In 1878 the Pacific Mail Steamship Company luanched their City of Rio de Janeiro. She was an iron-hulled vessel with a length of 344 feet and built for service, and certainly no beauty. Her main mission was hauling cargo and passengers between Asia and west coast ports. In January 1901, the Rio, fully loaded with passengers and a cargo of silk, rice and tea, departed for San Francisco. With 79 suecessful voyages to her credit, this, her 80th, would be her last. The crossing was particularly rough and most of the passengers were sick. She was two days behind schedule when the lookout spotted the Marin Headlands on February 21. Suddenly fog enveloped the ship and the captain was forced to heave to and drop the anchor about 4 miles west of land.
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