On October 25 1906 Captain H. Lawrence of the Peter Iredale was awaiting a pilot boat at the mouth of the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. The ship was under a British flag and was to pick up a cargo of wheat.

On that day, there was heavy fog, wind, and a strong current that pushed the Peter Iredale into the breakers and the ship ran aground at Clatsop Beach. The ship hit so hard that it was reported three of her masts snapped.

None of the crew were injured and Captain Lawrence and his officers were cleared of any wrongdoing by a British Navel Court.

The shipwreck became an instant attraction and remains so to this day. Time has eroded the ship to just the bow and a few steel pieces jutting from the sand.

Information paraphrased from the Oregon Historical Society article “The Wreck of the Peter Iredale” written by Cain Allen 2006.

My son and I visited the Wreck in August of 2020 and had to wait sometime in order for people to clear away from the remains in order to capture a few images. The wreck is one of many along the Oregon Coast and is one of the easiest to access.