), Commencement Bay, Tacoma
Fate: Capsized during freak squall // Number of deaths: 17 + 2 dogs
What happened
On the night of January 14–15, 1899, the four-masted bark lay at anchor, light and without ballast, hatches open and awaiting a wheat load. A sudden squall (~40 mph gusts) hit across the bay; the top-heavy ship heeled and capsized, flooding through the open holds and sinking in 200 feet of water. Seventeen crew, including Captain George W. Stalling, drowned; the sole survivor, apprentice Percy B. Buck, happened to be in the hospital from an earlier injury. Salvage attempts failed, and the wreck remains a grave on the bay floor.
Why it’s spooky
This could be a truly cursed ship that was haunted with tragic events, from Shanghai to Tacoma. It’s the tale of a mass-casualty wreck in deep, cold water, plus a grim postscript. In 1921, William Baldwin, a salvage diver, died when his pressurized suit collapsed while he moved through the wreckage. The intense pressure sucked his body into his diving helmet. This tale has kept Andelana’s story part of Tacoma’s darker waterfront lore.
SS Clallam (1904), Strait of Juan de Fuca
Fate: Foundered in gale force winds // Number of deaths: 56
What happened
While crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, gale force winds pounded the ship. Water poured into a broken port hole, filling the ship down to the boiler room. Then, the flames powering the steam engines went out, leaving the ship without power. The captain feared the ship would break apart and released the lifeboats. All three of those boats capsized in the giant waves. Everyone thrown into the water drowned, including 4 children and 17 women. The Clallam herself sank while she was being towed to safe harbor.
Why it’s spooky
Ominous signs foreshadowed what was to come. While preparing for departure, its flag was mistakenly raised upside down, indicating distress. Then, the ship’s mascot, a sheep, wouldn’t board the ship. I think it’s safe to say the ship was jinxed.
SS Pacific (1875), Cape Flattery near Strait of Juan de Fuca
Fate: Sunk in collision // Number of deaths: 275
What happened
This is the Pacific Northwest’s deadliest maritime disaster. On November 4, 1875, the steamer Pacific departed Victoria, B.C. for San Francisco. The ship carried 275 people, but there may have been more with many last-minute people boarding the ship. Her cargo ranged from coal, hops, cranberries, hides, furs, oats, horses, and buggies to two cases of opium and about $79,220 in gold. Jefferson Davis Howell served as captain.
Warning signs flashed before the collision …
After a rough run down the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the crew filled lifeboats with water to correct a persistent list before turning south past Tatoosh Island. Around 10 p.m., roughly 25 miles southwest of Cape Flattery, SS Pacific and the northbound sailing ship, SS Orpheus, collided in what Orpheus’s officers first considered a glancing blow
Onboard the Pacific, survivors, quartermaster Neil O. Henley and passenger Henry F. Jelley, describe chaos as lifeboats lacked oars, remained water-filled, or capsized.
About an hour after the collision, the Pacific broke in two and sank, leaving hundreds in cold water where they died from exposure or drowning. Jelley was rescued on November 6 by the bark Messenger and Henley on November 8 by the cutter Wolcott.
Today, what remains of the Pacific lies over 1,000 feet below the surface.
As for the Orpheus, she wrecked in Barkley Sound during the same trip she hit the Pacific. No one died on the Orpheus during the wreck.
Why it’s spooky
There’s a lot of lore about the wreck and its victims. The most infamous tale focuses on Fanny Palmer of Victoria, B.C. Fanny died during the aftermath of the collision, and her body floated over 100 miles from the collision site. It finally came to rest on a beach about 1 mile from her home.
As for ghost stories, witnesses have reported seeing passenger apparitions along Cape Flattery, hearing wailing along the shore, and seeing phantom ship lights in dense fog along the coast.
SS Valencia (1906), Vancouver Island
Fate: Wrecked on a reef // Number of deaths: 136 including all women and children
What happened
In January 1906, the SS Valencia was temporarily assigned to the San Francisco–Seattle run. Weather quickly deteriorated near Cape Mendocino with low visibility and strong winds, forcing the crew to navigate by dead reckoning (meaning they used speed, time, and course from their last known position and without the aid of any equipment).
