Cowichan was a steamship which was operated in British Columbia under the ownership of the Union Steamship Company

Union Steamship Company of British Columbia

The Union Steamship Company of British Columbia was a pioneer firm on coastal British Columbia. It started in 1889, from the beginnings of local service on Burrard Inlet near Vancouver, and expanded to the entire British Columbia coast...

. Cowichan sank in 1925 following a collision with another ship.

Nomenclature

Cowichan was originally launched under the name Cariboo. “Cowichan” comes from the Halkomelem

Halkomelem language

Halkomelem is a language of the First Nations peoples of southeastern Vancouver Island from the west shore of Saanich Inlet northward beyond Nanoose Bay, and of the mainland around the Fraser River Delta upriver to Harrison Lake and the lower...

 word Q(a)w-(a)can, which means “warm mountains”. This is believed to refer to hills at the head of the Cowichan River

Cowichan River

The Cowichan River is a moderately sized river in British Columbia, Canada. It originates in Cowichan Lake, flowing east towards its end at Cowichan Bay. Its drainage basin is in size....

. The tribe of the First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 called “Cowichan” lived on southeast Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

.

The popular name for the ship was The Cow.

Design and construction

Cowichan was designed specifically to serve the remote logging camps of coastal British Columbia. A larger vessel could not maneuver in the narrow inlets such as Minstrel Island, Wells Pass, and Kingcome Inlet

Kingcome Inlet

Kingcome Inlet is one of the lesser principal fjords of the British Columbia Coast. It is sixth in sequence of the major saltwater fjords north from the 49th parallel north near Vancouver and similar in width to longer inlets such as Knight Inlet and Bute Inlet, but it is only 35 km in...

. Two new design aspects of the ship were a larger wheelhouse

Wheelhouse

Wheelhouse or Wheel-house may refer to a number of topicsIn nautical context*The location of the steering wheel of a boat or ship**Bridge **Pilothouse...

 and relocating the bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

 further forward so that both the quartermaster

Quartermaster

Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...

 and the navigator could see over the bow.

Cowichan was built in Troon, Scotland, in 1908 by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

-History:The company was founded in 1885 by the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa.In 1902 the Ailsa yard fitted out the polar exploration ship Scotia for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04...

. The Ailsa firm was chosen over Bow, McLachlen & Co. because Union Steamship Co. was then in litigation with Bow, McLachlen over repairs to another one of the company's ships. Dimensions of the ship were 157 feet (47.9 m) in length, beam 32 feet (9.8 m) and depth of hold 14 feet (4.3 m), 962 gross and 520 registered tons. Cargo capacity was 125 tons. Cowichins ship's twin triple-expansion steam engines, built by MacColl & Co. and twin propellers drove the ship's speed was 11 knots (21.6 km/h). There were two boilers, manufactured by D. Rowan & Co., which were originally coal-fired.

First class accommodations consisted of 53 stateroom berths. There were 34 crewmembers. In 1914, the ship was licensed to carry 225 passengers. The ship's Canadian registry number was 126210.

The ship had separate cabins for members of the First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 and for Japanese and Chinese persons. Loggers were also accommodated separately.

Delivery

Cowichan, proceeding under the name Cariboo, was delivered to British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 by way of Cape Horn

Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...

, there being no Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 at the time. The ship was commanded by Capt. Charles Polkinghorne on the 90-day voyage, and the vessel was found to be seaworthy during the moderate storms encountered on the trip. Cariboo arrived at the Union dock in Vancouver on July 21, 1908. It was then discovered that there was already a Canadian vessel named Cariboo on the Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 and so the name was changed to Cowichan.

Operations

Following a trial trip to Van Anda

Van Anda, British Columbia

Van Anda, formerly spelled Vananda, is an unincoporated settlement on Texada Island in the northern Gulf of Georgia in British Columbia, Canada. It has a population of approximately 70 people...

, on Texada Island

Texada Island

Texada Island is the largest island in the Strait of Georgia of British Columbia, Canada. Its northern tip is located about southwest of the city of Powell River and west of the Sechelt Peninsula on the Sunshine Coast. A former mining and logging area, the island still has a few quarries and old...

