Eureka Fishing Captain Memorial

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This statue is located in a prominent location along the coast of the city of Eureka. It is a memorial to the sea captains who lost their lives over the years in the area. Eureka is a major port for logging and used to be a fishing port, as well. While some fishing still takes place in the area, there are not quite as many fishing vessels as there were at one time. When we took our Humboldt Bay tour, the guide told us the story about how a military sub once hit rocks, on Dec. 15, 1916, and sank in the fog. The military then sent a ship, the USS Milwaukee, to help with the recovery, and it hit also rocks in the fog and sank, as well. The remains of that ship are still there and can be seen at low tide. At the time, over 100 years ago, it was the largest disaster in U.S. Navy history. However, the heartwarming part of the story is that the people of Samoa Beach, a small town near Eureka on Humboldt Bay, waded out into the surf to save the sailors. The local people took the sailors into their homes, fed them and took care of them. Because of this, only one sailor died in the incident. You can learn more about the disaster at: http://www.times-standard.com/article/NJ/20170107/NEWS/170109872