Debris from the wrecked steam schooner Yosemite litters Ocean Beach in February 1926.
Gales Driving in from the Pacific Ocean Left a Trail of Destruction
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Yosemite was a single-ended, 827-ton steam schooner. It was wrecked on February 7, 1926 near Point Reyes, approximately 30 miles (50 km) WNW of San Francisco. At the time of the wreck, it contained 25 tons of dynamite as cargo. After receiving a distress signal, the nearby schooner Willamette rescued the crew. Yosemite was then tugged to San Francisco, but detached from the tugboat and on February 8, 1926 drifted to Ocean Beach around Cliff House and broke apart on impact. Some speculated that the dynamite exploded, others believed that the schooner was broken by the surf. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that “Whatever the cause, the ship was splintered to atoms”. In the next few days, whatever was left from Yosemite was visited by “thousands of spectators who crowded the beach, picking up souvenirs and posing for pictures”.
Sources
Wikipedia
The Cliffhouse Project. http://www.cliffhouseproject.com/
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