1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Hello everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: know that you're going to be hearing two different events 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: in history in this episode, one from me and one 4 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: from Tracy V. Wilson. They're both good, if I do 5 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: say so myself. One with the show, Welcome to this 6 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,319 Speaker 1: Day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com 7 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class. 8 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,240 Speaker 1: It's the show where we explore the past one day 9 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: at a time with a quick look at what happened 10 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 11 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson and it's October. The S S Princess 12 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: Sofia sank on this day in nineteen eighteen after running 13 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:42,639 Speaker 1: aground on The S S Princess Sofia had been providing passenger, 14 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: cargo and mail service around British Columbia, Canada, and Alaska Territory. 15 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: The ship had a route that went from Vancouver, British Columbia, 16 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: to Skagway, Alaska. It had eight stops, for in British 17 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: Columbia and for in Alaska, and this was a seasonal boat. 18 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: The seasonal trip it only ran from made October and 19 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: then the rest of the year it acted as a 20 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: ferry in British Columbia. On October twenty three, nine eighteen, 21 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: the S S Princess Sofia departed Skagway, Alaska, on its 22 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: last run of the season, with Captain Leonard Locke at 23 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: the helm. The boat was really crowded that day. It 24 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: was a sold out crowd and there was sort of 25 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: a Sea You in the Spring party going on at 26 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: the dock. This was, as I said, the last trip 27 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: of the season. There were a lot of people who 28 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: were just waiting to hunker down as everything froze over. 29 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: Because of all this chaos, the boat left about three 30 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: hours late. Skagway is connected to other waterways on the 31 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: coast of Alaska via the Lynn Canal. This is an 32 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: extremely windy waterway with squalls called willow waws blowing in 33 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: off the surrounding glaciers, and it's made even more treacherous 34 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: because there's a stretch of rock in the middle of 35 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: the canal called the Vanderbilt Reef. Not long after leaving Saga, 36 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: the S. S Princess of Fire ran into a storm, 37 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: and probably because it was running late, it kept up 38 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: its normal speed of eleven knots rather than reducing to 39 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: seven knots, which is what was supposed to happen in 40 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: bad weather. During this storm, the Princess Safia was blown 41 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: off course into the center of the canal and it 42 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: hit the Vanderbilt Reef at top speed in the very 43 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: early hours of the morning on October. What followed was 44 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: an almost forty hour wait stuck on the rock. Several 45 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: fishing vessels and a US Lighthouse Service tender came to 46 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: try to assist, but the weather was so bad and 47 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: the sea was so rough that they couldn't get close. 48 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: The captain also thought it would be safer to stay 49 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: put and to wait for the weather to clear before 50 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: trying to put anybody into a lifeboat to get them 51 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: off the boat. These other rescue ships eventually had to 52 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 1: take shelter. A Lighthouse Service tender called the Cedar tried 53 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: to make a bridge's buoy on the afternoon of the 54 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: twenty five October. The plan was to drop an anchor, 55 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: run a line over to the Princess Safia, and then 56 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: Peep would use this line like a zip line. The 57 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: name for this being the bridges buoy, comes from using 58 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: canvas bridges to hold onto The water was so rough 59 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: though that the cedar just couldn't get the anchor to hold, 60 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: and in the afternoon of all the ships had to 61 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: once again take shelter, leaving the Princess Sofia there on 62 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: the rocks. The power went out on the Princess Sofia, 63 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: and the passengers were in total darkness late that afternoon. 64 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: The batteries were also running out on their radio equipment, 65 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,079 Speaker 1: and other ships lost contact with them briefly in the afternoon. 66 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: When they reached them again at about four or forty 67 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: five by radio, things had taken a really dire turn. 68 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: At four fifty, the captain of the Princess Sofia sent 69 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: an s O S with the message quote taking water 70 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: and foundering. For God's sake, come and save us. At 71 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: five twenty, he said, when talking to one of the 72 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: other ships, for God's sake, hurry water coming in room. 73 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: In the morning, when the weather had cleared, a lighthouse 74 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: superintendent from nearby Sentinel Island went to the scene and 75 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: found only the Princess Safia's foremast visible above the water. 76 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: Sometime between five thirty and six thirty the evening before, 77 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: the wind had spun the ship completely around on top 78 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: of the rocks so that was pointing north instead of south, 79 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: had torn the bottom completely out of the ship, and 80 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: the ship had slid into the water. There were no 81 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: survivors aside from one English setter who was found covered 82 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: in oil about twenty miles to the south two days later. 83 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: The dog had gotten very far away from the wreck, 84 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: but had clearly been wrecked with the rest of the passengers. 