Shipwreck Database

Goldenhorn

Russell and Co. of Greenock, England, built Goldenhorn for J.R. de Wolf and Son in 1883. Home port for Goldenhorn was Liverpool. Goldenhorn was the middle of three sister ships, preceded by the Matterhorn in 1882 and followed by the Silberhorn in 1884. These three vessels were built to the same plan, with relatively minor improvements effected in the later versions. Originally ship rigged, Goldenhorn became a bark by 1886. Silberhorn vanished at sea in 1907; Matterhorn foundered off Umatilla Reef in 1909.

Goldenhorn was a typical medium clipper (Lubbock 1927:244), a vessel only slightly slower than the classic extreme clipper ship of the 1850's and 1860's, but considerably more capacious. Medium clippers were not as large, however, as vessels constructed later in the nineteenth century. A typical capacity for these medium clippers was 1800 tons, while later vessels ranged up to 8000 tons. A bark rig, with a fourth (spanker) mast rigged fore and aft in contrast to the square sails on the three forward masts improved maneuverability, and did not require as large a crew. Ships like the Goldenhorn show a workable accommodation of speed, cargo capacity, and ease and economy of operation.

The accounting records, or "Cost Book" for Goldenhorn have survived and provide detailed information about the specifics of the "No. 60 ship." Five hundred and seventeen blocks of various sizes, all specified, were consumed in rigging the vessel, as well as four mast head trucks, two deep sea reels, one log reel, and two ship's logs. Goldenhorn came equipped with three Rodger's anchors and three considerably lighter ordinary anchors with more than 200 fathoms of anchor chain. Rodger's Anchors, developed about 1830, were stronger than traditional anchors by a virtue of a wood core shank. There were three main varieties of this anchor. Listed accessories include a twelve inch brass bell engraved "Goldenhorn," a smaller six-inch bell, four ship's boats, "one handsome cabin stove," a stove for the forecastle, and a six-foot cooking range, lightning conductors, at least 11 compasses, a "brass sounding machine," a brass foghorn and a brass speaking trumpet, nine gimbeled oil lamps, a fire engine with hose, and weapons - a six pounder line gun on carriage, twenty-five breech loading rifles with bayonets, handcuffs and leg irons, twelve boarding pikes, two Colts revolvers and appropriate ammunition, - and 12 large rockets and twelve blue lights for distress signals.

Also detailed are the carpenter stores - cut nails, copper nails, oakum, portland cement, deck bolts, and rivets etc., as well as bedding, cutlery, glass and crockery. Suppliers equipped Goldenhorn with flags, canvas, medicine chest supplies, mirrors, water casks and buckets (including 10 brass fire buckets), and ropes and hawsers, ranging in size from four-inch steel hawsers to whipping twine and marline.

The iron plates, angles, and bulb stock that comprise the ship along with the keel, stem, sternpost and rudder forgings are listed, as well as 86 hold stanchions and eight hold ladders. Rivets are itemized, in sizes from 5/8 to 7/8 inch. Tradesmen working on the vessel included fitters and platers, rivetters, carpenters, smiths, caulkers and holeborers, joiners, laborers, painters, polishers, and a plumber who installed two single valve water closets, one hopper water closet, and two iron urinals.

Even an iron ship needs wood. Goldenhorn consumed 102 logs of yellow pine, 40 logs of teak, and smaller amounts of pitch pine, red pine, mahogany, American Elm, "E. Elm," fernheart, veneers, sparring, deals, flooring, and spruce spars.

Finally Goldenhorn launched on 9 January 1883:

As the vessel glided off the ways into her element, she was christened the Goldenhorn by Mrs. Roger, wife of one of the Directors of the firm of Russel and Co....There was a large company at the launch and the cake and wine service afterwards the usual toasts were proposed (Greenock Telegraph and Greenock Advertiser 1883).

The Cost Book records the expenditure of four pounds, sixpence to "J B Morrisons for luncheon" under the heading of Launch Expenses.

According to Lloyd's Registry of 1891, Goldenhorn rated "*100A1," the highest possible, and carried a crew of 26. At least one photograph exists of the working vessel.

The Wreck

Goldenhorn hauled coal on its last voyage from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, to San Pedro, California for eventual use by the Southern Pacific Railroad. While other details of previous voyages and log are unknown, Goldenhorn would probably have departed California with a load of grain for European ports and had probably done so on other voyages.

