Ituna, Former Luxury Steam Yacht, Discovered 95 Years after Loss

On March 13, 1920, the 34-year-old Ituna was en route from San Francisco to Reedsport, Oregon when a gale hit and split its seams. While 12 of its 14 crew members escaped, two went down with the vessel when it sank in a matter of minutes. Now, the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and its partners have used a remotely operated vehicle and an autonomous underwater vehicle to collect high-definition video footage, still images and side scan sonar data of this historic ship.

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photo of the ituna docked — Passenger cargo steamship Ituna dockside circa 1917, owned by the Mexican Navigation & Commercial Company.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00616gs

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photo of Ituna underway at sea — Luxury steam yacht Ituna, underway at sea circa 1892.
Credit: Robert Schwemmer, Maritime Library

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drawings of the ships plan — Ship’s plans of the passenger cargo steamship Ituna circa 1917 when it was owned by the Mexican Navigation & Commercial Company.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park HDC0128-0547-006
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photo of ituna dockside, bow view — Bow view of the passenger cargo steamship Ituna dockside circa 1917, when it was owned by the Mexican Navigation & Commercial Company.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00619gs
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photo of ituna docked showing the stern — Stern view of the passenger cargo steamship Ituna dockside circa 1917, when it was owned by the Mexican Navigation & Commercial Company.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00622gs
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image of the ituna factsheet — Ituna factsheet.
Credit: NOAA

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photo of trawler ituna — Steam otter trawler fishing vessel Ituna dockside circa 1918, when it was owned by Frank E. Booth Company of San Francisco, California.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00618gs
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drawings of the plans of the ituna — Ship’s plans of the steam otter trawler fishing vessel Ituna circa 1919, when it was owned by Frank E. Booth Company of San Francisco, California.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park HDC0128-0547-011
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photo of students posing on the ituna — Students aboard the steam otter trawler fishing vessel Ituna dockside circa 1918. The young men and women pictured were members of a University of California class in marine engineering and naval architecture and were performing an inclining experiment on board. The class lecturer, David W. Dickie, was a shipbuilder involved in the modifications to the trawler.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, David W. Dickie Photographs, P78-449A.00626gs
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photo of the porter — The Associated Oil Company’s tanker S. S. W. S. Porter transported 12 survivors from the San Francisco Lightship and brought them safely to San Francisco, California after their fishing trawler Ituna foundered on March 13, 1920 north of the lightship.
Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, J07.21,289p

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photo of front page of the san fransisco chronicle about the trawler sinking — Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 1920

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photo of front page of the san fransisco chronicle about the trawler sinking — Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 1920

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photo of multibeam sonar of the ituna — Multibeam sonar image of the otter trawler fishing vessel Ituna on the sea floor, processed by Gary Fabian in 2015.
Credit: Jim Gray Family
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Cyril Poissonnett of Teledyne SeaBotix deploying AUV to conduct side scan sonar survey of shipwreck Ituna. Credit: Denise Jaffke for NOAA — Cyril Poissonnett of Teledyne SeaBotix deploying an AUV to conduct side scan sonar survey of shipwreck Ituna.
Credit: Denise Jaffke, NOAA
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sidescan of ituna. Credit: Denise Jaffke for NOAA — Side scan sonar image of shipwreck Ituna casting a shadow on the sea floor.
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
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scientists launch ROv to conduct video of ituna — Cyril Poissonnett of Teledyne SeaBotix and Michael Carver of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries aboard the R/V Fulmar launching the Teledyne SeaBotix vLBV300 ROV to conduct a video survey of the shipwreck Ituna.
Credit: Robert Schwemmer, NOAA
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photo of ituna bow underwater — The clipper-ship bow of the former luxury steam yacht Ituna provided positive identification of the shipwreck. The shipwreck has been colonized by multiple marine species, including giant green anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) and white plumose anemones (Metridium farcimen).
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
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photo of ituna stern underwater — The elliptic stern of the former luxury steam yacht Ituna provided positive identification of the shipwreck. The shipwreck has been colonized by multiple marine species, including giant green anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) and white plumose anemones (Metridium farcimen).
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
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photo of ituna windlass underwater — Otter trawl windlass located at the stern of the shipwreck steam trawler Ituna.
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
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photo of ituna engine underwater — The triple expansion steam engine built for the steam yacht Ituna by A. & J. Inglis in 1886 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
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photo of ituna cargo of concrete — Ituna was en route to Reedsport, Oregon with a cargo of concrete when it sank. The concrete was found hardened in the forward and aft cargo holds.
Credit: NOAA – Teledyne SeaBotix
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