The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-04-03


Nipsic lost seven men, namely.
W.GALLlN,
JOHN GILL
JOSHUA HEAP,
THOMAS JOHNSON,
DAVID KELLEHER,
HENRY POUTRELL,
WILLIAM WATSON,
All saved from the Trenton Trenton and
Vandalia crews ashore. Nipsics on board.
All stores possible saved. German ships Adler
and Eber total losses. Alga beached; may be
saved. German losses ninety-six. Important
to send 300 men home. Shall charter steamer?
Can charter in Auckland. Lieut. Wilson will
remain in Auckland to obey your orders Ful-
Ter accounts by mail. KIMBERLY
The following dispatch has been sent to
Lieut.. Wilson tor Admiral Kimberly, care
American consul, Auckland:
Take such steps with regard to Nipsic and
wrecks and sending men home as you may
deem proper. Full power given you. No
nOngahela sailed for Apia Feb. p. TRACY.
Capt. Selfridge, L. S. n, was found at
the navy department this morning peer
ing over a chart of the harbor of Apia.
which he visited several years ago. He
said that while it was very bad harbor.
it was the best on the island of Upola.
Like all the Pacific island harbors that of
Apia is formed by coral reef, encircling
the island at a short distance from the
shore. The anchorage space available for
men-of-war is contracted, being about one
thousand feet wide at the mouth of the
harbor. The bottom is sandy, affording
but slight hold for an
anchor and the harbor is exposed on the
north. On each side of the entrance are
coral reefs which are awash at high water
and surrounded by shoals. The depth of
water ranges from four to eight fathoms,
pretty deep water being found close in
shore, which would enable ship to get
close in. Hurricanes or cyclones at Apia
are usually from the southwest and. re-
volving in the harbors, tend to force yes
sells on the rugged reefs or rough shores.
The last hurricane occurred at Apia Just
six years ago. Fortunately, no men-of-
war were in the harbor, but every
merchantmen was driven ashore or
wrecked; houses were destroyed and
palm trees uprooted.
1t is the opinion of Admiral Harmony,
who is also familiar with the Samoan
islands, that the English man-of-war owed
her escape to the fact that she had steam
up and was enabled to push out to sea.
The news OF the disaster created pro-
found sensation at the navy department
and everybody, from the secretary down,
freely expressed his regret. Secy. Tracy
could not see cause to condemn anyone
The officers in command of the vessels
were competent men and had doubtless
adopted all proper precaution against dis
aster, but these hurricanes, which as
sumed cyclonic proportions, were simply
irresistible, as was proved by the extent
of the loss OF vessels.
Lieut. Lucien Young, who is himself
almost the sole survivor of the wreck of
the Inflated Huron off Cape Hatteras,
looked sadly over the list of the drowned
and marked down poor Roach, the pay
masters clerk, as an old shipmate gone.
The Trenton was launched from the
New York navy yard in 1877. She was
ship-rigged, 253 feet long, forty-eight feet
beam, 206 feet draft, and $500 tons dis
placement, or about eight hundred tons
more than the Boston or Atlanta. She
had 420 officers and men aboard when she
sailed from home.
The Vandalia was built at the Boston
navy yard and was launched in 1876. She
was ZIG feet long, thirty-nine feet broad,
seven feet three inches draft and ., 100
tons displacement. She was rated as a
twelve-knot ship and carried 200 officers
and men.
The Nipsic was a vessel of the old war
navy, but after eight years at the Wash
ington navy yard, she emerged, in 1879, as a
practically new vessel, little but the old
keel remaining. Shewas bark-rigged, 1S5
feet long, 30 feet broad, 14.3 feet draft and
1875 tons displacement and was a slow
vessel as things now 90, being set down as
little over ten knots in speed. She
sailed from the United States with $50
officers and men aboard, making the total
strength of the American fleet at Samoa
500 men, or nearly double the strength of
the German forces. The Olga had 267
men, the Adler 12S men and the little
Eber eighty-seven men, yet with one-half
of the number of the American forces,
these unfortunate vessels appear to have
lost more than twice as many men. Some
naval officers think that this is an indica-
ton that the American vessels had greater
structural strength than the German
ships, or that superior seamanship was
GhOWn