The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-03-09
DISASTERS IN OUR NAVY.
LOSS OF THE MAINE THE MOST SERl'
OUstNiTS HISTORY.
An Interesting article Giving the Names
OF the Ships Of the United States Navy
that Have Been in Times Of Peaces

OF the SHIPS Oh SA0 CAAkS0 S~SS>S -''s
that Have Been in Times Of Peaces
The list of disasters in the United
States navy begins with the loss OF the
eighteen gun ship Saratoga. Sailing
from Philadelphia, under the com
mand of Capt James Young, about
October l, 1880, she captured three
English vessels In company with
her prizes the Saratoga sailed for Phil
adelphia. When off the capes OF Del
aware the British seventy-four gun
ship of the line Intrepid came IN sight
and gave chase. The prizes were re
captured, out the Saratoga escaped by
running out to sea. She was never
heard from again, and it is supposed
she foundered in gale which Sc! IN
the following dav.
On July Il, 1900, the United States
being then hostile to France, the thir-
ty six. gun frigate Insurgent, Capt.
Patrick Fletcher, sailed under insruc
tions to take course easterly from the
Chesapeake capes until longitude 6S
degrees west was reached, then to
cruise between that longitude anc 66
degrees west. going as far south as
latitude 80 degrees north. She hss
never been heard Of since.
In August, 1900, the fourteen.gun
brig Pickering, Master Commandant
Benjamin Hillar. sailed under orders
to cruise off Gaudeloupe. From the
time of her sailing she was never
heard of.
Early in 1905, the Government
deeming it advisable to increase the
naval force engaged in the war with
Tripoli, ten gun boats, planned for
service in the waters of the Mediterra-
mean, were constructed. o. these YES.
sells gun boat No. Z sailed on May IA,
1905, from New York. under the COM
mand of Lieut.. Ogslvie. When q
short distance out her mast was sprung
and she returned for repairs. She
sailed again on June 90, but was nev.
er heard from.
The next vessel of the navy, the
fate Of which is shrouded in mystery,
was the Wasp She was one of the
six sloops authorized by the Act of
January 2, 1918. and her career,
though brief, was full OF glory. Sail
ing from Portsmouth, N. e., on May
1, 1914, under Master Commandant
Johnston Blakesley, she fell in with
the British brig Reindeer on June %,
and after an action OF nineteen min
utes compelled her to surrender. On
September 1 the Wasp cut out and
and burned the brig Mary, which was
one OF feet of ten merchantmen un-
der convoy of the sevrnty-four gun
ship Of the line Armada. During the
evening Of the same day Blakesley
sighted four sails, two on the star.
board bow and two on the port. As
the darkness came on signals by rock
cts and lanterns were made by one OF
the vessels which had separated from
The others. The Wasp, laying her
course by the signals, had war ship
under her guns by $50, and received
oroadside from the chase. The &C
ton continued until a few minutes
after 10 o'clock, when the stranger
hailed that she had surrendered. As
the Wasp was about to lower boat
another sail appeared out of the dark
ness. The boat was held back and the
men ssnt to their quarters. A little
later TWO more sails came in sight.
The rigging of the Wasp icing much
cut up, sne stood off, followed by one
of the vessels, but after the exchange
OF few shots the stranger joined her
consorts, and the Wasp held on her
way. The vessel with which the Wasp
had the engagement was the eighteen
gun brig Avon, and her injuries were
so severe that she sank during the
night Between the date of the fight
with the Avon and September 81 the
Wasp destroyed two merchantmen
and captured the Atalanta, mounting
eight guns. The latter vessel, having
valuable cargo, was manned with q
prizs crew and sent to Savannah,
where she arrived on October 1. Up
to This time. period OF Eve months,
the Wasp had taken fifteen vessels,
valued at nearly $3.50, 1000. On Octo-
Der / the Swedish bark Adonis was
boarded in latitude Is degrees IS min
utes north, longitude 80 degrees 10
| minutes west, by boat from the
Wasp. Lieut.. Stephen Mcknight and
Masters Mate James Lyman, officers
of the Essex, who had been paroled
after her destruction in Valparaiso
harbor, and who were passengers On
the Adonis, went on board the Wasp.
Soon after they returned to the Ado.
mis-, paid their passage money to the
master, and with their baggage went
back to the Wasp. That was the last
intelligence of the Wasp.
When Decatur, in 1915, dictated to
the Dey Of Algiers the terms of trsa-
ty with the United States, the brig
Epervier, Lieut.. John Shubrick, was
dispatched with q copy of it for the
approval of the Government. On
board, as passengers. were Cspt. Lew.
is and Lieut.. Neale, who had married
sisters just previous to sailing for the
! Mediterranean in Capt Decatur's feet.
Lieut.. Dfuy and Lieut.. Yarnell, who
mad made a name for themselves in
Perry's victory on Lake Erie, were also
on board On July 10, 1915, the Ep
ervier passed the Strait of Gibraltar.
From that time all trace OF her was
lost.
The Albany, sloop.of was lost
in West Indian waters in 1858. She
is thought to have gone down in a
cyclone with every soul of her ere "
of 2l0 officers and men, as she was
never heard from after she sailed on
her last cruise.
In the same year the brig -of.war
Porpoise, with one hundred persons
on board, went down in the China
seas, without leaving a trace Of her
end.
In 1858 smother sloop-of.war, the
Leyant, went down in the waters OF
the Paciic, taking some 200 men to
"Davy Jones's locker
1868 the brig-of-war Bainbridge
met a cyclone off Cape Hatteras. a