Sinking

Lyman Stewart departed for her last voyage from Martinez in the early afternoon of 7 October 1922 carrying 1,018,332 US gallons (24,246 barrels) of gasoline consigned to Shell Oil Company in addition to approximately 45,000 barrels of oil bound for Richmond Beach. The tanker was under command of captain John G. Cloyd and had a crew of thirty eight men. The tanker was proceeding out to sea through the northern San Francisco Bay and then via Raccoon Strait travelling at a speed of approximately 9 knots (10 mph; 17 km/h). After reaching Point Covallo she ran into a heavy fog bank and reduced her speed down to 6.5 to 7 knots (7.5 to 8.1 mph; 12.0 to 13.0 km/h). The sea was smooth and the tide was at half ebb with the current being 3 to 4 knots (3.5 to 4.6 mph; 5.6 to 7.4 km/h) out to sea. At the same time steamer SS Walter A. Luckenbach under command of captain George A. Benner and piloted by captain John A. Norberg with general cargo from Boston and New York was entering the Golden Gate from westerly direction. After reaching Mile Rock at about 15:06, the freighter reduced her speed to approximately 9.8 knots (11.3 mph; 18.1 km/h) and continued to her destination. At about 15:19 she encountered a strong eddy current somewhere around Fort Point and attempted to correct her course. As Lyman Stewart was trying to round Lime Point at the entrance into the Golden Gate, the strong tide current took her slightly south of the mid channel. At approximately 15:23 a lookout on the tanker suddenly spotted a large ship coming out of the fog at about two full ship lengths away. Captain Cloyd ordered to put the engines full astern but due to very short distance between the vessels, it was too late to avoid the collision. Walter A. Luckenbach struck Lyman Stewart on her port bow just aft of the forepeak and plowed in over 15 feet, with the gash extending both above and below the water line. The vessels remained together until 15:29, when due to current they drifted apart and separated, with the tanker beginning to fill very rapidly. In order to maintain buoyancy, captain Cloyd ordered to pump out cargo from the bow holds. In the meantime wireless distress signals were sent out and picked up by four shore stations. Several tugs, boats and US Coast Guard cutter Tulare were immediately dispatched to the site of the incident but could not immediately locate the vessels due to heavy fog. After separating, the two vessels drifted back toward Mile Rock until about 15:46 when the steamship SS F. S. Loop arrived at the scene and inquired if any assistance was required, while Walter A. Luckenbach left the scene and proceeded to port with her bow smashed and holed. Immediately after the impact captain Cloyd ordered his crew to abandon ship which they did in orderly fashion in three lifeboats. The captain together with seven officers remained on board the tanker and tried to beach her to avoid sinking. Lyman Stewart initially grounded on Mile Rock but was dragged off by the waves and slowly drifted down the coastline shadowed by F. S. Loop until she went ashore near Point Lobos, not far from Seal Rock at around 16:10.^[16][17][18] An attempt to refloat the tanker was made on October 9 but it proved to be unsuccessful due to precarious ship position on the rocks and flooded engine room.^[19] Further attempts were made to dislodge the vessel, but due to rough weather and deteriorating condition of the tanker the underwriters decided to abandon the salvage work and on October 17 declared Lyman Stewart total wreck.^[20]

The wreck was sold for US$6,100 at auction to the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. at the end of October 1922, but the bid was rejected by the underwriters because they wanted the tanker to be broken up and sold for scrap instead of refloating.^[21][22] Subsequently, early in November the wreck was acquired by captain Thomas P. H. Whitelaw for US$2,500 who attempted to start the salvage work at the end of the month.^[23] No real salvage work, however, was performed with exception of securing most valuable parts of the engine and putting cables on the ship. In addition, captain Whitelaw constructed a bridge over to the wreck making it a tourist destination. Plans were made to refloat the vessel in April or May 1923 but they went unfulfilled. In early September 1923 it was reported the ship was breaking up on the rocks, with her stern being completely broken, and more work was done to remove some parts of the tanker but she was never refloated.^[24][25]

In November 1925 an attempt was made to remove remaining cargo of oil and gasoline from the steamer tanks. The first try proved to be successful, and approximately 20,000 gallons of gasoline was recovered and eventually sold to a taxicab company. On the second attempt however, the barge used to store the cargo was broken into pieces during a gale stopping any further recovery work.^[26] In November 1926 Lyman Stewart broke in two and remained in her beached position until completely broken up and demolished by the wind and the waves.^[27]