Without a visual reference, the Valencia missed the Strait of Juan de Fuca and struck a reef about 11 miles off Cape Beale on Vancouver Island. A huge wave lifted her off, water poured through a hull breach, and the captain tried to save the ship by running her on nearby rocks. The ship stranded about 100 yards from shore.
In all of the confusion, six of seven lifeboats were lowered against orders. Three flipped during lowering, two capsized, and one just … vanished. Conditions on deck turned horrific as the turbulent seas smashed women and children, sweeping them into the sea to drown.
Only 12 men initially reached shore, and three of those were crushed on the surf. The boatswain and volunteers in the final lifeboat made it safely to land. They hiked to Cape Beale Lighthouse to report the wreck.
Why it’s spooky
Ever since Valencia wrecked, sailors and civilians have seen phantom ship sightings near Pachena, like figures clinging to rigging and a spectral ship on the rocks. Even HistoryLink notes the reports and the 1933 discovery of Lifeboat No. 5 drifting in Barkley Sound.
Sources
Denkmann, Libby, and Alec Cowan. “Local Explorers Believe They’ve Found Puget Sound’s Deadliest Shipwreck.” KUOW, 29 Nov. 2023, https://www.kuow.org/stories/local-explorers-believe-they-ve-found-puget-sound-s-deadliest-shipwreck.
Kuta, Sarah. “117-Year-Old Shipwreck Found in Puget Sound.” Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Nov. 2023, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shipwreck-in-puget-sound-180983317/.
Leach, Leah. “Divers Find SS Governor’s Bell, the ‘Holy Grail’ of a Shipwreck, after 90 Years Underwater.” Peninsula Daily News, 29 July 2011, https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/divers-find-ss-governors-bell-the-holy-grail-of-a-shipwreck-after-90-years-underwater/.
McClary, Daryl C. “The Bark Andelana Disappears While Lying at Anchor at Tacoma on January 14, 1899.” HistoryLink, 23 Jan. 2020, https://www.historylink.org/file/20949.
—. “The SS Clallam Founders in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on January 8, 1904, with a Loss of 56 Lives.” HistoryLink, 11 Jan. 2005, https://www.historylink.org/file/7203.
—. “The SS Dix Collides and Sinks off Alki Point, with a Loss of 39 Lives, on November 18, 1906.” HistoryLink, 5 Dec. 2004, https://www.historylink.org/file/7157.
—. “Point No Point Light Station.” HistoryLink, 15 Jan. 2004, https://www.historylink.org/file/5636.
—. “Valencia, SS, the Wreck of (1906).” HistoryLink, 29 July 2005, https://www.historylink.org/file/7382.
“Point Wilson Lighthouse, Washington.” Lighthouse Friends, https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=108.
Sams, Joel. “Hundreds Died When This Steamship Sank in the Pacific Northwest in 1875 with Gold Worth Millions on Board.” Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hundreds-died-when-this-steamship-sank-in-the-pacific-northwest-in-1875-with-gold-worth-millions-on-board-180985928/.
Smith, Stephen. “Shipwreck Called the ‘Worst Maritime Disaster’ in Seattle History Located 117 Years after It Sank.” CBS News, 20 Nov. 2023, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ss-dix-shipwreck-found-worst-maritime-disaster-seattle-history-1906/.
Wright, Annette. “Looking Back: The Wreck of the SS Admiral Sampson off Point No Point | Hansville Happenings.” Kitsap Daily News, 15 Dec. 2017, https://www.kitsapdailynews.com/news/looking-back-the-wreck-of-the-ss-admiral-sampson-off-point-no-point-hansville-happenings/.
Have you had any spooky maritime encounters? Have you tried to capture evidence of these hauntings? Let me know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading Ghostly Activities. Much appreciated and take care!
Last updated on September 16, 2025 by Jacob Rice
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Jacob Rice is a ghost hunter searching for ghosts, monsters, and hauntings since 2009. He has published 3 books and produced nearly 20 documentaries on the subject. Jake currently lives in the mysterious Pacific Northwest.