The Dickinson press., 1889-06-15
UNLUCKY SHIPS OF WAR.
VESSELS THAT HAVE succUMBED
TO THE FURIOUS ELEMENTS.

The Monitors Tato Rccallcd-nomible
Disasters in Which Many lives Have
Been Lost-A Ship That Jumped Into
the Middle of u Town.
Disaster to naval vessels during times of
peace having not been uncommon during the
past twenty years, it may be truly said in-
decd that such vessels havo suffered far moro
from the ravagcs of tho clements than from
hostile demonstrations proceeding from enc
mics in war
1t will probably tax tho memory of tho
present generation to recall tho fate of the
Monitor, which was tho precursor of iron
Clad construction for vessels of war After
her memorable encounter with the Mcrrimac
i'll Hampton Roads tho Monitor was allowed
TO rest on her laurels for several months,
until some other foe worthy of her prowcss
should give her challenge This encounter
occurred on March9, 1859. Toward the end
OF that year it was decided to move the iron
Clad into moro southern waters for tho pur
pose of providing II more effective means of
warfare against blockade runners, mcn-of
war and forts along the coast on tho Gulf
With this view tho corvette Rhode Island
was ordered to Fortress Monroe i'll tho latter
part of December, 1862, for tho purpose of
towing tho Monitor into tho Gulf
Tho sea was smooth and everything went
well until tho night of Dec. 81, when Il gallo
was encountered off Capo Hattcras, and the
heavy sea so pounded the engines and steering
apparatus of tho ironclal that she sprung a
leak. Allof the new pumps wcrc brought into
play to relieve her and tho officers and crew
stood by and did everything in their power
toward rescue, but within Il few hours it
was seen that slo must inevitably founder
before daybrcali Not until tho last moment
did Capt. Bankhcad signal the boats of the
Rhode Island to como to the rcscuo of him
self and his crow, and when that occurred
thirteen OF tho crew were SO much stupciicd
by fear that they welo unable to leave the
sinking boat. Tho captain and officers and
about thirty of tho crow wcro conveyed
safely to the Rhode Island, which, in its
turn, had sustained severe injury By collision
with the Monitor during tho efforts to take
off tho crew
Another great disaster was that which re-
suited i'll tho loss Of tho German man-ol-war
Grosscr kurfurst of l'ollcstone, near Dover,
in the English channel, on tho night of MAY
81, 1878. On tho afternoon of May % three
of tho finest vessels i'll tho German navy, tho
Prcusscn, the Grosscr kurfurst and tho KONG
Wilhelm, left tho great German navy yard
at Wllhclplhavcn, bound for Gibraltar. Soon
after passing Calais, in daylight, while tho
weather was perfectly clcaran the SCI, calm,
bark, which was fetching Off shore, got di-
rectly i'll tho course Of tho Grosser Kurfurst,
which ported her helm to avoid it, Tho
KONG Wilhelm, which was sailing close be
hind, pulled hard aport SO suddenly that she
struck tho Grosscr Kurfurst forward of her
miZzcn mast. Almost Immediately tho Gros
ser kurfurst went over on her broadside and
sank i'll fifteen fathoms. Her crew jumped
into the water us slo went down. Many must
haze been scaldcd by the escaping steam, for
out of her complement of 500 men only twcn.
ty-thrcc officers and 100 men wcro rescued
and of These two died of exhaustion Tho
Kong Wilhelm also barely escaped disaster
at this time and was obliged put buck to
Portsmouth for repairs
OTHER ILL FATED SHIPS.
Other disasters i'll time of peace can bc
readily recalled. Everybody will remember
when tho British ship Bombay ran into the
United States corvette Oneida in tho harbor
of Yokohama Jan. "a, 1870, causing the
loss of tho Oneida and Of tho lives of liz
of her len. Capt, Eyre, in command of the
British Ship IL not stop to sec how badly lc
had injured the corvette, and when tho c;.se
came up for inquiry before the admiralty he
was severely ccnsurcd for his con,luc,
On Nov 2I, 1871, the United States steamer
Huron was wrecked Off tho coast of North
Carolina and l0I lives lost.
Commodore Walker, chief of the United
States navigation bureau, ali officer of long
ypNnr VI.
ncnt of previous naval losses from storm
and stress, running back thirty five years:
The Albany, sloop of war, was lost in
West Indian waters in 1853. She is supposed
to havo gone down in {. cyclone, with every
sho was never heard from after she sailed on
her last cruise.
In tho same year the brig Of war Porpoisc,
with 100 people aboard, went down IN tho
China seas without lowing u trace of her
end
Again, il, 1858, another sloop of war, the
Lcvant, disappeared from the face of tho
globe in the waters of the Pacific, taking
some POO men to "Davy Jones' locker"
In ls'f' tho brig of war Banbridgc met n
cyclone OFF Cape Hattcras. a coorcd cook,
picked up day OF two aftcrwarl on a bit of
wreckage told the story of the loss of every
ono of his shipmatcs.
The old Yorktown was blown ashore near
the Cape de Verde Islands on tho African
coast some years later, but tho crew escaped.
In lS(S great titla! wavo picked up the
sloop Of war Waterce in the harLor of africa.
Peru. and carried her seven or eight miles in
land, dcpositing her in tropical forest,
where she ended her days as u hotel The
same tidal wavo caught tho storeship Ere
donia at anchor, rolled her over and sunk her
instantly, with every soul on board
The Monongahcla, now in active service,
had peculiar experience in the year 1867
She was caught up 10y tidal wave. carried
over number of largo buildings on tho
island of Santa Cruz. West Indies, knocking
down ono Of them, and deposited in tho
streets OF n city Subsequently workmcn
were sent there who blocked her UP and
launched her again.
The Saginaw was cast away in tho night
upon one Of the islands Of the Pacific about
fifteen years ago. The wreck of the Huron,
although it occurred thirteen years ago, is
still fresh in the minds of tho people on the
coast. Tho ship was wrecked upon Curritucls
beach, N c., and few Of her crew escaped to
tell the story Of heavy weather and false
beacon lights. York Times.