USC & GS Carlile P . Patterson The USC & GS " Carlile P . Patterson " was a survey ship of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in operation between 1883 and 1918 . Subsequently she had a brief period of naval service and fifteen seasons as a merchant vessel before she was wrecked on the Alaska coast in 1938 . Construction . The " Patterson " was named for Carlile Pollock Patterson , fourth Superintendent of the Coast Survey and first of the Coast and Geodetic Survey . " The New York Times " credited the design to Commander Colby Mitchell Chester , USN , at that time Hydrographic Inspector in USC & GS . Naval architect Samuel Hartt Pook , U . S . Naval Constructor , was credited with supervising the drawings . She was built of wood in James D . Leary ' s yard at Williamsburg ( Brooklyn ) New York . Frames were white oak with cedar tops ; planking , beams and lower deck were yellow pine , the upper deck was white pine . Her hull was fitted with iron diagonal braces , and five watertight bulkheads ( 3 wood , 2 iron ) . Power was a Cross compound vertical steam engine ( one source reports 356 hp , another source says 215 ihp ; this difference may represent different calculation or measurement methods ) and she could carry 133 tons of coal as fuel . Her machinery was constructed by Neafie & Levy of Philadelphia . She was rigged as a barkentine with double topsail yards ; standing rigging was galvanized charcoal - iron wire . Her boats were two steam launches , two cutters , two whaleboats , and a dinghy . Her deckhouse , 13 x 62 ft , included the engine and boiler rooms , galley , pantry , and a drafting room . She carried a Sigsbee piano - wire sounding machine , state - of - the - art for deep - water hydrography , holding five miles of wire . Lieutenant Richardson Clover , USN , supervised construction and became her first commander . Federal career . The " Patterson " departed Hampton Roads for the west coast on July 30 , 1884 . She traveled by way of the Straits of Magellan , with stops at Madeira , Rio de Janeiro , Montevideo , Punta Arenas , Valparaíso , Callao , Panama , San Diego , and Santa Barbara . She arrived at San Francisco February 13 , 1885 , and immediately began preparations for her first season of surveying . She left for Sitka April 26 and began survey work May 27 . The " Patterson " was primarily used as a survey vessel off the coast of Alaska and numerous Alaskan features were named by the assorted crews of the steamer . She also served in other west - coast locations and in the Hawaiian Islands . In 1914 , she found and rescued 26 members of the crew of the USRC " Tahoma " after that ship struck an uncharted reef in the Aleutians and sank . In 1918 , the " Patterson " was transferred to the United States Navy for use as a patrol ship during the last months of World War I . She was renamed " Forward " August 15 , 1918 , and performed both patrol and hydrographic duties in Alaska and off the Mexican coast . Subsequently she was returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1919 . The Survey judged she was no longer strong enough for offshore use , and too slow for cost - effective hydrographic work , so she was sold . She was out of service several years . Merchant career . In 1924 , the Washington Tug and Barge Co . sold the " Patterson " to C . K . West Co . of Portland Oregon who converted her to a motorship for operation along the Oregon coast ; the steam engine was replaced with a diesel , probably the four - cylinder Bolinder engine she had in 1930 . It was probably at this time or a year later that she underwent a substantial rebuilding . Her deckhouse , bowsprit and eventually also her mizzenmast were removed , her bow was reshaped , and the fore and main masts were replaced with , or reduced to , pole masts . A stern deckhouse and superstructure were constructed . These changes are evident in the photos of the 1938 shipwreck ( this article and external links ) and in a 1930 photo taken at Herschel Island . In 1925 , the " Patterson " was purchased by the Northern Whaling and Trading Company . From then through 1936 she operated as an Arctic trading ship under Captain Christian Theodore Pedersen , operating between San Francisco and Herschel Island with stops along the Alaska coast . Subsequently she was sold to the Alaska Patterson Co . which operated her for freight service . Shipwreck . The " Patterson " was wrecked December 11 , 1938 , going ashore in surf and blinding rain 8 miles northwest of Cape Fairweather in the Gulf of Alaska , near the mouth of Sea Otter Creek . She was en route from Kodiak to Seattle when she went aground . The first mate and a crewman drowned in attempts to get the crew to shore ; the 18 survivors remained in the vessel until the tide went out , then reached the beach where they subsisted on supplies dropped from airplanes . Two men were flown out by Alaska pilot Sheldon Simmons who made a daring float plane landing in the creek . The remaining men hiked out to Lituya Bay with a guide left by Simmons ' s plane and were picked up there by Navy planes and the Coast Guard cutter " Haida " . Most of the cargo was salvaged by barge the next spring . The " Patterson " was reportedly beaten to pieces by the surf .