Histories of Alaska: Abandoned in late 1931, the steamer was spotted intermittently for nearly the next forty years.
on Alaska history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage or Alaska history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.
Britain quickly sold the newly acquired vessels back to the private sector. In 1920, the Ångermanälven was formally ceded to the British. Early the next year, the Hudson’s Bay Company purchased the ship for 15,000 pounds, far less than the cost of a new steamship, let alone one already strengthened to withstand the frigid, icy waters where HBC fur traders operated. The HBC renamed the steamer Baychimo after a Quebec trading post.
For the crew, life aboard was either dull or exciting, and they never knew when the situation would abruptly change. The ship itself was a floating warehouse with all the day-to-day fun that description suggests. The crew members were also rarely allowed on shore except on official business.
Finally, on Aug. 21, a shift in the wind opened a way forward, and the ship dropped anchor off Point Barrow that morning. They were a month behind schedule and dangerously late in the season. Everyone on board was presumably attached to their lives. Everyone on board also asked themselves the same question.
On Sept. 18, an opening in the ice allowed them to reach Barrow, but that was the end of their good fortune. Cornwell’s temper frayed as any optimism once held was gone. He yelled and cursed at the crew. By Sept. 24, they were down to nine days’ worth of coal at full steam. The next day, Cornwell ordered power rationing and began plans to abandon ship. On Sept. 29, they learned that the ice was solid all the way to the Bering Strait.
In December 1931, a distant observer claimed the Baychimo had a hole in one side, a detail proven wrong in the decades to come. Sometime around Jan. 1, 1932, prospector Leslie Melvin passed by the steamer on his way while mushing from Herschel Island to Nome. He allegedly made off with Cornwell’s uniform, some flags, and perhaps some contraband liquor.
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