Brother Jonathan (steamer)

Brother Jonathan

Brother Jonathan after the 1861 refit
History
Name	Brother Jonathan (1851 – c.1856) Commodore (c.1856 – 1861) Brother Jonathan (1861–)
Namesake	Brother Jonathan
Owner	Edward Mills (1851–1852) Cornelius Vanderbilt (1852 – c.1856) Captain John Wright (c.1856 – 1861) California Steam Navigation Co. (1861–)
Completed	1851
Fate	Wrecked July 30, 1865
General characteristics
Tonnage	1359 52/95 tons burthen
Length	220 ft 11 in (67.34 m)
Beam	36 ft (11 m)
Depth	21 ft (6.4 m)
Sail plan	barkentine
Brother Jonathan (Shipwreck Site)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
California Historical Landmark No. 541[1]
Brother Jonathan in 1851
Location	About 4.5 mi (7.2 km) SW of Point St. George
Nearest city	Crescent City, California
NRHP reference No.	02000535
CHISL No.	541[1]
Added to NRHP	May 21, 2002

Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer that struck an uncharted rock near Point St. George, off the coast of Crescent City, California, on July 30, 1865. The ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew, with a large shipment of gold. Only 19 people survived, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States. Based on the passenger and crew list, 225 people are believed to have died. Its location was not discovered until 1993 and a portion of the gold was recovered in 1996.^[2][3] The ship was also instrumental in setting off the 1862 smallpox epidemic in the Pacific Northwest, which killed thousands of Indigenous people in the region.