A dog named Tommy was the only one to survive the tragic sinking of the SS Princess Sophia in 1918, the deadliest maritime disaster along North America's Pacific Northwest coast.
The SS Princess Sophia, also named the "unknown Titanic of the West Coast," departed Skagway, Alaska on October 23, 1918. Four hours into the journey, the steamship had shifted course in stormy conditions, struck a reef, rode up onto the rock and became stuck. She remained stuck for 40 hours before sinking on October 25 - killing all 353 (the # varies) people aboard.
In March 1919, The Alaska Daily Empire reported that a small dog covered in oil had been found two days after the sinking some 20 miles away from the wreck. Five dogs were on the ship's manifest, and this dog, identified as an English Setter, was Princess Sophia's only survivor.
A recently discovered letter, written over 100 years ago, identifies the once believed English Setter was actually a Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Tommy.
So was the sole survivor of the SS Princess Sophia an English Setter or a Chesapeake Bay Retriever? English Setters are good swimmers, but the Chesapeake Bay Retriever (with webbed toes, a thick double-coat, and a large chest powerful enough to break apart ice) seems to be the better breed to make it to shore and survive the sinking.
According to David Leverton, Executive Director of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, "This will always remain a mystery like so many other aspects of this story. Although it seems quite plausible that it was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever we will never really know. The only thing for certain is that all of the passengers and crew on board along with all of the other animals sadly lost their lives in the early evening hours of October 25, 1918, and we’ll never really know the whole story of what happened on that fateful night. It will likely always remain a mystery."
