 She was sailing under the command of Captain Charles Sawyer from San Francisco to pick up a load of coal at Nanaimo.The two ships met about 25 miles southwest of Cape Flattery at approximately 10 P.M. on November 4, 1875.All of "Pacific's" officers and most of her crew were killed in the event, and Captain Sawyer of "Orpheus" was below at the beginning of the incident so details of the meeting are necessarily incomplete.