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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 5 |
| 1858 | 3 |
| 1859 | 3 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 2 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 42 |
| 1877 | 35 |
| 1878 | 17 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 13 |
| 1882 | 8 |
| 1883 | 30 |
| 1884 | 9 |
| 1885 | 36 |
| 1886 | 22 |
| 1887 | 25 |
| 1888 | 13 |
| 1889 | 28 |
| 1890 | 7 |
| 1891 | 44 |
| 1892 | 85 |
| 1893 | 76 |
| 1894 | 60 |
| 1895 | 78 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 22 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 44 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 7 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 6 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1924 | 2 |
750 stories matching vessel
- Seattle's Bid to Be the Liverpool of America
In 1895, boosters imagined a Lake Washington ship canal turning Puget Sound into a freshwater harbor for world commerce, coal trade, and naval power.
- Fifty Dollars for a Clean Bill of Health
A quarantine officer charged a sealing schooner $50 to steam over and inspect her — and shipping men say the fee was less public health than protection money.
- The Dead Horses That Taught Tacoma How to Raise Sunken Ships
A Tacoma patent company says its collapsible air bags can lift wrecks from the sea floor—a trick supposedly inspired by a bloated boatload of horses in the Ohio River. Investors are already fighting over the fortune.
- Forty-Five Days From Hongkong: Seattle's New Orient Steamer Docks With Sugar, Rice and Bananas
The steel freighter Palmas, first ship on the Union Pacific's new Puget Sound–Orient run, fills Yesler's wharf with Chinese and Japanese goods and Hawaiian fruit — after her captain carries two mutinous sailors in irons halfway across the Pacific to face a court held on a Victoria wharf.
- The Ghost of the Gatherer: A Captain’s Suicide Haunted by His Own Cruelty
Decades after a horrific voyage where officers maimed and murdered sailors to escape their 'demoniac' captain, the master of the ship dies by suicide in Puget Sound, fulfilling a prophecy of vengeance.
- The Steamer That Smuggled Opium in Sauerkraut Barrels
A federal seizure of the Walla Walla reveals a shocking loophole: how Pacific Coast Steamship Company executives claim 'skid grease' shipments were actually opium, and why customs officials looked the other way.
- The Ship That Smuggled Opium: How a Legal Loophole Freed a Vessel and $13,000 in Penalties
Judge Hanford rules that the steamer *Walla Walla* is not liable for contraband found in its cargo because the master lacked knowledge of the smuggling, setting a precedent for common carriers.
- The Tax Trap: How a Federal Order Threatened Seattle’s Revenue
In 1876, a bureaucratic directive from Washington D.C. threatened to drain King County of its maritime tax base by forcing all vessels to 'hail' from Port Townsend, sparking fears of financial ruin for local developers.
- The Coal That Changed Seattle: How an Australian Strike Starved the Lumber Trade
A labor dispute halfway across the world brought Pacific Northwest shipping to a halt, sending freight rates soaring and leaving local merchants scrambling for tonnage.
- An Odd English Collier Sails In, and the Wharves Fill to See Her
The first ship of the new Great Eastern line ties up at Baker's wharf after eighteen days from Yokohama, carrying tea, matting and curios — and no passenger cabins at all.
- The Cabin Boy Who Escaped a Shipwreck
A teenage runaway from England found adventure, fire, and a new life in Tacoma after deserting his vessel.
- The Man Who Crushed His Hand: A Seaman’s $3,000 Fight for Justice in Seattle
In the early days of Washington Territory, a sailor named Robert Johnson sued a ship’s captain and his vessel after a workplace accident left him permanently disabled. It was one of the first major labor lawsuits heard in the new federal court.
- The Lost Schooner's Dark Secret
A confession in Victoria reveals the brutal fate of two missing vessels and their crews.
- The Wreck of the Lily Grace
After surviving a harrowing gale and the total loss of his ship near Cape Flattery, a sea captain washes up in Seattle to recount a battle against the elements.
- The Fiery End of the Bark 'Hark Hope'
After failing to extinguish a mystery fire in the cargo hold, the crew of a Honolulu-bound vessel was forced to sink their own ship to save it from complete destruction.
- Norwegian Ship Enters Seattle, Sparking Consular Dispute
A Norwegian ship’s docking in Port Blakeley triggers a jurisdictional tug-of-war between competing consuls and the race to capture maritime trade.
- Two Seattle Shipmates and the Hurricane That Sank a Fleet
Capt. D. Mullan and cigar-store owner L. S. Borchers, survivors of the 1889 Samoan cyclone, met in Seattle and remembered the Nipsic's escape.
- A Timber From the Lost Collier: Wreckage of the Montserrat Comes Ashore at Cape Flattery
Six feet of painted stanchion, dragged from the sea off Tatoosh Island, convinces veteran mariners that the missing coal ship Montserrat has finally given up a piece of herself.
- The Tragic Wreck of the Ferndale
Twenty men perished when the British iron bark Ferndale was driven onto the beach near Grays Harbor during the most violent storm ever recorded on the Washington coast.
- The Octopus and the Seal: A Local Captain’s War Against a Washington Monopoly
In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.
- They Promised Clean Bunks and Good Food. The Sailors Knew Better.
At a longshoremen's meeting in Tacoma, a delegate described how ship's officers lured landsmen aboard with false promises — and told of a sailor who drowned swimming for shore rather than sail on the Henry Failing.
- The Tragic Wreck of the Steamer Tacoma
Captain George D. Korts faces an official inquiry into the catastrophic loss of the vessel, revealing a series of navigational errors and failed rescue attempts.
- Eight Dead, and the Steamboat Owners Owe Only $3,500
A federal judge in Seattle limits the Annie Faxon's liability after a Snake River boiler explosion, extending an old maritime rule to inland steamboats.
- The Hoodooed Ship That Left Three Dead
At Port Townsend, sailors call the Linlithgowshire cursed after a third officer is killed—and the ship’s recent history makes the word stick.
- Merchants Win Trade Battle as 'Loo Sok' Docks in Seattle
A British steamer brings tea and silk to Schwabacher's wharf after Seattle merchants protest Tacoma-only landings.
Also about this, in other words
- Tree Limb Crashes Through Steamboat Cabin
A dangerous commute on the Snohomish River leaves a steamer damaged and its passengers shaken after a low-hanging tree limb shears the cabin roof.
- The Narrow Escape of the Ship Spartan
A historic vessel remains in Port Townsend Bay, a survivor of a devastating waterfront fire that nearly cost its captain his life.
- The Jefferson Prepares for its Launching
Engineer George Lent prepares for the upcoming launch of the steamer Jefferson at the Port Townsend shipyards.
- A Maritime Collision in Port Townsend
A federal judge rules both a Norwegian bark and an American steamer are at fault for a late-night crash at the harbor entrance.
- The Tyrant of the High Seas: A Sailor’s Knife vs. a Mate’s Revolver
In a dramatic trial before U.S. Commissioner D.S. Smith, witnesses describe how the first mate of the brig *Sampson* beat a sailor into paralysis with an iron bar and revolver, sparking outrage over maritime abuse.
- A New Titan Hits the Tacoma Waterfront
Thousands gathered in the rain to witness the grand launch of the steamship Jefferson, a marvel of local industry.
- The Steamer Gerome Opens a New Era for River Trade
A historic steamboat navigates the treacherous rapids of the Columbia River, bringing a new lifeline of commerce to Kennewick.
- The Mystery of the Capsized Sloop Martha
A maritime mystery unfolds near Marrowstone Point after the steamer George E. Starr discovers an abandoned, overturned vessel.