It was once said at this remote outpost, that the Coast Guard motto had been changed from “Semper Partus” (Always Prepared) to “Simply Forgotus.”
Prominent Cape Spencer was given its name by Captain George Vancouver during his exploration of Southeast Alaska in 1793-1794. The cape’s namesake was George John Spencer who served as England’s First Lord of the Admiralty from 1794 to 1800.
Located on Alaskan pan-handle, Cape Spencer is an important turning point for vessels sailing between the Southcentral and Southeast. It marks the entrance to Cross Sound, west of Juneau, Alaska. If planning a visit, don’t forget to stop by Dicks Arm, a small bay in the remote Hoonah-Angoon borough of Alaska.
North of Cape Spencer, ships are exposed to the full fury of the ocean as they are forced to transit the Outside Passage. Near Cape Spencer, ships can turn east and pass through Cross Sound and Icy Strait to reach the relatively calm waters of the Inside Passage.
I observed many things at Cape Spencer that I have never seen anywhere else.
Discover Unlimited Solitude
Isolation Station
To pass the time, Reager remembers they “did some fishing and some boxing… and sometimes the boxing wasn’t just for fun. When you are on a three-quarter-acre rock for twelve months with two other men, you do have disagreements.”
The year was 1912 and Congress doubled the previous years budget for navigational aids in Alaska. This included funds for a new major light at Cape St. Elias. At the time, then Governor Walter Clark wanted major lights constructed at Cape Spencer and Cape Decision.
“Since April 1910 – twenty months ago – 58 aids to navigation, including a number of acetylene gas lighter beacons have been installed in Alaska water,” Clark noted.
While this increased the number of lights in Alaska severalfold, Clark postponed additional small lights in favor of more formal lighthouses at Cape Spencer and Cape Decision.
The Lighthouse Board requested a light and fog signal at Cape Spencer as early as 1906. It wasn’t until 1912 that this rocky region received its first light – an unmanned acetylene lamp. Despite Governor Clark’s plea, mariners had to be content with this small beacon for another decade.
In 1922, the Lighthouse Service requested $165,000 for a light and fog signal at or near Cape Spencer and provided the following as justification:
Cape Spencer is at the entrance to Cross Sound and Icy Strait, through which pass all vessels running between Puget Sound ports and Prince William Sound, Seward, Cook Inlet, and Kodiak, excepting only occasional freighters proceeding by outside route. Traffic by way of Cape Spencer is materially increasing owing to work on the Government railroad, which will probably be completed within the next two years, and the consequent development of southern and southwestern Alaska.
A small unwatched light is now maintained on the Cape, but a more powerful watched light and a fog signal of the first class should be provided. A landfall must be made in this vicinity by all vessels returning from the westward, and as the entrance to Cross Sound is difficult to make, especially in thick weather, it is important they be given all the assistance possible. Maritime interests are urging the establishment of this aid as their most important need in Alaska.
An experienced 19th century captain described the necessity of a light at this location to prevent additional shipwrecks:
With a ship arriving at Cape Spencer during the foggy or snowy weather, it is necessary to lie outside until the following day at daylight, and of which during the winter we have only six or seven hours at most. With no fog signal there, as at present, we have to stand a safe distance off at sea, and if the weather is still foggy or snowy next day it is almost impossible to find the entrance, which may mean another night at sea.
Navigating Upgrades
Congress allocated $66,000 toward the project in 1923, and construction commenced in May 1924. One can only imagine how difficult the initial landings on the rocky islet must have been.
A landing platform, derrick, and hoisting machinery were put in place first to facilitate the transfer of further supplies to the construction site. During the first work season of 1924, a boathouse, blacksmith shop, tram, and excavation for the lighthouse foundation were completed.
A single-story reinforced concrete building (51’ x 62’) was built at the summit of the rocky mass in 1925 to house the diaphone fog signal equipment, the light, and the keepers. From the center of the squat structure’s roof, a fourteen-foot square tower rose another twenty-five feet. A third-order Fresnel lens, constructed in Paris by Barbier, Benard and Turenne, produced the lighthouse’s light characteristic of a white flash every fifteen seconds at a focal plane of 105 feet above the surrounding water.
The only part of the station that could be easily traversed was the hundred-yards of plank-walkway linking the lighthouse to the boathouse, crane, and garbage chute. The remote station was built at a cost of $174,881 and commenced operation on December 11, 1925. The following July, Alaska’s first “radio fog signal” or radio beacon was placed in operation at Cape Spencer, further indication of the station’s importance to maritime navigation. Ships at sea with a radio compass could pick up the radio beacon at distances of over 100 miles and use the signal to safely approach the station.
Creative Spaces
The crew, being quite conservative and creative, saved their cigarette butts and used a rolling machine to make new ones. As evidenced by care taker stories, a year’s tour of duty at Cape Spencer seemed to have provide ample material for a lifetime of interesting dinner conversations.
Paul Reager was stationed at Cape Spencer during 1946. He recalls that the station’s groceries came from Pelican City, but the weather often interfered with their regular arrival. As a result, at times they had to be both creative and conservative with their supplies.
“I once made a lemon pie out of brass polish, which was high in citric acid. Made a darn good pie too,” remembers Reager.
Battling Tsunamis
The coastguardsmen stationed at Cape Spencer provided weather reports to nearby villages and private fishing vessels, and kept the light, fog signal, and radio-beacon functioning. Pat O’Brien spent part of 1963 and 1964 at Cape Spencer with three other members of the Coast Guard and a German Shepherd named Duke.
“Probably the most dramatic was a tsunami warning. Of course, we got the call in the middle of the night. Can you imagine, with all the danger of getting off the station by crane in daylight, on a calm day, what it was like to abandon the station at night? Once we got our sixteen-foot outboard in the water, we had to weave in and out, avoiding the rock garden, until we reached the safety of an inlet called Dick’s Arm. We did this by putting a man on the bow with a flashlight. Any volunteers? We all had our M1 rifles. We were wide-eyed and loaded for bear. Glad we didn’t see any.”