Washington divers finally solved a 117-year shipwreck mystery hiding in plain sight

The SS Dix’s Five-Minute Tragedy at Puget Sound

On a calm November night in 1906, the SS Dix left Seattle with 77 souls aboard for a short trip to Bainbridge Island. The small ferry was part of the busy Mosquito Fleet that moved folks around Puget Sound.

Then came a bad choice. Captain Lermond went to get fares, leaving an unlicensed man at the wheel who turned right into the path of a huge freighter. The ships hit, and the Dix sank in just five minutes.

At least 39 died in the icy waters, with no bodies ever found. For over a century, the wreck stayed lost until smart divers solved the puzzle in 2015.

The Duwamish Head memorial now stands as a quiet spot to think about that night when so many lives were cut short.

Workers Rode This Ferry Before Highways Existed

The Port Blakely Mill Company hired the 102-foot SS Dix in November 1906 to carry workers between Seattle and Bainbridge Island.

The boat was part of the Mosquito Fleet, a group of small steamers that took two million people yearly across Puget Sound before bridges existed.

Port Blakely’s mill needed reliable ferry service for its 1,200 workers who made 400,000 board feet of lumber daily.

Though only two years old, the Dix already had balance problems and needed 30 tons of weight to keep it from tipping.

Sunday Night Routine Turned Tragic

Captain Percy Lermond left Colman Dock at 7 p.m. on November 18, 1906, with 77 passengers and crew heading to Port Blakely on what should have been a normal 40-minute trip.

Many aboard were mill workers and families going home after weekend Seattle visits.

Charles and Christian Byler, who ran the company store, went to Seattle to meet their sister Lillian coming from Spokane. The weather stayed calm and clear as the Dix moved across Elliott Bay at 10.5 knots.

Captain Left The Wheel To Collect Money

Soon after leaving dock, Captain Lermond gave control to First Officer Charles Dennison so he could collect fares. Lermond didn’t know Dennison lacked proper licenses to steer boats in inland waters.

At the same time, the 1,071-ton freighter SS Jeanie traveled from Smith Cove toward Tacoma, loaded with 400 tons of iron ore.

The paths of these two boats began to cross about a mile west of Duwamish Head, setting up the coming crash.

Two Ships On A Deadly Path

Captain Philip Mason of the Jeanie watched the coming Dix for at least five minutes and slowed his boat to let the smaller steamer pass safely.

When the Dix kept moving toward him, Mason yelled warnings and blew his whistle three times while putting his engines in reverse. Dennison missed both the visual and sound signals from the larger ship.

In the final moments, he made a deadly mistake, turning right instead of left, steering straight into the Jeanie’s path.

The Jeanie’s Bow Caught The Smaller Ship

The Jeanie’s bowsprit hit the Dix on the right side just behind the middle section, making the smaller boat tip sharply to the left side.

Captain Lermond saw the lights still on inside the cabin and passengers’ faces frozen in fear as they understood what was happening. Water rushed into the Dix as it rolled over, trapping passengers below deck.

Those on the upper deck fell into the cold waters of Puget Sound as the ship flipped.

The Ship Vanished In Just Five Minutes

From impact to complete sinking, the Dix went down in just five minutes, dropping into 600 feet of water. Passengers stuck in the main cabin below deck couldn’t escape before the ship pulled them down.

First Officer Dennison and three other crew members stayed trapped in the wheelhouse and engine room.

One lucky survivor, 13-year-old Alice Simpson, made it to the upper deck and stayed afloat because air trapped under her skirt kept her from sinking in the cold water.

Scrambling To Save Lives In Freezing Water

The Jeanie stopped right away and lowered two lifeboats to rescue survivors fighting in the cold water.

Several passengers grabbed chains hanging from the Jeanie’s bowsprit and climbed to safety, including Marcus Otnes, who couldn’t swim.

Within 20 minutes, the Jeanie’s crew pulled 38 people from the water, Captain Lermond among them. They kept looking with searchlights for more than two hours but found no more survivors or bodies in the dark waters.

An Entire Town Waited For News At The Dock

Word about the crash reached Port Blakely quickly, so the mill company sent the steamer Florence K to Seattle to bring survivors home.

Around 2 a.m. Monday morning, the whole town gathered at the dock as the Florence K arrived, with families looking for loved ones among the survivors.

At least 39 people died that night, though exact numbers remain unclear because no official passenger list existed.

The Port Blakely Mill closed for two days of mourning, the first shutdown in the mill’s history.

Blame Fell On The Inexperienced Officer

A formal review blamed the Dix for failing to keep proper lookout and Captain Lermond for giving control to an unlicensed officer.

Officials took away Lermond’s master’s and pilot licenses, though he claimed he feared losing his job if he refused to collect fares.

Authorities gave him back his license one year later, but he never commanded passenger boats again, working only with cargo tugs until he retired in 1933. Recovery teams never found any bodies from the wreck.

Divers Looked In The Wrong Direction

In 1973, officials created a memorial at Duwamish Head with the last two living survivors present: 81-year-old Alice Simpson Bassett and 97-year-old Marcus Otnes.

Seattle diver Laura James spent nearly twenty years searching for the wreck using fish-finding gear.

In 2011, OceanGate used sonar and a manned submarine to check what they thought was the Dix, but decided the features didn’t match. They actually found the right wreck but misunderstood what they saw.

The Ship Was Upside Down All Along

Jeff Hummel and Matt McCauley of the Northwest Shipwreck Alliance solved the mystery in 2015 when they realized the Dix had a canoe stern that comes to a point like a bow.

Everyone had been looking at the wreck backward, thinking the pointed stern was actually the front. When they flipped their perspective, all the major structural features matched perfectly with historical photographs.

In November 2023, they announced their find publicly and started working with Washington state to protect the site as a permanent grave for the 39 victims.

Visiting Alki Beach, Washington

Alki Beach Park stretches 2. 5 miles from Alki Point to Duwamish Head at 1702 Alki Ave SW, open daily 4am to 11:30pm.

Learn about the SS Dix tragedy at Log House Museum (3003 61st Ave SW), open Fridays and Saturdays noon to 4pm with free admission.

Take King County Water Taxi from downtown Pier 50 to Seacrest Dock, then catch free shuttle buses #773 or #775 to the beach.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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