Seattle-based company wins rights to salvage shipwreck with reported $10 million in gold on board

You may not have heard about the shipwreck of the old SS Pacific, a steamship that sank off the Washington State coast 147 years ago.

Two hundred and seventy-three people went down with the ship when it collided with another ship after it left B.C. near Cape Flattery while sailing to San Francisco.

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Here’s what’s intriguing about this history lesson: if you can prove you’re related to one of the people on board the Pacific, you could have a claim to part of $10 million in gold.

A Seattle-based company, Rockfish Incorporated, won exclusive rights to dive and salvage the ship in a recent U.S. District federal court case.

Because there were so many wealthy gold miners onboard, there was also reportedly $10 million worth of gold stowed in the boat, which is now broken into scattered pieces on the seafloor.

Northwest Shipwreck Alliance says it’s found what’s left of the SS Pacific after trying for years to find it.

The maritime courts have ruled that if you can prove a connection to possessions onboard, you should be able to file a claim to repossess part of the gold.

Rockfish Inc. told KIRO 7 it has pulled up pieces of wood, maybe from the paddle wheel, a firebrick and coal from the ship’s boiler so far.

The company said it wants to eventually build a museum and a hotel with what they dig up to tell the whole story of the SS Pacific.

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