Princess Sophia: Tinkham Tales

Departure... from residence in Alaska was in the spring of 1918. As a reserve Captain of Engineers, US. Army, I had been ordered to active service in Washington, D.C. This departure was made by boarding the Canadian Pacific SS Princess Sophia at Ketchikan boundfor Seattle . . . . It was a pleasant voyage, made so chiefly by the kindness and friendliness of the captain .... this captain .... was a veteran.... looking forward to a well earned retirement that same year. He was doomed to disappointment. When we said our goodbyes to him in Seattle, none could foresee that on his last voyage before the date of his retirement, he would lose his ship and his life.The real stormy season on the Alaskan coast usually starts about the first of August.... after the stormy season had begun in the fall of....1918, the SS Princess Sophia . . . departed Skagway on its return trip to Vancouver and Seattle. Skagway [in Southeastern Alaska] is at the upper end of an arm of the Inside Passage called Lynn Canal, a long narrow fjord bordered by the steep slopes of high mountains. The town is the terminal port of a railroad [White Pass & Yukon Railroad] outlet for Yukon Territory. Storms from the north funnel into Lynn Canal and sweep its length with accelerated velocity due to its configuration. Storm winds of 110 miles per hour have been reported there - the velocity of a hurricane.