85 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: The exact death toll of the Princess Safia is unknown, 86 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: but it was more than three hundred people, including a 87 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: lot of people from Yukon. More than one hundred of 88 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: the approximately eight hundred people who lived in the city 89 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: of Dawson died in this one wreck. No fault was 90 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: ultimately placed on Captain Locke or the steamship company. There 91 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: were people who questioned his decisions, but a lot of 92 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: other captains agreed that they would have done the same 93 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: thing in his place. Very little money was ever paid 94 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: to any of the families of the victims, although the 95 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: shipping company was able to get an insurance settlement. You 96 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: can learn a lot more about this on the October 97 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: episode of Stuff You miss in History Class. Thanks to 98 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: Tari Harrison for her audio work on this show. You 99 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: can subscribe to This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, 100 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 1: Google Podcasts and wherever else you get your podcasts. If 101 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: you can tune in tomorrow for a story from Tombstone. 102 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: Hi again everyone, I'm Eaves and you're listening to This 103 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: Day in History class, where instead of going back to 104 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: the future, we go back to the past. The day 105 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: was October nine. The British newspaper The Daily Mail published 106 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: a letter reported to have been sent by Grigory Zinoviev, 107 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: who was chairman of the Communist International, to the Communist 108 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: Party of Great Britain. It was published just four days 109 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: before the United Kingdom general election. Though many people took 110 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: the letter seriously at the time, it's now considered to 111 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,719 Speaker 1: be a forgery. In the nineteen twenty three UK general election, 112 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 1: the Conservative Party won the most seats, but the Labor 113 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,559 Speaker 1: Party and the Liberal Party won enough seats to create 114 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: a hung Parliament, which happens when no single political party 115 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: wins a majority in the House of Commons. So in 116 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: nine Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin resigned in Britain's first 117 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 1: ever labor government, formed with Ramsay McDonald as Prime Minister. 118 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: The government had the support of the Liberals, but it 119 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: was still a minority government, with only one and ninety 120 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,359 Speaker 1: one members of Parliament in the Commons, there was a 121 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: lot of up position to the new Labor government. The 122 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: Labor Government gave diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union and 123 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: agreed to loan Russian money. An incident called the Campbell 124 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: case also ignited opposition and led to accusations of McDonald 125 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: being lenient on communism. John Ross Campbell was the acting 126 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: editor of the Workers Weekly, a newspaper controlled by the 127 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: Communist Party of Great Britain. After the newspaper published an 128 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: open letter that urged military members to quote turn your 129 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: weapons on your oppressors, Campbell was charged under the Incitement 130 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: to Mutiny Act of sev but the Labor government dropped 131 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: the prosecution on August thirteen. This, along with other alleged 132 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: pro Soviet activity involving the Labor Government, helped lead people 133 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: to fear a Communist threat in leadership and contributed to 134 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:54,679 Speaker 1: the downfall of McDonald's government. In early October, Liberal Party 135 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: leader H. H. Asquith called a motion of no confidence 136 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: in McDonald's government. The Liberals hoped that the Conservative Party 137 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: or the Labor Party would be forced to enter a 138 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: formal coalition with them, but McDonald called for a general election, 139 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: which was scheduled for October twenty nine, even though there 140 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: was a slim chance of Labor winning it. But on 141 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: October nine, British intelligence agents in Riga sent the text 142 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: of the Zenovia of Letter to London. The letter was 143 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: addressed to the Central Committee of the British Communist Party 144 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: and signed by ZENOVIAV, Secretary of the Communist International Otto Willakujinen, 145 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: and Arthur McManus, a member of the common Tern's executive 146 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 1: committee and is Presidium. The Communist International or common Tern, 147 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: was a Soviet organ that promoted world revolution and communism 148 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: through propaganda and subversion. The Zenovia of Letter encouraged leaders 149 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: of the British Communist Party to incite revolution among the 150 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: factory workers and armed forces of Great Britain, and it 151 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: was dated September. Soviet officials and the British Communist Party 152 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: said that the letter was not legitimate, but a copy 153 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: of the letter was leaked to the press four days 154 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: before the controversial general election. The Zenovia Letter was published 155 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: as the front page story in the Daily Mail. It 156 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: was published under the headline civil War plot by Socialist masters, 157 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:24,079 Speaker 1: with the subheading Moscow Orders to our reads. The Labor 158 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: government's political opponents used the letter to drum up a 159 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: red scare in the media. The publication of the letter 160 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: humiliated the Labor government, but it did not have a 161 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: huge effect on the Labor vote in the nine general election. Still, 162 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,959 Speaker 1: the Conservative Party won the election. The Labor Party's loss 163 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: was likely not due to the Zenovia letter controversy and 164 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: instead due to the success of the Conservatives and the 165 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: collapse of the Liberal vote. Conservatives largely believed the letter 166 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: was authentic, while British intelligence deemed it a forgery. The 167 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: authenticity of the letter has been the subject of much 168 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: debate since, and the letter later underwent investigations, but there 169 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 1: is no solid proof of who wrote the letter, and 170 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: the original letter has not been discovered. I'm Eve Chef 171 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: Coote and hopefully you know a little more about history 172 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can find us on Twitter, 173 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:23,199 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at t d i h C Podcast. 174 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: We also accept electronic letters at this day at I 175 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. 176 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:40,320 Speaker 1: We'll be back tomorrow. With another one. For more podcasts 177 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 178 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.