Goldenhorn wrecked on offshore rocks along the southwest coast of Santa Rosa Island the evening of September 12, l892. The vessel, sailing in heavy fog, was unable to maneuver away from the island when the wind failed and the current carried Goldenhorn to shore. At the board of inquiry held later in the month, Captain Dunn stated that by dead reckoning he placed himself 15 miles from the east part of Santa Rosa Island. Land was seen at 6 PM and was estimated to be 14 miles away. Driven by a strong current and heavy swell and hindered by a dense fog which sprang up, the vessel struck at 8:10 PM (Los Angeles Times 20 Sep 1892). The vessel struck bow first, although by the time the crew had taken to boats, "she was completely gutted aft" (Haller 1985). After the vessel struck, soundings showed six fathoms on the port side and four-and-one-half on the starboard (Los Angeles Times 20 Sep 1892). The crew abandoned all personal effects on the vessel, eventually rowing to Santa Barbara via Becher's Bay in the two 25 foot ship's boats (SBMP 15 Sep 1892).

When the British Vice Consul in Los Angeles, Mr. Mortimer, arrived at Santa Barbara to head the board of inquiry, he "paid off the men of the Goldenhorn giving each man his choice to either stop at Santa Barbara or be sent to the nearest port where he would be likely to find an opportunity to ship home" (LAT 16 Sep 1892). A week later, "A petition is in circulation to raise a purse for Captain Dunn of the wrecked vessel Goldenhorn. The captain lost everything in the loss of the vessel" (LAT 23 Sep 1892). A local tradition holds that several of the crew settled in the Santa Barbara area, although the newspapers record that everyone left town just a few weeks after the wreck.

At the board of inquiry, four members of the crew, including the First and Second Mates, corroborated the captain's statements and testified that the "influence of liquor" was not a factor in the wreck. The board exonerated Captain Dunn and the crew, calling attention to strong uncharted currents in the area.

The very evening the shipwrecked crew of Goldenhorn arrived in Santa Barbara, the schooner Genovia set out for the wreck, returning two days later with the report that "her stern is caved in and the upheaval of the cargo has splintered the deck in many places and the whole aspect is one of ruin and destruction." Some salvage is known to have occurred. The schooner Ruby brought back some rigging saved from the wreck on 20 September (LAT 21 Sep 1892), reporting that the vessel was broken in two between the fore and main masts. By 25 September, the wreck had been sold to a San Francisco firm and the Ruby had returned with three anchors, ropes and sails from the wreck. Soon a salvage tug from San Francisco blew up some of the hull with powder. Some of the proceeds of the sale of these items were going to help the unfortunate Captain Dunn.

Although the vessel was abandoned quickly, the references above clearly show that the wreck was visited on numerous occasions and that many items were removed, mostly those that were easily recovered and broadly useful. We can be sure much equipment came off the wreck which was not mentioned in the newspaper accounts.

Archeology

The wreck of Goldenhorn lies in relatively shallow water off the southwest coast of Santa Rosa Island, surrounded by rocks and shoals which pose a significant hazard for vessels attempting to anchor directly over the broken vessel. Wave action has flattened and shattered the vessel's hull and ground it down into prominent rocks. When mapping of the wreckage began in 1985, Bill Yznaca, captain of the Truth at that time, had commented that what the charts show as a wash rock in the vicinity of the Goldenhorn may have been a portion of the wreckage which was among the last to be flattened.

Archaeologists record the frames of the Goldenhorn creating an historic record of the site.
Courtesy: Larry Murphy

It is clear that portions of the wreck have slipped away during the years. Absent are brass and other yellow metal fittings in places where such items should occur, such as the cap of the anchor capstan near the bow of the vessel. Glenn Miller, who discovered the wreckage in the 1960's, recovered brass name plates from the vessel giving its identity. Much anchor chain is missing, among other items. Yet a great deal of all parts of the vessel remains, including quantities of the wire rigging.

