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Approximate GPS Coordinates to the Wreck Site: 45.6954548, -123.9369836
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EXPLORE > SECRETS OF SHIPWRECKS
On the evening of April 7, 1913, a Salem newspaper ran a shocking headline: MIMI TURNS TURTLE, EIGHTEEN DROWNED The Mimi was a German-owned barque (sometimes spelled bark or barc) which had run aground on Nehalem Beach (shown above) while lost in a dense fog. Amazingly, and rarely the case with shipwrecks along the Oregon Coast in the age before modern life-saving techniques, not a single crewmen was lost to the sea. For weeks the ship sat wedged in the sand while the owners and crew debated what to do with her. A salvage attempt was finally arranged on April 6 with a team of 26 men including the ship’s captain, insurance representatives, Mimi crewmen and engineers who would operate a special kind of machinery called a “donkey engine” or a “steam donkey.” Despite the colorful name, donkeys had nothing to do with the machine, which was a common form of steam-powered winch employed by the maritime and lumber industries. The plan was to use the winch to help dislodge the Mimi from the beach, but when a heavy storm and high surf hit the area the pull of the “donkey engine” caused the barque to capsize or “turn turtle.” Trapped inside the upside-down hull or clinging to her rigging were 22 men. |
By the time night fell on April 6, the situation had become desperate.
“The fate of the men is held a secret by the fury of the ocean, which has made rescue impossible. Darkness tonight saw the figures of men clinging to the boat, and the wind brought their cries for help to the ears of 1000 or more people gathered on the shore nearby, but every attempt at rescue met with failure…” -The Daily Capital Journal, April 7, 1913
When the storm lifted the following morning, a sad reality faced everyone who had assembled on the beach — there were only four survivors.
The tragic irony of the Mimi is that the wreck took no lives until the salvage operation was attempted. Wrote one newspaper about the sad twist of fate: “The case of the Mimifurnishes new testimony to the fact that the physical laws of nature are inexorable. They take no notice whatever of human hearts and mothers tears or childish pleas.”
Photo Credits: Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, Don Best.
“The fate of the men is held a secret by the fury of the ocean, which has made rescue impossible. Darkness tonight saw the figures of men clinging to the boat, and the wind brought their cries for help to the ears of 1000 or more people gathered on the shore nearby, but every attempt at rescue met with failure…” -The Daily Capital Journal, April 7, 1913
When the storm lifted the following morning, a sad reality faced everyone who had assembled on the beach — there were only four survivors.
The tragic irony of the Mimi is that the wreck took no lives until the salvage operation was attempted. Wrote one newspaper about the sad twist of fate: “The case of the Mimifurnishes new testimony to the fact that the physical laws of nature are inexorable. They take no notice whatever of human hearts and mothers tears or childish pleas.”
Photo Credits: Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, Don Best.
