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| Themis (November 1, 1999) |
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 Themis was a 1,921 gross ton, single-screw steamer built in 1897. Her dimensions were 270.0' by 39.5' by 15.3'. The ship was powered by a three cylinder (20.5", 33.0", and 54" with a 39" stroke) triple expansion engine. Turning a twelve-foot diameter iron propeller, the 1,000 indicated horse power engine gave the ship a ten-knot service speed. On 14 December 1906, while in Queen Charlotte Sound, southbound from Prince of Wales Island, with 1,600 tons of copper ore and 200 cases of canned salmon, the Themis encountered a storm that later developed into a fierce, south easterly gale. About 9:00 pm the freighter struck a reef two miles northwest of the Scarlett Point lighthouse. The crew got off safely. The vessel ended up being salvaged, but not methodically. The sides of the ship have collapsed outward from the pressure of the ore cargo and from the pounding of the sea. The backbone of the vessel is defined by a stern tube and propeller shaft. The bow was in shallow water and has been pounded to pieces. Whatever survived slid off the reef into deep water (80 feet) on the southeast side of Crocker Rock. These remains consist of large chunks of hull, a cargo hold hatch, a winch, and some mast pieces. A few sections of hull plating, mooring bitts, and other materials from the bow can also be found in rock crevices to the south of the reef. Otherwise, nothing remains of the Themis forward of her boilers except a mound of copper ore from the forward hold.Near the summit on the north side of Crocker Rock in about 30 feet of water lie two scotch marine, fire-tube boilers that once powered the Themis. They measure 3.6 meters in diameter by 4.0 meters long. The fire bricks lining the boiler fireboxes are stamped "Cartcraig." The Cartcraig plant produced bricks in Glasgow, Scotland, between 1900 and 1959. North of the boilers in 36 feet of water lie the remains of the Themis' triple-expansion steam engine. The cylinder heads, connecting rods, and crankshaft lie on their sides, severed from the engine bedplate. They were blown apart in the 1960s when local salvors salvaged the brass bushings. A few meters north of the bedplate is the propeller shaft. It begins with a flange which once connected it to the engine crankshaft. From here, the propeller shaft plunges over a 20-foot rock wall and down the length of the wreck. About mid-way, under what was once the aft hold, the 0.25 meter diameter shaft goes through a stern tube. The arch-shaped steel tube, 1.45 meters wide by 1.73 meters high, protected the shaft.  Resources Underwater Archaeological Society of British Columbia |
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