Jinxed ‘A’ Spelled Disaster

This evil letter appears on the maritime casualty lists with unnerving frequency.

Andalusia, Coolcha, Hera, Rosalia, Walla Walla, Princess Sophia: fishpacker, tugboat and ocean-going liner—from the humble to the mighty—each had at least two things in common: their names ended in the letter ‘a’ and each encountered disaster on the high seas.

There are those, of course, who, like the Bard of Stratford on-Avon, believe that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Yet, not so long ago, there were many among the nautical fraternity who’d have disputed this point. According to those old salts, to christen a ship with a name beginning or ending in ‘a’ was to condemn that vessel to infamy.

Today, we might dismiss this as being nothing more than sailor’s superstition. But a glance at the record would indicate that—just maybe—there's something to this legend. In our BC waters alone, no fewer than 100 vessels have come to grief over the years, ships whose names began or ended with that initial letter of the alphabet.

Superstition? You can judge or yourself by reading this week’s BC Chronicles.

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PHOTO: Best known of west coast ships whose names ended in ‘a’ was the coastal liner S.S. Princess Sophia, lost in Alaska’s Lynn Canal in 1918 with all aboard. —Wikipedia