James Rolph (ship)

The "James Rolph" was a schooner that transported cargo around the West Coast and Hawaii. Built near Eureka, California in 1899, the ship was based in San Francisco and owned by its namesake, shipping executive and future Governor of California, James Rolph.

On the evening of August 2, 1910. the "Rolph" embarked from San Francisco with a cargo of general freight, lime, hay, and 14,000 board feet of lumber for sugar plantations in Hana, Hawaii on the island of Maui when the ship was swept by currents in San Francisco Bay in heavy fog. At 10 in the evening, the ship, blinded by the fog, sailed close to the shore, crashing into rocks at Point San Pedro in San Pablo Bay, grounding 50 feet from the shoreline. The "Rolph" was grounded at the same spot where the four-masted bark "Drumburton" had been lost previously in 1904. The "Rolph's" crew managed to reach shore safely without any injuries or loss of life, yet the vessel could not be pulled off the rocks. Tug boats attempted to haul the "Rolph" free but to no avail.

The "Rolph" was later stripped of usable fittings by salvage crews and abandoned.

External links

* [http://channelislands.noaa.gov/shipwreck/dbase/mbnms/jamesrolph.html Information on the wreck from NOAA.]