Because of her aged iron hull, San Juan was fatally damaged in the collision and sank three minutes later, killing 65 people.

In 1895, while San Juan was in service with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, the passenger steamer Colima sank in a storm off Mazatlán, killing 100 people.

One Russian girl on San Juan was supposedly suffering from trachoma, which threatened to have her deported when the steamer reached its American dock.

[5] In November 1909, San Juan carried 1,673 tons of cargo and valuable treasure from the Charles Butters Mine in El Salvador.

A fireman from the steamer Peru, Robert Latewitz, was also onboard San Juan, having been removed from his ship due to insanity.

[6] In October, 1910, San Juan was involved in a collision with its fellow Pacific Mail Steamship Company steamer City of Sydney.

Despite the change in ownership, San Juan and Humboldt continued operating cut rate service along their usual route.

Dodd of the Standard Oil Company of California began exchanging fog whistle blasts with San Juan.

Shortly after the collision, San Juan began to capsize on its port side and start sinking stern first.

Wireless operator Clifford Paulson hurriedly returned to his room and began sending out distress signals.

Soon after a single ship had replied, water rushed in through Paulson's door and completely flooded his room.

Munami subsequently transferred its injured survivors to the United States Coast Guard cutter Shawnee, where they would be transported to San Francisco.

Public opinion in the United States heavily criticized the sinking of San Juan, as did many newspapers.

The argument carried forward by the general public stated San Juan, being 47 years old and poorly maintained by a cut rate carrier, should have not been allowed to continue sailing.

The Steamboat Inspection Service, an entity of the Commerce Department which enforced American civil maritime regulations at the time of San Juan's sinking, was known for widespread corruption and being widely disorganized.

A supervisor in steamship inspection, John K. Bulger (who coincidentally had been involved in the Columbia investigations) claimed that it did not matter what condition San Juan was in prior to the disaster, as the collision would have sunk the ship regardless.

The coastal steamer Columbia collided with the steam schooner San Pedro and sank at an astounding speed, killing 88 people.

The safety of American steamships was further questioned on September 8, 1934 when the liner Morro Castle caught fire while anchored in a fierce storm off New Jersey.

Less than two years later, the passenger steamer Mohawk sank following a collision with the Norwegian freighter Talisman off Sea Girt, New Jersey.

By the time the government had acted, the Great Depression mixed with the more widespread usage of automobiles and aircraft, effectively brought an end to shipping along the American west coast.