At the end of November in 1866, the British cargo ship Coya had almost reached San Francisco. Laden with coal from Australia, it had been sailing for a month across the Pacific. But during the last couple of days, stormy weather hid the coast. Captain Richard Paige estimated that they were near the Farallon Islands—approaching the mouth of San Francisco Bay—where there was a lighthouse to save ships from the rocks. Setting a watch, he went belowdecks to have dinner. At around 7:30 p.m., the lookout yelled, “Land on the lee bow!” Unfortunately, the ship was actually 50 miles south of the Farallons, just past what is known as Franklin Point today—and dangerously close to land.
Despite the crew’s efforts to turn the ship around and slow it by furling the sails, the smashed into the craggy coastline. Lifted up by the waves and pounded back down, the iron-plate hull broke and began filling with water,
