Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-12
THE WRECKED DESPATCH.
Hts Back is Broken and IL 10 Going 20
Pieces the Shoals.

Hts Back IL Broken and II 10 Going TO
Pieces on the Shoals.
The Q. s. S. Despatch. which ran on the As
sateague Shoals in Friday nights gale as al
nounced in Saturdays STAR. is a complete
wreck The vessel struck two miles south of
Sleeps Pen Hill at o'clock Saturday morn
ing, The hfe-saving crew boarded her at 5:45
am. and commenced landing the crew at go
an All hands were saved by the station life
boat Ten trips were made to and from the
wreck, finishing at II an
Assateague Shoals are sixty miles from Cape
Charles, bearing about northeast by north from
the Cape Charles light The shoals lie just off
Assateague Island. which almost adjoins Acco-
mac county, on the Maryland boundary Of Vir-
GINA Her back is broken and she is listed OF
shore twenty to thirty degrees. She was in
command of Lieut. ". E. Cowles OF the navy
and had a full complement of seventy-four men
on board
The Despatch left the New York navy yard
on Friday and WAS on her way to this city.
where she was 70 take on board the President,
Secretary Tracy and some officers OF the navy
and convey them to the naval proving grounds.
down the Potomac, to witness experiments In
testing some of the armOr plate for use in the
armament of the new vessels She was eX-
pected to arrive here today. and, after taking
the President down the river. was to have been
old and in much need of repairs.
The Despatch built in 1874 by George
Steers for Henry e. Smith a New York broker,
and was at that time the private largest yacht in
the world Mir. Smith named the vessel the
Americas About1S 1878 he sold her to the United
States government for S9S. 600 and her name
was changed to the Despatch. The first work
in the United States service was to take annmu-
milton to Key West during the trouble about
the virginius. The Despatch next went TO Bal
timore and shipped naval apprentice boys. The
Despatch next went to Europe and acted as dis
patch boat 70. Minister Maynard at Constanti-
nople and remained az anchor off that city for
thirteen months during the Russo-Turkish war.
In 1879 the Despatch got new boilers and IN
1880 took out the Cadet engineers on practice
cruise
On October 10. 1880, the Despatch became
the Presidents yacht. Since that time she has
had Is passengers Presidents Hayes, Garfield,
Arthur, Cleveland and Harrison, and many
prominent foreign visitors, including Emperor
Dom Pedro Of Brazil. King kalakaua and Queen
Kapiolani of Hawaii. Sir Joseph Chamberlain,
Lord Chief Justice Coleridge and the Duke Of
Argyle.
She had rendered valuable service. and in
1855 represented the Navy Department at the
launching of the cruisers Yorktown and Balti-
more and the dynamite boat Nesuvius at Phil
adeiphia- She has been aground several times.
and on March IL, 1890, when she struck the bot
tom at Cedar Point, IN the Potomac river. Sec
Rotary Tracy was aboard and Lieut.. Cowles was
expense by claiming that he was in command
CT officio. and therefore should be subjected to
\ court of inquiry.
The boats carried by the Despatch were his
toric Her whale boat ami gig were used in
the expedition OF the Bear and 1hetis. and were
employed in the rescue of the starving Greedy
and his companions in the arctic regions. The
gig was named Dorothy. after the young daugh-
ter Of Secretary Whitney. The barge OF the
yacht, which was decorated on the bows with
the naval symbol of the United States, was
named Queen kapiolani, as that royal lady was
the first to use il and the flag of her country
the first to fly from its staff astern.
II was on the decks OF the Despatch that Sem
ator Evarts made his famous retort to Lord
Chief Justice Coleridge of England The yacht
was taking brilliant party down the Potomac,
when Lord "oleridge remarked to the Senator
that he doubted the anecdotc that told how
President Washington once threw a dollar
across the river. He thought the distance too
great.
MY lord" Mr. Evarts made reply, '.you
must remember that a dollar went further in |
those DAYS than il would go now.
The cabin of the Despatch was the largest |
and the finest furnished in the navy. fea- !
ture Of it consisted of the seats, which could be
transformed into berths if occasion required.
The Despatch was 200 feet long over all, 2573 |
feet wide, 155S feet deep. and had mean |
draught Of 1919 feet She was feet between |
decks, had a net tonnage OF 430, displace- |
ment of $50 and coal capacity of l24 tons. |
Her indicated horse power was SIS, and her |
speed would attain ~ knots an hour. She |
had one gun, a breech-loading six-pounder, |
which she carried forward. Her timbers were |
Of finely seasoned oak and logwOod. Her keel |
was of oak
Lieut.. Cowles her commander. was born in |
Pennsylvania He entered the Naval Academy |
July q. 1863 and graduated in 1866. In 1867 |
and 1865 he was on a special cruise on the Min |
nesota. and in the latter year was made an en- |
sign From 1867 to 1870. he the Pensa- |
cola, the flag ship of the Pacific feet. and upon |
his return in 1870 was promoted to be master. |
He was stationed at the naval observatory in |
$50 and 1871. and was commissioned heuten- |
ant in 1871.
He was after that on the Alaska of the Euro
pean squadron from 1878 TO 1876; the Tennessee |
OF the Asiatic feet IN 1871: the Monocacy of the
Asiatic station from 1877 TO 15S0. From 1880 |
to 1852 he was stationed at tine New York navy |
yard and was again ordered to the Tennessee |
on the North Atlantic station from 1882 to 1884.
From 1884 to 1851 he assigned to special !
duty at New York and to special service COM |
manding the Despatch, from 1887 to 1890 The |
other officers were Lleuts. York Noel and r. L. |
Mulligan, Paymaster u ap, Engineer Ogden |
and Passed Assist Surgeon Gatewood, with |
q crew of seventy-five men
Assateague island Is a long. narrow island |
with reefs around il, off the east coast of Ac- |
comac county, Va, up near the Maryland |
boundary IL is il latitude 81 degrees, IS
minutes, 81 seconds
To warn ships of the dangerous shoals aud |
reefs there is light house the island 129 |
feet h.gh-
The Despatch was soon to have been dis
placed by the Dolphin, now fitting out at Nor |
foikas dispatch boat.
Some Sup~eSfions f,r Chief Ct..I po.-