The SS Oregon, a steamer ship built and launched in 1878 from the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works in Chester, was doomed as a cursed ship, writes historian David Reamer for the Anchorage Daily News.

On Dec. 27, 1889, the Oregon collided with a British ship Clan McKenzie on a snowy night, slicing into the crew quarters, cutting two sailors in half, and sinking the ship.

A storm ripped the rudder and rudder post off the steamer on Sept. 9, 1901, when it left Nome, Alaska. It arrived 11 days overdue in Seattle.

The Oregon’s cargo hold caught fire on Feb. 27, 1905. To put out the fire, crews sunk and beached the ship.

It was raised and made its last voyage in 1906, but years of accidents and sloppy repairs took its toll.

“By seafaring men it was considered a bad ship. So often has she been punctured and so many times repaired that she was practically a ship of cement,” said one sailor.

On its last voyage to Valdez, the ship drifted three miles off course struck a rock, then snapped the keel.

The ship was a complete loss with no hope of salvage.

Read more about the SS Oregon at the Anchorage Daily News.

Find out about the dangers of taking a transatlantic steamship trip from New York to Liverpool, England.