The Wreck of the Steamer Czarina

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'Twas a dark and stormy winter's morn in January nineteen

hundred and ten.

The steamer Czarina set out for Frisco Bay with twenty-five

stout hearted men.

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Twenty-four sailors and one passenger, Harold, the shipping

manager's son.

A bright young lad, bound for UC Berkeley, not yet quite

twenty-one.

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Her cargo – cement, coal and lumber. Her hold could hold

no more.

The captain and his crew could not know what Fate had had0

in store.

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Captain Dugan started westwards toward the tricky Coos Bay bar.

Giant waves were headed eastward from storms both near and far.

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The storm had put her fire out, the waves came fast and steady.

The hapless ship had lost control and bounced against the jetty.

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She floated north beside the spit, her life boats were no more.

Captain Dugan ordered the anchor dropped, so she wouldn't

wash ashore.

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This turned out to be a bad mistake, the ship too far from

the beach, with lumber floating all around, the rescue boats

could not reach.

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The men climbed up the rigging as the ship sank past the deck.

Was there nothing that could save them? Were they doomed

aboard the wreck?

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From the shore crowds watched the sailors drop off one-by-one.

From terrible cold and fatigue they finally did succumb.

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One man did survive this ordeal. His name was Harry Kentzel,

assistant engineer.

He clung to a piece of lumber, no doubt frozen with great fear.

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Alas, all the rest had met their final fate, no more to sail

the ocean.

They washed ashore over several weeks, their families wracked

with emotion.

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So let us pause to think of Fate, who's hand does not distinguish

Between the wealthy son or the lowly swab, life too soon.

extinguished.

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Note: Some accounts say 23 sailors and one passenger were on board and some

accounts spell Captain Dugan as Duggan. History is not an exact science.