Robert Schwemmer's video: Passenger steamship CUBA history loss and visiting the shipwreck site at San Miguel Island

On 8 September 2023 we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the loss the ship Cuba. The German-designed and built steamer was launched as the Coblenz at the Hamburg shipyard of Blohm and Voss on 18 March 1897, having a registered gross tonnage of 3,139, length 307.7 feet (93.78 m), depth of hold 24.7 feet (7.52 m) and a breath of 42.2 feet (12.86 m). Coblenz completed sea trials and was delivered on 5 May 1897 to the Norddautacher Lloyd of Bremen as an oceangoing passenger steamer. The vessel had accommodations for 54 passengers, including a saloon. Cargo holds were located just behind the forecastle where a portion of the crew was housed, and there were additional crew accommodations and cargo storage in the stern area of the ship. When the United States entered World War I Coblenz was in a Philippine port and was seized as a war prize. The passenger steamer was admitted to American registry under a joint resolution of Congress on 12 May 1917, given the name Sachem and was taken over by the United States Shipping Board. Pacific Mail Steamship Company purchased Sachem, from the United States Shipping Board on 6 February 1920 for $400,000. Sachem operated for several months on Pacific Mail’s service between San Francisco and Havana, Cuba, carrying passengers and cargo. A 1920 Pacific Mail Steamship Company publication revealed the company’s desire to change the Indian name Sachem to Cuba. In early September 1923, Cuba departed the Panama Canal Zone en route to San Francisco. It reached Mazatlán, Mexico and after a brief stopover, the ship departed the Mexican port on September 3. Working up the coast, the passenger steamer encountered thick fog and was forced to navigate by dead reckoning (navigating by course, speed and time elapsed without a fix on land) for the next three days. The ship’s radio was not working and there were no spare parts onboard the steamer to fix the problem. On September 7th, Captain Charles J. Holland, master of Cuba, retired for the night leaving orders to be roused if visibility became less than five or six miles, and in no case later than 3 AM in order to take soundings. Second Officer John Rochau was now in command. First Officer Wise arrived in the wheelhouse to take the watch at 4 AM and discovered that visibility had been reduced to less than four miles. Realizing that the second officer was still in charge and there was no sign of the captain, Wise immediately went to get the captain. The radio operator recalled the moment the captain entered the wheelhouse: “….the captain was already on the bridge, his shoes merely slipped on, with his suspenders hanging over his hips, and was taking charge of the vessel….”. Captain Holland directed an immediate turn to port (westward), and at that very moment the vessel struck a reef about one quarter mile off Point Bennett, San Miguel Island. Captain Holland then ordered reverse engines and Cuba briefly re-floated, but was swung around by the seas and ran onto the submerged reef stern first, Cuba’s cargo included silver bullion, so Captain Holland, the purser, the steward, and eight crewmen remained aboard to guard the cargo, while the rest of the crew and passengers took to the lifeboats. Lifeboats No. 4 and 5 with 25 survivors put upon the beach at Point Bennett after dealing with some aggressive sea lions. Lifeboat No. 3 with 13 people and commanded by First Officer Wise, headed east along the south side of San Miguel Island, then through the San Miguel Passage, entering the Santa Barbara Channel. This lifeboat had a brief encounter with some troublesome whales, but eventually the crewmen hailed the Standard Oil tanker W. F. Miller, which transported them to San Francisco. demolishing the twin propellers. The steamer now was now listing to port in rough seas, causing complications in launching the starboard lifeboats, which had to be dragged across the vessel to the port davits. Lifeboat No. 2 with 22 survivors, commanded by Chief Engineer W.J. Owens, along with lifeboat No. 1 with 24 survivors and Second Officer John Rochau in charge, were on a course heading west out to sea rather than towards the mainland, due to a compass reversal (human error in reading the true compass course). The USS Reno, part of Destroyer Squadron 11, on a high-speed endurance run enroute to San Diego from San Francisco had slowed its speed near the western region of the Santa Barbara Channel when encountering visibility less than one half mile. At 2:15 PM the USS Reno quartermaster spotted lifeboat No. 1 heading to sea and then lifeboat No. 2. Both boats were rigged with sails and heading west. USS Reno went on to locate lifeboats No. 4 and 5 ashore with the 25 survivors including more than a dozen women and three children.