Uzbekistan

The Heritagegateway.org.uk stated "Lend-Lease - The 'lease-lend' terms under most of these were transferred meant that 'the owner supplied the ship, but the charterer [supplied and equipped] the vessel with all fuel, chandlery, hardware . . . and other expendable supplies. When the ship [was] returned to the owner, a reverse adjustment [was] made for fuel and supplies which remain[ed] on board." The Uzbekistan was a freighter turned over to the Soviet government (Northern Soviet Supply Service) under lend-lease arrangements. Originally built in France this vessel had been recently rebuilt in Portland Oregon and fitted for icebreaking. On April 30, 1943 this vessel was travelling from Portland OR to Seattle WA when this vessel went ashore just west of the mouth of Darling Creek 2.5 miles east of Pachena Point. All navigational lights on the coast were blacked out after the shelling by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1942 of the Estevan Lighthouse. This vessel went aground at Pachena Point presumably due to a navigational error. After hitting the shore, the crew began firing their guns presumably to attract attention. Residents of the coast hearing the gunfire were fearful of another Japanese attack. The ship was so firmly grounded that the crew walked ashore at low tide. After waiting in vain on the beach for rescue after several days they walked out on the Lifesaving Trail.to Bamfield. The vessel was quickly vandalized and looted. Traces of the ship's boilers and machinery can still be seen at low water at the edge of the reef and on the beach at the mouth of the Darling Creek.