The Valencia Shipwreck on the West Coast TrailGrant Willits Valencia Survivor

The Valencia Disaster

 Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail1. The Valencia Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail2. The Voyage Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail3. The Boats Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail4. The McCarthy Boat Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail5. The Bunker Party Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail6. On the Valencia Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail7. The Rafts Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail8. The Turret Raft Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail9. The Rescue Ships Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail10. The Aftermath Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail11. The Survivors Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail12. The Lost 

The West Coast Trail

Shipwreck on the West Coast TrailPrologue Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail1: The West Coast Trail Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail2: When to Hike & Fees Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail3: Trailheads Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail4: Getting There Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail5: Considerations Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail6: Campsites Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail7: Shipwrecks Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail8: Routes Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail9: Sights & Highlights

Grant Willits Valencia Survivor

Grant L. Willits, a passenger on the Valencia that survived on the second raft, the last raft to depart the Valencia.  About two hours after they departed, the Valencia collapsed into the sea killing everyone still on board.  Willits and 18 others were finally found by the Topeka, after six hours on the freezing, soaking wet, overcrowded raft.  Barely alive, they were brought on board the Topeka and reported the situation on the Valencia when they left her.  His recollection of the events on the Valencia are terrifyingly vivid.  The Victoria Daily Colonist on January 26th reported an interview with Grant L. Willits shortly after being picked up from the raft by the Topeka.  Willits said, “The ship struck at 12:07 on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 23rd.  I was on deck at the time smoking a cigar, and was looking at my watch when the first crash came.  In an instant all was excitement.  There were the shrieks of the frightened men and women, the wail of little children, and the hoarse orders of the officers of the ship.  The vessel reeled like a drunken man, slid over the reef and struck again.  The command to back her off was given and she went astern at full speed but it was too late.  The water was pouring in like a mill race.  The wind swung the vessel’s stern to the beach and her head to the waves.  This saved many lives, as she was then swept back to the shore, and struck once again in such a position that she remained partially above the water and on an even keel.  Every wave washed clear over her and many people who hastily rushed on deck went to their death without time to murmur a prayer.  The order was given to get out the boats.  Two of them on the weather side were launched and were smashed like eggshells as soon as they struck the water.  Then came the attempt to get out the lee boats.  Purser O’Farrell took charge; four women and a number of men went into the boat.  I do not know how many, but she was practically full.  Just as they were lowering the davits broke, and the stern of the boat fell to the water while the bow hung in the air.  Everyone was precipitated into the sea and swept away in an instant.  For a second or two I caught a glimpse of an agonized face, then another, and yet another, as they were washed by me.  The waves dashing over the ship swept the deck loose, and every swell lifted it.  We clung to the rigging of the deckhouse.”

Willits goes on to describe tragic and horrific moments on the Valencia, “One of the most pitiable incidents was that of a little boy of about five years old.  His father, mother and two little sisters put off in one of the boats.  The boat was capsized and all were drowned.  The little fellow walked around the deck crying for his mother.  The last I saw of him he was clinging to the rigging.”  Who this little boy was is a bit of a mystery, though Sam Hancock, who survived on the Turret Raft reported who he remembered on the ship.  He mentions Mr. and Mrs. Ogle, with four children.  When he left the parents and their children were gone, but one little boy was still aboard.

Mr. and Mrs. Ogle was travelling with four children.  Her body was never found.  Hancock(Turret Island survivor chief cook) 26 Jan Daily Colonist p8:  He says he knew the following passengers and thinks they are gone:  Mr. and Mrs. Ogle, with four children.  When he left the parents and their children were gone but one little boy was still aboard.  The San Francisco Call on February 2nd, “The bodies were brought down from Victoria on the steamship Princess Beatrice, and included the remains of two children, supposed to be those of W.M. Ogle, who was lost with his wife and four children.”  Maybe this little boy was one of the Ogle children?

Willits continued, “Every swell carried away a portion of the ship, and the decks rose and fell with every breaker, and it was impossible to stay on deck without clinging to a support.  The ship was sunk to about the level of the hurricane deck.  In the morning another sad calamity occurred.  About fifteen or twenty persons, amongst them one or two women, and taken refuge in the foretopmast.  They appeared to be in the safest place, as it was removed from the wash of the waves, although the flying spray dashed over their heads.  Suddenly and without warning the mas tottered and fell with a crash, carrying its load of shrieking human freight to a terrible death.  I do not think a single one was saved.  Their bodies were washed from the ship and we could see them dashed against the rocks.  To add to our misery, the last of our food was washed away and we had not water to drink.  The wind and rain combined with the sea soon numbed us.  Every time one of those in the rigging would lose his hold he would be swept away to the sharp rocks.”