[1] It served in the Quaker Line subsidiary of the States Steamship Company.

Around midnight, as SS Iowa was crossing the Columbia River bar, a gale estimated at 75 mph hit the ship.

At the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse around 2 a.m., a Coast Guard observer witnessed the ship start to turn south and then turn to the north toward Peacock Spit where water depths are only around 20 feet (6.1 m).

Attempts were made to communicate with the ship by observers at the lighthouse using radio, light signals, and flags.

[2] All 34 people aboard the ship died, and only six bodies were recovered from the wreckage that dotted local shorelines for days.