The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-02-27
LOST All SEA.
SOME OF THE UNITED STATES SHIPS OF WAR
WHICH HAVE BEEN WRECKED
OR DIsAPPEARED.

OR DISAPPEARED.
1t is no Insignificant tribute to the profes-
sional attainments of our naval officers that
the loss of many merchantmen does not ere
ate the sensation excited by the loss of one
ship-Of-war. The latter have, or are sup
posed to have, large and perfectly disciplined
crews, the best machinery and general ap-
plisnces that money can procure, and, above
all, officers who have abundant opportunities
both of practice and study, for making them
selves masters of every branch Of their difi-
cult and dangerous profession. They are
the surveyors of the sea, and are popularly
supposed to know all the treacherOus cur
rents and lurking shoals. On the accuracy
of their investigations depends not only the
safety Of their own ships but that of thous-
ands Of trading vessels, whose masters trust
to the charts and observations of Govern
ment nayigators. Thus, it viii be seen,
responsibility not entirely personal rests on
every officer in the service. The American
Navy has never lacked brave and accom-
plished officers, men of thorough practical
knowledge aud of high scientific achieve
ments, but it has, nevertheless, been the lot
. of the service to do its share in impressing on
the public mind the terrible dangers to which
those who 20 down to the sea in ships are
I constantly exposed. The proportion of dis
( asters in our navy is probably not larger than
T in any other marine of similar character and
/ force, but the list Of vessels which have been
lost, particularly those which have disap-
peared and left no sign, is, while not i'm
pugning the skill Of officers OF men, a pa
thetic record of the hapless brave. This cat
egory does not include ships whose destruc-
ton was an act of war, or those which, after
a fair fight, struck their cOlors to the enemy.
/ The latter, be il remembered, would be but .
short and honora BILE list, for American sailors
have ever shown themselves of the true Vik-
ing stock, with an hereditary disinclination
to surrender.
1t was the hard fate Of the first American
cruiser that ever showed herself in European
waters to perish at sea. This was the slooT
of war Reprisal, Captain Wickes, which,
after carrying Dr. Franklin to France
fourdered on her return voyage, somewhere
late in 17T6 or early in 1T77, of the banks Of
Newfoundland. But one man, her cook, wa:
saved. She had been a remarkably success
full vessel, and, capturing numerous prizes il
the British Channel, gave the mother coun
try bitter taste Of American naval prowess
Her captain was one of the rough-and-Tead,
officers who first struck at the supremacy O.
England on the seas. The next vessel whicl
foundered at sea left no clue to the manne
of her destruction. This was the sloop-of
war Saratoga, Capt Young, which, afte
fighting several well-oontested actions, wa
last spoken, homeward bound, in October
1870, since which time nothing has ever beeI
heard of her Her coming was long waite,
with anxiety, for she was popular favorite
but her returning sails never gladdened tn
eyes that watched and watched for them
1t is probable that not less than one hundre,
officers and men perished in this ill-fate'
vessel.
The "quasi war, as the hostilities wageI
between the United States and the Frencl
Republic was called, were marked by ter
rible disaster by which several hundred
brave men disappeared forever from morta
ken. In February, 1899, the L. s. ship Con
stellation, 80, Commodore Truxton, capture'
after brief resistance the French frigat
| Insurgent The prize was a remarkably fin
ship, and celebrated the world over for be
splendid sailing qualities rivaling in repUta
tion the famous ''Belle-Poule," of which
was said that she out5tripped the wind. l
followed as matter of course that the In
surgent was added 20 the American marine
in which her career was short and tragic
After making one or two brief cruises sh,
sailed in July, 1900, with orders confinln
her operations to certain latitudes, and pro
viding for two months absence. NeaTl
seventy-eight years have passed, and barrin
,fr,rr clle
not a word has been heard from this luekles
{, frigate. If the sea opened and swallowe
her down "all standing" our ignorance Q
the manner Of her fate could not be NOR
complete. As she was equipped for activ
hostilitieS, and as large crews were the ru
in the American Navy of that day, it is to b
presumed that nearly 400 officers, seamer
and marines perished in her. Various con
lectures have been made as to her loss, an
of these the theory OF sudden explosion
the most probable It is known that durin
E the early years Of this century a British line
of-battle ship, cruising in the Mediterranean
? suddenly disappeared, and it was not unit
| pieces of her broken timbers, violently rer
and twisted were found floating on til
waves that her fate could even be conjec
n ured. The InsuTgent was the first frigat
e captured by the present Navy, and it is he
sad distinction to be the only vessel Of he
class in the service which has been lost III
der such peculiar circumstances. About th
time of the Insurgents disappearance th
: Pickering, Il, foundered at sea with all o
t board. 1t was long the popular belief thu
the two vessels sunk in collision, but as the
: were on different stations there woul
5000 49, LIZ. - T. - .-...r,