Skill, stout shipbuilding kept wreck fatality-free

Published: May 10, 2024, 2 p.m.

b'Really, the only reason the U.S.S. Peacock didn\\u2019t break into pieces and drown all hands within hours of slamming into the sand was that it was a United States Navy ship. That meant it was crewed by some of the best-trained sailors in the world, and built solidly enough for iron shot to bounce off its sides. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1840s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1911a.peacock-spit-shipwreck.html)'