Decades-old shipwreck discovered on Oregon Coast
NORTH SPIT, Ore. - Experts believe the last time anyone saw the Helen E was in 1951.
After seven days at sea, the 107-foot fishing vessel ran aground on the North Spit of Coos Bay, during a fierce storm while looking for a port to pull into.
Its parts were scrapped, a portion was burned and it was left for dead, slowly being covered up by sand.
But now, almost 60 years later, what's left of the wreck is coming back to life, so to speak.
"I first saw some ribs sticking up and they looked like they had to be part of a ship. I became more and more curious as to what it was, when it sank," said Coos Bay Resident Larry Plews (at right).
He was the first to see a part of the Helen E sticking up out of the sand around Thanksgiving, and by mid-December, its remains were almost completely exposed.
"I was surprised at how good of condition the wood remaining is," he said.
Life-long Bay Area resident Ruben Lyon said he can remember his father coming out to see the vessel when it first ran aground.
"He had an airplane, he flew over the beach one day and located it and took some pictures of it from above. Then he landed and took some more pictures," recalled Lyon.
After making his discovery, Plews turned to the Coos Historical and Maritime Museum for help identifying the wreck.
"Due to its location, there weren't a lot of wrecks in that location. We walked out there and actually took measurements ourselves and compared them to the measurements of the vessel. We also looked at old photos," said Museum Collections Manager Vicki Wiese.
Wiese said unearthed shipwrecks are common on the North Spit, but it's always fun to find a new one.
"It's always exciting, it's like hidden treasure, it's really cool to discover something that has been hidden for 50 years," she said.
For more information on the Helen E and other South Coast shipwrecks, check out the Coos Historical and Maritime Museum located in North Bend on Highway 101.