page_title: Clallam (steamboat)
section_title: Last seen in distress
hierarchical_section_title: Clallam (steamboat) / Sinking / Last seen in distress
caption_attribution_description: photograph of George Roberts, Puget Sound steamboat captain
context_page_description: The steamboat Clallam operated for about six months from July 1903 to January 1904 in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. She was sunk in a storm on what should have been an ordinary voyage to Victoria, British Columbia.
context_section_description: On the morning of Friday, January 8, 1904, Clallam left Tacoma on her regular run, in command of Capt. George Roberts, then 55 years old and a veteran of 29 years marine service.  She picked up passengers and freight, first in Seattle, then Port Townsend, where she cleared customs, then at 12:15 departed Port Townsend, heading north across the Strait of Juan de Fuca bound for Victoria.  Clallam should have reached Victoria at about 4:00 p.m.
  The wind was rising as she left, and eventually reached speeds of up to 36 miles (58 km) an hour in the Straits and up to 60 miles (97 km) an hour further west at Tatoosh Island at the entrance to the strait.  Still, Clallam nearly reached safety, as about 5:00 p.m. she was seen from the Canada coast, near Trial Island dead in the water and rolling heavily.  Afterwards she was observed to be running eastwards before the wind, away from Vancouver Island towards the San Juan Islands.
caption: Capt. George Roberts (photograph taken before 1895)
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