Evening journal., 1898-10-06
SINGULAR NAVAL MYSTERIES.
war Vessels That Have Disappeared
without Leaving Any Clcw
TO Their Whereabouts.


dents to our warships characterize the
early history of our navy. and, In spite
of all the efforts of the navy depart
ment to explain the cause Of the dis
asters. many of them arc as abso-
lutte mysteries to-day as when they
happened.
When the government built ten new
gunboats to prosecute the war against
Tripoli, in 1905, they were sent out as
soon as they were finished and be-
fore they were named. Each one was
given a number and dispatched to the
scene of war. No. Z sailed from New
York June 20, 1908, under command OF
Lieut.. Ogelvie, and after she cleared
Sandy Hook light she was never heard
from again. She went down with all
on board before she had ever been
named.
a most extraordinary accident hap
pened to the corvette Monongahcla at
Santa Cruz in 1867. While at anchor in
the harbor a tremendous tidal wave
lifted her upon it's crest and carried
her clean over the town of Frederick
stadt and back again without injuring
the town or the boat to any great ex-
tent. The receding wave landed her
on the beach instead of in the deep
waters of the harbor, and it cost our
government 100000 TO float her again
Fully as strange was the fate Of the
sloop-of-war Wateree.
She was anchored in the harbor of
africa. Peru. in 1868, when huge tidal
wave swept inland and flooded the
whole city. The wave carried the
sloop several miles inland, and finally
landed her in the midst of q tropica.
forest. 1t was impossible to release
her from such peculiar position, and
the government sold her for a nominal
sum. The purchasers turned the vessel
into hotel, and the remains of the
once formidable war vessel loom up in
the tropical forest to-day as a monu-
ment TO the power of tidal waves.
Among other cases Of disaster which
are attributed to the violence of the
waves or weather there is none more
interesting than that Of the strange
fate of the Saratoga. When she sailed
from Philadelphia in October, 1850, un-
der the command of Capt. James
Young, there was no finer or hand
somer war vessel afloat. That she wa
as formidable as she was attractive
she soon demonstrated in practical
way. After cruising around n shorl
time she captured three British vessels
in succession, and then with her prizes
she started to return TO Philadelphia
But off the Delaware capes she encoun
tered a British ship of line. As tho
Saratoga carried Only is guns and tn,
Intrepid was a 74-gun ship, Capt
Young considered it safer to run away
The enemy did not chase her far, bu
returned to protect and recapture th'
, British prizes. The Saratoga saileC
away in the very teeth Of storm, an,
she was never heard from again. Di,
she founder at sea in the gale, or wa
she blown up by her own magazines?
! There were some peculiar accident
r to our naval vessels in the past tina
! are accounted for, but, while the mys
r terry Of their loss is removed and eX
b planned, the strangeness of their mis-
haps is no less interesting. For in
stance, there Is the sinking Of tn
United States sloop-of-war Oneida il
1862 She was bound home from Yoko
hama, but when a short distance from
: port the British steamer Bombay raj
, into her and cut off her stern. The in
!. jury was so mortal that the Oneid
Immediately fired her gun of distress
but in the darkness the Bombay creS
= crept away instead of returning L
assist her. In n short time the sloo
o went to the bottom, carrying all @
her crew with her. When the new
,. reached Yokohama the captain Of tn
British steamer was mobbed by tn
indignant populace and he wes di,
missed from the service in disgrace.
n Hurricanes have been responsible
for the wreckage OF several of ou
= naval vessels other than those at So
# moa in 1850. The brig-of-war Bair
8 bridge was turned over ~ hurr
> cane of Cape Hatteras in 1868. an
e everybody on board was lost except
e colored cook. who managed to clin
Il to pieces of the wreck until picked M
> Ninety-eight lives were lost by ia
Is wrecking Of the sloop-of-war Huro
J. in 1877. A small hurricane blew he
Il on the shore of Norfolk, and she wa
pounded to pieces by the violent sur
[. The Saginaw was wrecked in the yer
= middle of the Pacific in 1s70.-Georg
n Ethelbert Walsh, in Leslie's Week..