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The SS ''Admiral Sampson'' was an American-flagged cargo and passenger steamship that served a variety of owners between 1898 and 1914, when it was rammed by a Canadian passenger liner and sank in Puget Sound. Following its sinking off Point No Point, the ''Admiral Sampson'' has become a notable scuba diving destination for advanced recreational divers certified to use rebreathing equipment. The ''Admiral Sampson'' was one of several Admiral-class steamships built by William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the American Mail Steamship Company.〔DCS Films, ("Admiral Sampson." ) Retrieved Aug. 28, 2014.〕 Named in honor of U.S. Navy admiral William T. Sampson, the other ships in the class were the ''Admiral Dewey'', ''Admiral Schley'', and ''Admiral Farragut''. The ''Admiral Sampson'' was a steel-hulled, twin-propeller design with two upper decks constructed of wood, and a single smokestack.〔("Background information on the S.S. Admiral Sampson," ) www.scret.org. Retrieved Aug. 28, 2014.〕〔"The Pacific Steamship Company," The Pacific Marine Review. Volume 13, No. 11. San Francisco, Nov. 1916.〕 Ordered by the American Mail Steamship Company, it was put in the service of the United Fruit Company and made regular trips between Philadelphia and Caribbean Sea ports.〔Knowles, Valerie. "From Telegrapher to Titan: The Life of William C. Van Horne," Dundurn, 2004. pp. 337.〕 In February 1900, it came to the rescue of the U.S. Army transport ship ''McPherson'', which was disabled by a broken propeller shaft off Hampton Roads, Virginia.〔"Agreement for Towing A Disabled Transport," Decisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury, Vol. 7. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901. pp. 365.〕 In 1909, the Alaska Pacific Steamship Company acquired the ''Admiral Sampson'' and its sister ship, the ''Admiral Farragut'', as a result of its growing business on the West Coast shipping routes. Both ships were placed on the San Francisco-Puget Sound shipping route.〔 In 1912, the Alaska Pacific Steamship Company acquired the remaining Admiral-class steamships and merged with the Alaska Coast Company to form the Pacific-Alaska Navigation Company. The new company offered freight and passenger service between San Francisco and Puget Sound and Alaska ports as far north as Nome.〔 == Sinking == On the morning of August 26, 1914, the ''Admiral Sampson'' left Seattle en route to Juneau, Alaska with a full load of 160 passengers aboard. The weather was particularly foggy, and the ship's captain, Zimro Moore, ordered a slow crawl of 3 knots, extra lookouts, and the ship's whistle sounded at regular intervals. At the same time, the steamship ''Princess Victoria'' was inbound to Seattle with similar precautions in place.〔 Despite both ships' precautions, the ''Princess Victoria'' rammed the ''Admiral Sampson'' at 6:05 a.m. near Point No Point, 18 miles north of Seattle.〔("Liner Admiral Sampson Rammed and Sunk in Sound; Eleven Dead," ) ''The Seattle Star''. Aug. 26, 1914. Page 1. 〕 The ''Princess Victoria'' struck the ''Admiral Sampson'' broadside, near the ''Admiral Sampson''s after hatch, a spot about midway between amidships and the ship's stern. After realizing what had happened, Capt. P.J. Hickey of the ''Princess Victoria'' kept his ship's engines operating and pushed the ''Princess Victoria'' into the gash torn into the hull of the ''Admiral Sampson''. This action both reduced the amount of water rushing into the hole and allowed some of the ''Admiral Sampson''s passengers and crew to evacuate onto the ''Princess Victoria''.〔 Immediately after the collision, the ''Princess Victoria''s crew lowered that ship's lifeboats to aid the ''Admiral Sampson''s passengers and crew, as it was apparent that ship was sinking. Captain Moore ordered the same action aboard the ''Admiral Sampson'', but only one boat could be lowered in time as Moore sawed through its ropes with a pocketknife.〔Norton, Dee. ("Robot To Snag Items From Sunken Ship," ) The Seattle Times. Sept. 24, 1994. Retrieved Aug. 29, 2014.〕 Moore ordered that the passengers be dropped overboard for pickup by the lifeboats. He ordered the crew off the ship and said he would stay with the ship.〔Gaeng, Betty Lou. ("The Sinking of the Admiral Sampson," ) ''The Sounder''. Vol. 25, No. 2. Sno-Isle Genealogical Society, 2011. Retrieved Aug. 29, 2014.〕 In addition to tearing a gash that stretched below the ''Admiral Sampson''s waterline, the impact of the ''Princess Victoria'' ruptured several of the ''Admiral Sampson''s fuel tanks and started fires aboard the ship. The fires spread rapidly, and within 10 minutes, the ''Princess Victoria'' was forced to pull away from the ''Admiral Sampson''. Minutes afterward, the ''Admiral Sampson'' broke in half and sank with seven passengers, seven crewmen and Captain Moore still aboard.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SS Admiral Sampson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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