The SS Valencia is well known for two hair-raising reasons B次元官网网址� the grueling 40 hours it took to sink it and the ghost stories that have emerged around it in the century since.
Sailing from San Francisco, Calif. to Victoria in January 1906, the ship hit some bad weather and veered off course. Lost in the fog, the captain and crew overshot Victoria and soon found themselves in a notoriously treacherous section of the coastline B次元官网网址� the graveyard of the Pacific.
B次元官网网址淪he crashed on the rocks and amazingly was only 100 metres away from land,B次元官网网址� said Brittany Vis, associate director of the Maritime Museum of B.C. But, despite being so close to safety, very few would survive. It is this torturous tale the museum tells in its latest exhibit SS Valencia: B次元官网网址淎 Theatre of Horrors.B次元官网网址�
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| "A Theatre of Horrors" is on display at the Maritime Museum of B.C. until September 2. (Courtesy of Brittany Vis/Maritime Museum of B.C.) |
That day, giant waves crashed over the Valencia and those on board were immediately thrown into a panic. Lifeboats were lowered half-full and many capsized before they even hit the ocean, leaving those who were in them to flounder in the icy water off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
For 40 hours chaos ensued as crew and passengers attempted to escape and rescuers tried to reach them. Finally, the Valencia surrendered to its fate and sunk below the surface. Of the nearly 200 people on board, only 37 survived.
B次元官网网址淭hose who survived somehow miraculously managed to swim and grab a hold of land and not get bashed into the rocks,B次元官网网址� Vis said. But when they finally reached the shore, the exhausted survivors were met with nothing but bush. A few others managed to board lifeboats before the ship went down and were picked up by rescue vessels nearby.
It is because of this the Canadian government commissioned the Dominion Life-Saving Trail B次元官网网址� known as the West Coast Trail today B次元官网网址� and the Pachena Point Lighthouse. It hoped a trail would help rescuers reach stranded vessels and a lighthouse would warn approaching ships of the jagged coastline.
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The story of the Valencia shipwreck didnB次元官网网址檛 end there though. As early as 1910, there are records of mariners seeing a ghost ship that would follow them up the coastline until it reached the site of the shipwreck where it would jump up and crash down under the waves, disappearing.
These stories and those of the survivors are documented in the Maritime MuseumB次元官网网址檚 exhibit, alongside the objects that have been salvaged from the wreck B次元官网网址� a starboard light, one of the lifeboatB次元官网网址檚 nameplates and a couple of life preservers.
Vis suggests people carve out 30 to 60 minutes to view it and reminds visitors they need to book an appointment. Hours can be found at .
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