Description
Payment must be made within 3 days of the end of auction. I have been collecting RPPCs and other Real Photos, mostly maritime related, for 25 years. I'm now thinning my collection a bit so check back often to see new listings or check the "Follow This Seller" button. I combine shipping for multi-wins. For multi-wins, please wait for an Ebay invoice from me before making payment. Happy bidding! Steamer DORA: The Dora was a small but valiant steamship that delivered freight, mail and passengers along the "westward" coast of Alaska between 1880 and 1920. Early in her career, she earned the nickname The Big Little because of her ability to survive the Aleutian Chain and Bering Sea mega-storms, just as well as the larger ships. One newspaper described her as a tough little marine bulldog with more lives than a black cat, but most of all, this historic steamer was famous for rescuing hundreds of people during her 40 continuous years in Alaska waters. The Dora was designed by well known California shipbuilder, Captain Matthew Turner. She had a 112' hull and a 27' beam, all made of Douglas Fir. Her gross tonnage was 320, while her net tonnage was 217. Built specifically for the Alaska Commercial Company, the ship was powered by a compound steam engine manufactured by the William Deacon Iron Works Company. The Dora's first assignment in Alaska, was to transport seal skins from the Pribilof Islands to San Francisco for the Alaska Commercial Company. She hauled 12,000 seal skins in 1880, 15,000 in 1881 and another 15,000 in 1882. Late in 1899 the Dora collided with an iceberg, in Cross Sound, while on her way to Juneau. The ship was leaking badly and the crew was waist deep in water by the time she got to shore. A temporary patch was applied and the seemingly unflappable crew of the Dora, continued on to Juneau where she was repaired properly. In 1905, the SS Dora was sold to the Northwestern Commercial Company (a holding company for the Northwest Fisheries 12 canneries and the Alaska Steamship Companies 12 ships). Four years later, a group of east coast businessmen, known as the "Alaska Syndicate" (financed by J.P. Morgan and the Guggenheim family), purchased controlling interest in a long list of Alaska businesses including the Northwestern Commercial Company, but the Dora continued on her monthly mail route from Valdez to Unalaska. When the Dora left Valdez in January of 1906, she ran into heavy seas just west of Kodiak but managed to make her regular ports of call as far as Cold Bay. Huge waves crashed over the Dora's deck and tossed her hard enough to dislodge her boiler by 8", which then bent and burst the steam pipe, leaving the ship without power. The crew raised the ships sails, but ice quickly encased the rigging as well as the sails, leaving the ship adrift. Sixty three days after her nightmare began, and LONG after she was given up for lost, the Dora was spotted, under shredded sails, near the Strait of Juan de Fuca and was towed to Port Angeles for repairs. Late in the fall of 1909, the Dora was badly damaged by pack ice in the Bering Sea. She was leaking badly, but managed to limp back to Seward where she was temporarily patched back together before steaming off to Seattle for more permanent repairs. While she was being repaired in Seattle, the SS Farallon assumed the Dora's mail route, although she didn't fare well. While dropping off a passenger near the entrance to Iliamna Bay, the 158' long, 700 ton Farallon struck Black Reef and foundered one mile off shore. Her 38 passengers made it safely off of the ship, but were not rescued for over a month (January 1910) because no one could find the ship. She was covered with ice, making her nearly invisible from a distance. In December of 1912, the SS Dora and the SS Uncle Sam were tied up at the Seward docks when an unexpected gale force wind came in overnight. The storm tore the ships loose from their moorings and forced them up onto the beach. Heavy seas ran for days and filled the Dora with sand and water. Waves also packed sand around the exterior of the ship, making it impossible to move her. After the storm passed, hundreds of man hours were spent trying to re-float the Dora. Even the SS Mariposa, which was three times larger than the Dora, tried to pull her off of the beach, but failed. A Seward newspaper wrote, "Practically all hope of saving the Dora has been abandoned by her owners and the historic vessel will, in all probability, end her career on the Seward beach and be turned over to the underwriters." Evidently, the newspaper gave up too quickly on the tough old ship, because, after laying aground for three weeks, a channel was sluiced out to deep water and the Dora was refloated. She was seriously damaged and would have to go to Seattle for major repairs. The Bering Sea Fisheries Company purchased the aging Dora in 1919. A year later, the Dora was traveling through heavy fog along the northeast coast of Vancouver Island when she struck a hidden reef. At first, the damage didn't seem too severe, but when she backed off of the reef, they could see she was leaking badly. Captain Hovick hoped to get the Dora to Port Hardy which was only 8 short miles away, but it was soon obvious that her pumps couldn't keep up with the leaks, so he headed the steamer straight for the shore. The next morning, when the SS Admiral Rodman and the Canadian Cutter Theipva stopped to lend aid, the Dora was still afloat, although her stern was submerged. That night, before any salvage started, the tide silently eased the foundering Dora off of the beach and into 40' of water. The next morning, only 20' of her mast was showing. Hurricane weather the following days, finished off the historic little steamer.
