SS Princess Sophia: Oil Soaked Dog Was the Only Survivor

The SS Princess Sophia was one of four “Princess” liners to sail the Alaska/Canada Inside Passage. Credit: Library of Congress

Logo of the SS Princess Sophia owned and operated by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Credit: Alaska Dept. of Tourism
Princess Sophia was three hours off schedule leaving Skagway just before snow started to fall. Winds picked up and fog engulfed the ship as Capt. Leonard Locke maneuvered his ship through the labyrinth of islands, islets and fiords. Despite the harsh conditions, Capt. Locke, 25 years a master maritime pilot, opted to push his vessel through the maze of islands at eleven knots instead of the usual four. Perhaps he was trying to make up for the late departure. Regardless, this was still a fast pace in threatening weather conditions. As visibility dropped to nearly zero, the ship went a mile and a half off course and slammed into Vanderbilt Reef.

The Princess Sophia went up on the reef and looked liked a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. Credit: Library of Congress

Map sows where SS Princess Sophia sank. Credit: Alaska Dept. of Tourism

A man, who was lost later, clings to the mast of the sunken ship. Credit: Library of Congress
Experienced divers visit the wreck site which offers good visibility—25 to 50 feet—accompanied by strong currents. The ship broke in two as it slid off the reef into waters 80 to 100 feet deep—and has been hammered by storms and heavy seas for over 100 years. Boilers remain in the sand surrounded by a maze of steel plating and beams all covered by white sea anemones. Sea lions frequent the wreck to feed on fish that hide in the shadows of the rubble. Google offers “Videos of the SS Princess Sophia” for armchair divers who want to see the remains of a proud ship that tendered a dog as its only survivor.
Author: Ellsworth Boyd
Ellsworth Boyd, Professor Emeritus, College of Education, Towson University, Towson, Maryland, pursues an avocation of diving and writing. He has published articles and photo’s in every major dive magazine in the US., Canada, and half a dozen foreign countries. An authority on shipwrecks, Ellsworth has received thousands of letters and e-mails from divers throughout the world who responded to his Wreck Facts column in Sport Diver Magazine. When he’s not writing, or diving, Ellsworth appears as a featured speaker at maritime symposiums in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, New York and Philadelphia. “Romance & Mystery: Sunken Treasures of the Lost Galleons,” is one of his most popular talks. A pioneer in the sport, Ellsworth was inducted into the International Legends of Diving in 2013.
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I have been trying to find more about the lone survivor – this article reports it as an Irish setter, there was a report on the sinking in the Alaska Triangle which reports it as an English Setter. The dogs name and history would be nice to know along with a verification of which breed it actually is.
It could have been an English Setter. Both Irish and English Setters were reported in the newspapers. See if you can find micro film of back issues of other newspapers. And contact the curators of any museums and see if they have any records…again, possibly microfilm of newspapers. Search online and see if there has been a book written about the disaster. Also see if you can track down manifests of the ships of the Princess Lines. You might stumble upon the manifest of the Princess Sophia. Let me know how you do.
What happened to the survival dog???
That’s a good question. I’m sure you could find some details by going back through the microfilm from newspapers of that time period. I would imagine that the SPCA or some good Samaritan took the dog in.
ONLY SURVIVOR OF SOPHIA Reprinted in the Weekly STAR Mar. 21, 1919.
An English setter, the only survivor of the Princess Sophia, is making himself at home in Auk Bay, having arrived there from Tee Harbor and attached itself to the cannery settlement there, according to word brought to Juneau by L. E. Lloyd, superintendent of the John L. Carlson & Company cannery.
According to those who know the story, the dog arrived at Tee Harbor covered with oil, half wild and almost starved, shortly after the Princess foundered. It possessed a fear of salt water that it has not overcome. It is supposed that the dog reached shore from the wreck and found its way to the nearest settlement.
When told about the dog, L.H. Johnston, agent of the Canadian Pacific at Skagway, said that he remembered that several dogs were checked on the Sophia. He said that when he returned to Skagway he would inquire whether or not any of the dogs that left Skagway would answer to the description of the little wild thing which sought refuge at Tee Harbor so soon after the accident occurred.
It was later determined that the dog probably belonged to Captain James Alexander and his wife Louise, owners of the Engineer Mine on the southern shore of Tagish Lake. They both perished in the wreck.
Understand it lived out its days in North Vancouver, B.C. but I do not know with what family.
There were several from N.Van on the ship including the Third (second ?) Mate Arthur Murphy.
Steve: Drop down just a little bit in Comments and read what Tony sent. It is well done and has a lot of good research on what happened to the “lone survivor.”