The largest single piece of the vessel is an 83 foot section of bottom hull, which is virtually flat, with no noticeable deadrise. The hull is broken at the turn of the bilge on both sides. There is an I-beam centerline keelson, two side stringers (keelsons) of T bulb bar stock, and two bilge keelsons constructed of the same material as the side stringers. The side stringers have intercostal plates, the centerline and bilge keelsons do not. The floor frames are on two foot centers and hull stanchion sockets are located on every fourth frame, either between the centerline and side keelsons or between the side stringers and bilge keelsons.

A mast step, probably for the mizzen, is set on the centerline keelson. To the west and further offshore in slightly deeper water are fragments of the stern. The stern section lies on its starboard side with the spanker mast step and hold stanchion on the centerline keelson. Floor frames remain below the keelson, still fixed to the solid keel of the ship. The presence of the mast step indicates this section of the vessel is from that portion of the hull forward of the deep floors that are just forward of the sternpost. The rudder post with the bow of the rudder, rudder trunk, stuffing box, and tiller attached lie near the stern hull section. The rudder was apparently wood with an iron frame.

Close by is the patent steering gear, minus the wheel which is said to have been removed by divers. In the Cost Book this is described as "one set improved screw steering gear having spindle 5" diam. Mal iron crosshead, cast iron backstand and topper with black connecting rods, brass bushing backstand and swivel bush." There are also fragments of iron decking and boat davits in the area.

Except for 20 to 30 feet of collapsed bow, no more hull bottom appears, other than the major piece discussed above, so about half of the hull bottom of this vessel has been found. Most of the missing hull would have been forward of the main mast, the very area where the vessel broke initially. About 130 feet of hull side occur in the mapped wreckage. Roughly 430 feet of hull side remains unlocated.

A sixty foot section of probable port side hull lies in slightly more shallow water inshore and east of the main piece. There are two stringers between the bilge line and the main deck level. The two stringers are constructed similarly to the side keelsons. The side frames are channel bar stock. This piece of hull side contains attached deck beams and deck shelf. There are diagonal tie plates of flat stock above the deck beams. The main deck, now open, was decked with wood. There is also a hull section that could be from the starboard side of the vessel. A twelve to fifteen foot section contains articulated hanging knees, deck, bulwarks, and cap rail. This section appears to be broken at the main deck level.

In this general vicinity, probably near the location of the galley, a number of bricks can be found. One brick, recovered from a wreck thief in 1987, bore the inscription "Glenboig," identifying as the product of the Glenboig Brick Company, Glenboig, Scotland, a small community near Glasgow. Surprisingly, no fire bricks are listed in the Cost Book for the Goldenhorn nor is there a record of any transaction with the Glenboig Brick Company. Perhaps these bricks were incorporated into the "galley stove, complete" which was installed in the vessel. Mortar adhering to these bricks indicates that they were part of the vessel and not simply cargo.

Still further inshore lies the bow section with the cutwater laid over with the starboard side of the bow turned up, clearly showing a single portside hawse hole. This is the most evident piece of exterior hull plating extant in the wreckage. Nearby lie one of two capstans mentioned in the Cost Book. Prominent here are three large fragments of the foremast, including the lower trestle tree and the lower yard with truss. Also present is one of the catheads, and an iron section of deck with a hole for the foremast.

Considerable wire rigging remains snarled and tangled about the wreck, as well as fragments of masts. Yards occur in the vicinity of all masts except the spanker. A boom for this mast was not located, nor has the fourth mast or its step been found. Given what we know about the salvage activities just after the wreck, it is likely that the spanker boom would have been removed, as it would have been readily usable on local schooners.

Additional material from Goldenhorn has turned up along the nearby shore of Santa Rosa Island as a result of recent archeological surveys. A prominent stockpile of coal perches on a coastal terrace one kilometer southeast of the main wreckage. The individual pieces of coal are rounded by wave action which would have occurred as the cargo spilled out of the vessel and tumbled onshore. This stockpile is close to heaps of black abalone shells and two stacks of lumber, all suggestive of Chinese abalone fishing activity. Since Chinese fishermen stalked the intertidal zone, the new fuel source was easy to gather.

The timbers in these two stockpiles also seem to derive from Goldenhorn. They are fresh and unworn, still containing patches of paint. Plugged fastener holes suggest that most of these pieces are wooden trim. Two pieces are fragmentary hatch covers. They match hatch covers laid down for a platform at another site on the island about half a mile away. Morris and Lima