, Cowichan replaced the Cassiar on the Kingcome Inlet

Kingcome Inlet

Kingcome Inlet is one of the lesser principal fjords of the British Columbia Coast. It is sixth in sequence of the major saltwater fjords north from the 49th parallel north near Vancouver and similar in width to longer inlets such as Knight Inlet and Bute Inlet, but it is only 35 km in...

 route, and then, on August 20, 1908 temporarily took the place of the Camosun on the company's most important route, to Prince Rupert.
Cowichan eventually was assigned to its own route. Every Monday and Thursday, the ship departed Vancouver bound for Campbell River

Campbell River, British Columbia

Campbell River is a coastal city in British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the important coastal Inside Passage shipping route...

 and the Rock Bay

Rock Bay, British Columbia

Rock Bay is a settlement in British Columbia....

 region. On the Monday trip the ship went further north, to Loughborough Inlet

Loughborough Inlet

Loughborough Inlet is one of the lesser principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. It penetrates the Coast Mountains on the north side of the Discovery Islands archipelago, running about from its head at the mouth of the Stafford River to Chancellor Channel and Cordero Channel, which are on...

. The ship was also placed on a Saturday Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

 run for a while, making calls at Nanaimo

Nanaimo, British Columbia

Nanaimo is a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It has been dubbed the "Bathtub Racing Capital of the World" and "Harbour City". Nanaimo is also sometimes referred to as the "Hub City" because of its central location on Vancouver Island and due to the layout of the downtown...

, Denman Island, Union Bay

Union Bay

Union Bay can refer to:*Union Bay , a body of water in the U.S. state of Washington*Union Bay, British Columbia, a community in the Canadian province of British Columbia*Union Bay Sportswear, a Seattle-based clothing company...

, and Comox

Comox, British Columbia

Comox is a town of 12,000 people located on a small peninsula in the Georgia Strait on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil and abundant sea life attracted First Nations thousands of years ago, who called the area kw’umuxws...

 before returning to Vancouver at midnight on Sunday.

The first captain of Cowichan was Charles Moody. All the Union steamers at that time, including Cowichan had only three deck officers, the captain and two mates.

In 1908, coaling was usually done at the company wharf in Vancouver unless a stop was scheduled for Nanaimo, where there were substantial mines and coaling facilities.

In 1912 Cowichan was converted to oil fuel.

Loss

On December 27, 1925, Cowichan sank following a collision with Lady Cynthia, which was also owned by Union Steamship Co.

The accident occurred when the Lady Cecilia had brought a Christmas excursion of mostly lumber mill workers south from Powell River

Powell River, British Columbia

Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, that part of the larger Georgia Strait between Texada Island and the Mainland...

 to Vancouver. Other passengers had come from the north over the holiday, and the numbers returning to Powell River exceeded Cecilias capacity. Harold Brown, the company's general manager, had ordered that Lady Cynthia be held on standby with steam up in such an event, and the additional 200 passengers beyond the 400 on Cecilia were embarked on Cynthia.

Meanwhile, Cowichan was coming south under Captain Robert Wilson and encountered fog off Roberts Creek. Captain Wilson was proceeding slowly, listening carefully for the sound of Cecilia 's whistle. Cecilia passed safely by, but then Wilson was taken by surprise 15 minutes later when Cynthia, under Captain John Boden appeared out of the fog, striking Cowichan bow-on amidships. Captain Boden shouted down from Cynthia 's bridge that he would hold the bow into Cowichan to hinder the ship from sinking. There were only 45 people on board Cowichan, including 31 crew. Captain Wilson helped all board onto Cecilias foredeck.

Captain Wilson was the last to leave Cowichan. When he stepped onto Cecilia, he called out to Captain Boden:"Pull her out now, Cap, or she'll take us down with her." When Cecila backed away, Cowichan sank almost immediately. It was reported that once Cowichan had sunk, Captain Wilson turned to Captain Boden and said: “Well, that's it. Let's go below and have coffee.”

Discovery of wreck

In May 1997, after a year of searching, a team of wreck hunters on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

 patrol vessel Lindsay in connection with a training exercise, located the wreck of the Cowichan 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Whyte Rocks off British Columbia

Sechelt, British Columbia

The District Municipality of Sechelt is on the lower Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately 50 km northwest of Vancouver, Sechelt is accessible to the mainland of British Columbia via a 40 minute ferry trip between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale, and a 25 minute drive from Langdale...

. The water over the wreck site was 128 meters deep.