Canadian Exporter

In 1921 this vessel ran up on a reef at Shoalwater bay near Aberdeen Washington USA. This vessel was carrying a load of lumber from the H.R. MacMillan Export Company enroute Vancouver & Portland to the orientand they in turn salvaged the ship and its cargo for the insurance company turning around a large quick profit. "Heavy fog was the cause of the grounding and loss of the Canadian Merchant Marine freighter Canadian Exporter at the Willapa Harbor entrance on 1 Aug. 1921. En route for Portland from Vancouver BC to complete a lumber cargo for the Orient, this vessel struck the beach and efforts to back her off were unsuccessful, as were later attempts to free her by the bar tug Wallula and the BC salvage steamer Algerine. Heavy surf caused her to work heavily in the sand and her back was soon broken. The crews of the salvage vessels were convinced of ghostly doings when the steam whistle of the deserted wreck suddenly began a series of eerie blasts. Investigation showed that the apparently supernatural occurrence was the result of the sagging of the severed forward section of the vessel, which alternately tightened and slackened the whistle cord. The underwriters sold the wreck to H. R. MacMillan and Percy Sills of Vancouver, who made arrangements with Hugh Delanty of the Grays Harbor Stevedoring Co for skilled workers to assist in salvaging fittings and cargo. Although considerable material was recovered, the costs of the operation were high and the salvage efforts were not a financial success." From: H. W. McCurdy's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, Newell; Superior, (1966).