The steamship Yukon, bound from Goodnews Bay on the Kuskokwim River to Seattle in 1913, ran aground in fog and became a total loss on the north-west end of Sanak Island on what is now called Yukon Reef, about 156 miles (251 km) east-north-east of Dutch Harbor and 48 miles (77 km) south-south-west of King Cove, Alaska. Sanak Island is about 13 miles (21 km) long and four miles wide with 6,178 acres (2,500 ha), and is part of the Sanak Islands group, which represents the easternmost of the Aleutian Islands. Captain James Cook named the island “Halibut” in 1778 after his crew caught over 100 Pacific halibut weighing 20 to 100 pounds (9-45 kg). In 1802, Don Dionisio A. Galiano referred to it as “Islas de Plies,” meaning “islands of flounders.” The name Sanak, derived from the Unangan Aleut language, was first published as “Sannakh Island” by Gavril A. Sarichev in 1826. It was shortened to Sanak in 1919 when a post office was established at Sanak village on the north coast.

The Sanak Islands are a small archipelago off the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Inhabited by the Unangan Aleut for nearly 7,000 years, the islands supported subsistence sea-mammal hunting and fishing. The largest island, Sanak Island, was rapidly industrialized; its landscape and shallow offshore banks were used intensively. European settlement began with the sea-otter fur trade, followed by Pacific cod and salmon fishing, fox farming, and cattle ranching, influenced by Russian, American, and Scandinavian settlers. Today, the Sanak Corporation, a village corporation created after the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, owns Sanak Island and is headquartered in the nearby Aleut village of Sand Point. The other islands, including Caton, Elma, and Long, are under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s jurisdiction and are part of a designated wilderness area. Sanak Island, uninhabited since about 1980, is now home to feral cattle, horses, birds, and sea mammals. The abandonment followed economic shifts when residents left for larger fishing centers like Sand Point, False Pass, Nelson Lagoon, and King Cove.

Sanak Island is surrounded by reefs that pose a navigational hazard. The Pacific-Alaska Navigation Company was an American passenger and freight shipping company operating between 1912 and 1916 on North America’s west coast. It was formed as a holding company through the merger of the Alaska Pacific Steamship Company and the Alaska Coast Company. During its brief existence, its fleet became known as the Admiral Line because many ships were named after former U.S. Navy admirals. The company experienced at least two significant accidents. On June 11, 1913, the steamer SS Yukon ran aground on Sanak Island’s northwest coast. The Revenue Cutter Tahoma rescued three passengers and 42 crew members, transporting them to Dutch Harbor at Unalaska. A second accident occurred on August 26, 1914, when the SS Admiral Sampson was rammed by the SS Princess Victoria of the Canadian Pacific Line. In 1916, the Pacific-Alaska Navigation Company merged with the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, forming the Pacific Steamship Company. Read more here and here. Explore more of Yukon Reef and Sanak Island here: