Coast Trader (1942)

SS Coast Trader was launched in New Jersey on January 27, 1920. It was powered by a triple expansion steam engine that drove a single propeller. It was torpedoed and sunk on June 7, 1942 by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-26 off the entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca while enroute from Port Angeles, Washington with a cargo of 1,250 tons of newsprint for San Francisco.

The wreck’s location makes it the first (and only) World War II vessel sunk in combat in British Columbia’s waters, and of historical importance to Canada as well as the United States.

The SS Coast Trader is intact from the bow to the aft of the superstructure or the start of hold No.3. Aft of this point the hull has fractured along a crack and has rolled to port. The poop deck aft of hold No.4 is completely gone and probably lies amidst the rubble of the stern. The wreck lies in 165 meters of water.

Note: British Columbia’s Heritage Conservation Act automatically protects all heritage wrecks, including the remains of all wrecked vessels and aircraft once two or more years have passed since the date of loss. It is illegal to damage, alter or remove a heritage object from a heritage wreck except under a permit issued by the Archaeology Branch.