Despite the recurring stories, the possibility of a ghost ship patrolling the area in and around the San Francisco bay seems unlikely [See Is The Promise of Some Hot Ass At Sea Worth a Decapitation?]. But in 1960, the case of a real “ghost ship” had authorities scratching their heads and is still unresolved to this day. The enigma began on September 28th, when multiple vessels and shore stations picked up a bizarre radio message from E.A. Davisson, skipper of the tuna trawler Steelhead.
 The message was both short and chilling: “The Coho II just shot me! It’s been a good life. So long boys.”
The message was repeated twice, but Davisson gave no indication of his location or any other clues that would allow rescue parties to find him. Still, authorities took the message seriously and began an extensive search. No one was able to find any trace of the boat or her captain other than a drifting skiff and some debris thought to be from the ship. One of the pieces of flotsam that was recovered included a wooden door riddled with bullet holes. The sense of urgency to find Davisson heightened.
The U.S. Coast Guard began searching for the only tangible clue provided by the strange radio message – the Coho II.
The Coho II was a fishing ship captained by an acquaintance of Davisson’s named Ted Bean. Bean was a longtime fisherman with a solid reputation. There was no violence in his past although his vessel had been the focus of a personal tragedy nine years earlier when his grandson had fallen overboard and drowned.
Several hours after Davisson’s disappearance, the Coast Guard located the Coho II at sea and searched it extensively. They found Bean to be calm and cooperative. He seemed unaware of Davisson’s radio transmission and claimed that he was hard of hearing so had turned his boat’s radio off. Bean confirmed that he had delivered a letter to Davisson several hours before the Steelhead’s final mysterious message, stating he had asked Davisson to mail it for him once he returned to San Francisco. Bean denied any knowledge about a shooting and although he had firearms onboard, the authorities believed his explanation that they were for defense against sharks and seals. The Coast Guard team found nothing incriminating onboard although they did find some evidence that other people had been on the boat aside from Bean. Friends and family members of both men would later deny any animosity between the two. Regardless, Bean agreed to return to Oakland for further questioning. The Coho II was escorted back toward San Francisco Bay by the Coast Guard cutter, Active.
 As the ships approached the coast, however, the Coho II inexplicably began to turn toward Rocky Point Bonita. Guardsman boarded the craft and found Bean missing. FBI officials later surmised that Bean lashed himself to his boat’s anchor and threw himself overboard, although this was never proven or observed by anyone aboard the Active even though they were cruising only five hundred yards away and had Bean’s vessel under constant observation. There were some other mysteries surrounding Bean’s disappearance. For example, five bottles of gin had disappeared from the galley and a warm cup of tea was found sitting on a table. A single shoe was found on the deck near the bow. There was no suicide note or any other indication that Bean had taken his own life.
The Coho II was piloted back to San Francisco, but evidence as to what happened between the two captains and their ships remained sparse.
“A bullet scarred hatch cover from Davisson’s boat, the Steelhead, a few bits of paint taken from the scratched bow of Bean’s boat, the Coho II, a few expended rifle shells, and some debris which may or may have come from the Steelhead are about all investigators have to work on,” reported an article in the October 5th Oakland Tribune.
By March the following year, the Coast Guard and FBI still had no idea how to explain the two missing men and the vanishing of the Steelhead. Additional investigation cleared Bean’s name, as it was determined that the damage to the bow of the Coho II had happened before his meeting with Davisson at sea on September 28, 1960. There was also nothing in Bean’s past or in his character which caused investigators to believe that he would commit murder. Even the authenticity of the mysterious radio message – “The Coho II just shot me!” – came under scrutiny. One theory arose that the message itself was misconstrued. “Shooting” was a nautical term that meant one boat had identified and was about to rendezvous with another. Could the “Coho II just shot me” have meant simply that the two boats were about to meet to exchange mail, as Bean had told the Coast Guard?
Others speculated that Davisson had been killed by unidentified fishermen, his boat intentionally sunk and the message broadcast in an attempt to frame Bean.
“We don’t even know that it was the Steelhead’s skipper [who broadcast it,]” said Cmdr. L. M. Logan of the U.S. Coast Guard. “The message itself does not follow the pattern that could normally be expected from a man with Davisson’s experience and background... However the message may be interpreted there is still no evidence or facts to support a conclusion as to what caused Davisson’s death and it is doubted that any evidence or facts will be forthcoming in the future.”
In the end, the Coast Guard absolved Bean of any wrongdoing in the disappearance of either Davisson or his ship. The official theory was that an unknown vessel rammed the Steelhead and sunk her, although why or how has never been explained. And what about Bean’s disappearance? Again, the Coast Guard’s theory that he simply fell overboard seems both implausible and unsatisfying.
To this day, the fate of the fishermen and the Steelhead remains unknown. |
