O'Brien v. The Umattilla

On the morning of February 9,1884, the steam-ship Umattilla, Frank Worth, master, bound on a voyage from San Francisco to Seattle, struck on a rock of Flattery reef, some 12 or 13 miles to the southward of Cape Flattery. The captain, warned of danger by short blasts of the steam-whistle, had barely time to reach the deck, when he was felled by the shock caused by the striking of the ship upon the rock. He at once gave orders to the engineer to go ahead slowly, in order to prevent the vessel from sliding off the rocks, and foundering in deep water. The first officer was ordered to sound the…