Nothing in Juneau's experience would rival the sinking of the steamship Princess Sophia, or as one newspaper editorial called it, "Our Appalling Catastrophe." On the morning of October 24, 1918 the SS Princess Sophia, bound for Vancouver B.C. from Skagway, struck Vanderbilt Reef 28 miles north of Juneau in a blinding snow storm with about 353 souls aboard, all of whom were lost.