Charles P. Hoddinott was a waiter on the Valencia who survived on the last life raft to leave the ship. Charles Hoddinott worked for the company for four years and was the brother of the ship's chief steward Jack Hoddinott, who drowned in the wreck. The chief steward refused a spot on the last life raft, insisting on staying behind to assist the women and children. Charles reportedly urged his brother to join him, but Jack declined, saying, "I am going to stand by the women and children."
The Valencia Disaster
1. The Valencia 2. The Voyage 3. The Boats 4. The McCarthy Boat 5. The Bunker Party 6. On the Valencia 7. The Rafts 8. The Turret Raft 9. The Rescue Ships 10. The Aftermath 11. The Survivors 12. The Lost
The West Coast Trail
Prologue 1: The West Coast Trail 2: When to Hike & Fees 3: Trailheads 4: Getting There 5: Considerations 6: Campsites 7: Shipwrecks 8: Routes 9: Sights & Highlights
Charles then bid him goodbye and jumped overboard to escape. Charles Hoddinott was among those who made it onto the last life raft carrying 14 crew members and 5 passengers. Launching the raft took about 45 minutes amid the chaos. This group was eventually picked up by the rescue steamer SS City of Topeka. They were half frozen and practically unconscious from exposure after three hours on the half submerged, overloaded life raft. The Topeka spotted them at noon and one witness recalled:
"A terrible sea was running. One minute the raft was poised on top of a wave and the next it would be lost form view in the gully formed by the mountainous breakers."
"Three others were lying in a senseless heap in the rear washed by every swell and retained solely by the bodies of the other men who were closely packed. Time and time again great seas swept over them, sending a shudder through the onlookers who feared to see them swept away. The work of rescuing them was dangerous. The men were too exhausted to even tie a rope about themselves."
The Rescue of the Topeka Raft Survivors
In post-disaster testimony, Hoddinott provided key details about the events. He noted that the weather was clear when the boatswain's crew departed in lifeboat No. 5 on Tuesday (January 23). He described the firing of the ship's Lyle line-throwing gun (used to shoot a rescue line ashore) multiple times, including before that boat left and when the steamer SS Queen came into view; he believed the shots were loud enough to reach the Queen. He estimated the tug Czar approached within a quarter-mile of the wreck but couldn't confirm if its crew spotted the survivors. Hoddinott also recalled seeing passenger Miss Van Wyck in the rigging and crew member Walter Jesse actively helping and cheering others. He opined that delaying lifeboat launches until Tuesday might have saved more lives and that the shore was about 100 yards from the ship's stern.
Boarding the Topeka at 1pm January 24th, 1906
Hoddinott also recalled John Segalos, the Greek fireman, who had made one attempt to swim through the breakers to the shore with a line, but had been beaten back, was begged by the passengers to again attempt it. He refused. Then the passengers took up a purse, several contributing $50 each, asking him to make the attempt. He again refused, saying it was impossible, but that if it were possible, he would readily perform the daring feat without asking for any money. Segalos also survived on the life raft with Hoddinott picked up by the SS Topeka and later dubbed the Topeka Raft.
The Topeka Raft Survivors
First Assistant Engineer Thomas Carrick described how desperately close to death they were on the raft:
“It seemed as though her arrival was a merciful messenger from God. In a few minutes she was alongside, but some of the men lay inert and powerless to grasp lines cast from the Topeka. Finally, all were hauled aboard and every attention was shown us by the rescue party. If the Topeka had not arrived when she did we would probably have been lost, all of us were rapidly succumbing to the intense cold.”
The nineteen men picked up by the second raft, which became known as the Topeka Raft were: waiter Charles Hoddinott, baker Charles Fluhme, passenger Cornelius Allison, first assistant engineer Tom Carrick, fireman William Doherty, passenger George Harraden, passenger A.H. Hawkins, third cook John Johnson, coal passer W.D. Johnson, first assistant freight clerk Frank Lehn, passenger Joseph McCaffrey, waiter Patrick O’Brien, second officer Peter Peterson, fireman Paul Primer, messman Walter Raymond, quartermaster Martin Tarpey, waiter John Walsh, passenger Grant Willits and fireman John Segalos.
Charles Hoddinott (middle bottom) on the Topeka
