The San Francisco call., 1899-03-26
THE CAMANCHE.
Brouoht to Sap Francisco io sec
tions and Edunthed Here %
Years Aqo.

oo .,,ora. of the vessels built for the
navy during the Civil War of 1ool-e9 mas
ou4liyed her. usefulness. The ola IlolIIWoI W
C,amanche, the first ironclad launCiieu ~
San Francisco has been Sold TOT the sun Ct
- se5s1 o. TO an Oakland firm. The ca
manche was one OF a Iot pL tTll Ioe, - +,is
designed by John Ericsson IN 16o9 anu anu i. Ii!i9
10 r+fc7rfar vessel was built at Jersey ClIy
bv Donahue.. Ryan & Secor 1or the sum sum
of ss1a1e4 qS The hull was taken apart
-o,d eto1ved 1into the hold OF tne snip
AnuiIla. which arrived saIely IN 60 60
Francisco November 10 1868, put Le'
days later the ship sank at Hatha"@y
-ta,f d1,rine a storm and it took the
divers nearly FIVE months 10 tahe t pu' 80
: -Csainianche ant. raise the AquiAa. Inc ollly
binyard nroner in San Francisco IN tHe
norIIy '60's was Steamboat POINT IN Mis-
sion Bay, between Third anu FouI w
streets. and there the CanahcHF "
again put up and during the
was under construction an ADMISSION o-
Ok ce7+eiwas charged TO the public, the
money being turned over TO tlg loaiii sIH .
FiJnd committee. November 1fi Io4' tne
vda1r of her launching, was amos ~ oso-
served as a holiday in san. - [dhclSCO' 'Sn
fully one-fifth or over 2OOVU OF lHT pOPT pI1PoT
iation being down to witness tne 5.i7,o i@ Tis
which was marred by one man IoSII4S IIlS
life bv becoming entangled IN a haWsetiL aSe IL
In the course of several I I4oLltI1S fs1anS .nS
Camancbe was towed up to Mare 1slanu
and placed in commissions with LAeuiIen-
ant Commander Charles ). MGD9usdf5 ~ "a oito l9
cantain: John Adams, master; j. II. % Jd1G;e
son. mate; and NJ. S, Tornbohm' ehleL
Of these officers Jackson alone survives
at the age of close on to 50; McDouSdl,
son of that brave old rear admIfaI, DdVlu
McDougaI was drowned ABOUT slAlGsn sl,
years ago on the Mena9clTTo IT, bo6Io nre
ceded his friend and schoolmaIe' Jollh
Ericsson, by twenty years: -, co,orot,.
The subsequent career OF the CaIndIlCHe
has been uneventful, although she came
very near making history for the navy
during her first commission. II was tn9
practice to take her down the mare lsIa4o
Strait in the morning and enter san ran
10 Bay for gun practice. The mgh DUN
at the lower end of the YARD opposlte
get for the two 15-inch smoothboreS OF tne
Camanche and the shells burled IN the
soft rock. One day, hoWeyer' me me eieTa77 eieI,a7
and a couple of the 400-pound empty ShelS
sailed over the bluff, landed on the slope
and rolled down in nc close ProxImlty 10 +ba9 La4
kind of target practice and the two 10
inch guns Of the Camanche have been
silent for over thirty-three years
OF the ten monitors Of the Gamanche
type the tPatap psco and Weehawken We're
torpedoed during the war and the other
seven still exist, none of them, however,
in a more efficient condition than the Ca
manche. The others are the Passalc. ia
son, Lehigh. Montaqk, CatskII, Nan
lain at League Island for over twenty-five
wears, battle-scarred and interesting OBJ
jects, but they are all slow and useless
against modern guns. The turrets are Of
eleven thicknesses of l5-16tnch iron and the
sides of five layers making a total thick
ness approximately eleven and five inches
respectively. The engines and boilers, al
though well cared for, are only fit for
the Scrap pile, but the hull proper may
be made useful for any other purpose
than that of deep-sea navigation as the
plating is practically indestructible. and
thirty-five years has not reduced the
thickness to any material extent.