Udal (II)

This vessel was wrecked in Portland Inlet in 1908. David Webber (Email to Nauticapedia 22/01/2019) states that "My great grandfather Rev. C.W. Webber served as the missionary on the Methodist mission ships Udal and Homespun from 1909-1910." David Webber (Email to Nauticapedia 22/01/2019) states "More on The Udal, which My great grandfather the Rev. C.W. Webber was a missionary in 1909. Udal is a Haida word which means “the dearest thing I possess” and was named for Captain William Oliver’s wife Anne, whom I believe was an indigenous woman. The 56 foot Udal was built and owned by Captain William Oliver in 1908.

He placed the ship at the disposal of the Methodist Church. This vessel served in Methodist missions on the BC coast from New Westminster to Stewart BC Canada. Her maiden voyage left New Westminster on December 22 1908 (see Godships page 69). According to Oliver Howard’s book the Godships, this vessel went down in 30 fathoms in the Portland Canal on the way from Stewart to Port Simpson on July 21st, 1909, 8 miles from Tombstone Bay Alaska after hitting uncharted rock. This vessel went down so fast that Captain William Oliver and my great grandfather escaped with just the clothes on their backs, and according to family lore, in my great grandfather’s case, a mouthorgan in his pocket. William Oliver suffered the loss as the Methodist Church did not officially own the Udal."