Ituna, Former Luxury Steam Yacht, Discovered 95 Years after Loss
On March 13, 1920, the 34-year-old Ituna was en route from San Francisco to Reedsport, Oregon when a gale hit and split its seams. While 12 of its 14 crew members escaped, two went down with the vessel when it sank in a matter of minutes. Now, the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and its partners have used a remotely operated vehicle and an autonomous underwater vehicle to collect high-definition video footage, still images and side scan sonar data of this historic ship.
Passenger cargo steamship Ituna dockside circa 1917, owned by the Mexican Navigation & Commercial Company.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00616gs
Luxury steam yacht Ituna, underway at sea circa 1892.
Credit: Robert Schwemmer, Maritime Library
Ship’s plans of the passenger cargo steamship Ituna circa 1917 when it was owned by the Mexican Navigation & Commercial Company.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park HDC0128-0547-006
Bow view of the passenger cargo steamship Ituna dockside circa 1917, when it was owned by the Mexican Navigation & Commercial Company.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00619gs
Stern view of the passenger cargo steamship Ituna dockside circa 1917, when it was owned by the Mexican Navigation & Commercial Company.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00622gs
Ituna factsheet.
Credit: NOAA
Steam otter trawler fishing vessel Ituna dockside circa 1918, when it was owned by Frank E. Booth Company of San Francisco, California.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00618gs
Ship’s plans of the steam otter trawler fishing vessel Ituna circa 1919, when it was owned by Frank E. Booth Company of San Francisco, California.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park HDC0128-0547-011
Students aboard the steam otter trawler fishing vessel Ituna dockside circa 1918. The young men and women pictured were members of a University of California class in marine engineering and naval architecture and were performing an inclining experiment on board. The class lecturer, David W. Dickie, was a shipbuilder involved in the modifications to the trawler.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00626gs
The Associated Oil Company’s tanker S. S. W. S. Porter transported 12 survivors from the San Francisco Lightship and brought them safely to San Francisco, California after their fishing trawler Ituna foundered on March 13, 1920 north of the lightship.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, J07.21,289p
Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 1920
Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 1920
Multibeam sonar image of the otter trawler fishing vessel Ituna on the sea floor, processed by Gary Fabian in 2015.
Credit: Jim Gray Family
Cyril Poissonnett of Teledyne SeaBotix deploying an AUV to conduct side scan sonar survey of shipwreck Ituna.
Credit: Denise Jaffke, NOAA
Side scan sonar image of shipwreck Ituna casting a shadow on the sea floor.
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
Cyril Poissonnett of Teledyne SeaBotix and Michael Carver of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries aboard the R/V Fulmar launching the Teledyne SeaBotix vLBV300 ROV to conduct a video survey of the shipwreck Ituna.
Credit: Robert Schwemmer, NOAA
The clipper-ship bow of the former luxury steam yacht Ituna provided positive identification of the shipwreck. The shipwreck has been colonized by multiple marine species, including giant green anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) and white plumose anemones (Metridium farcimen).
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
The elliptic stern of the former luxury steam yacht Ituna provided positive identification of the shipwreck. The shipwreck has been colonized by multiple marine species, including giant green anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) and white plumose anemones (Metridium farcimen).
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
Otter trawl windlass located at the stern of the shipwreck steam trawler Ituna.
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
The triple expansion steam engine built for the steam yacht Ituna by A. & J. Inglis in 1886 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
Ituna was en route to Reedsport, Oregon with a cargo of concrete when it sank. The concrete was found hardened in the forward and aft cargo holds.
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
