Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-06-22

N""'A tue command OF MdSfe
tommandant Johnston RIakelv. wa
lost with all on board In 1874 Thor
IS sun uncertainty ms TO its fate. som.
maintaining that the little vessel wen
uoWh IN a gale. others that She VA
SUNK during q night engagement viii
a British frigate and others that sh,
was run under 10y q squall.
IN connection with the discussion
which arose following the disappear
ahce of the Wasp, this editorial com
Hent taken from the Norfolk Beacon
OF December. 1915, is Of interest.
notwithstanding the reports tina.
! we have heretofore published. a con.
N~crsdtlon with an officer OF the frs
rank and respectability in the nav,
permits us to entertain no doubts al
the loss of the United States sloop OF
war Wasp, and that her end was rs
l glorious as her cruise had been bril-.
liant
All readers OF newspapers mus,
recolleet that about a year ago there
was an account Of q British fricato
putting n Cadiz much Il 10 pieces
ana lou men killed and wounded. re-
porting her having an engagement
with a large American frigate off that
port.
II was known ct the time that We
mad no frigate i'm that quarter and
that the Wasp was believed to be
cruising in that ncighborhood. but lit
= ne was thought or said about it nj
that TIME, as the report was not gen.
orally credited. We now learn from n
source which cannot be doubted that
there was an action between a British
IrlSate Of the largest class and an
American ship and that it was un-
doubleday the Wasp
Lieutenant Conkling. who COM
mande the schooner Ohio, one of
Commodore Sinclair's ships on Lake
Erie, and who was captured in 1871
Off Fort Erie and sent to England.
has lately reported himself to his
commanding officer. to whom it APP
pears he related having met with one
of the lieutenants who were on board
the aforementioned frigate, and was
informed that the ship they engaged
was not a frigate, as was stated. and
that ms commander as well as every
person ON board could see by her bat
tie lanthorns being lighted and from
the flashes of her guns that she was
a coverette ship. mounting 22 guns.
ana that they believed themselves
that II was no other than the Wasp.
but after being so CALAMITY beaten or
aud having suffered so severely they
were reluctant to acknowledge how
hAfN ARAAt d0 lAlAn ttl
so severe . chastisement on them.
1t appears by the lieutenant's own
account that the action lasted several
hours, that the frigate sheered off II
rent. intending, il circumstances
would permit of it. to renew the ac- |
ton at daylight, which was not far
distant, but ~ earliest dawn there was
no vestige of its gallant opponent.
From the crippled state of the ships
and the short intervening time be-
tween tho separation and daylight the
lieutenant believed It impossible that |
they could have been out of sight Of
each other If their opponent had been !
above water.
1t was during the trouDIe with the
.Barbary powers that the little ship
Epervier of Ar tons, manned by 1873 |
men. sailed out through the Strait OF
Gibraltar on July IA, bearing dis
patches from Commodore Decatur and
from L~ieutenants Neal. Yarnall and
Drury. The disappearance of the Ep-
eryier recalls the belief Of the anct-
ents that the rocks of Gibraltar were
the pillars of the earth and that be-
yond this point you were apt to sail
off the edge of the world into til
.nothingness of the outer darkness.
The little schooner Lynx, under
command Of Lieut.. J. r.. Madison.
dropped out of sight with her crew OF
in 1920. There was the similar
of the Aston wildcat, which was
cruising in the West indies with her
81 men and which after a certain date
was never heard of again. The Syipf
cruising in the West Indies i'm 1891
In command Of Lieut.. ". r. Y. Robin
and is supposed to have founder
with all on board.
In view Of the recent talk of Ant
arctic expeditions the fate Of the little
-cnder Sea Cub is Of interest. The
Gull was a 100-ton pilot boat
with q crew of Is, and was acting as
I tender for Admiral Charles Wilkes
exploring expedition. She was last
seen by the Flying Fish, which part
ID company i'm order to seek shelter in
Cape Horn. The dictated YES
icl was under command of Passed
Nidshipman j. w. r. Reid. The loss
occurred in 1893.
The Great Lakes have not been
without their mysterious losses Of
vessels. On the night of August
10. 1913, the little schooner Hamilton &
s supposed to have capsizcd and been ,
with all on board while trying to ,
Weather the enemy's (Great Britain's1 !
quadrons and 1t is supposed that all Y
he guns cut loose at the time of the 7
nishap. ,
Mention may also be made Of the /,
destruction of the brig fseprisal off '
cost-of Newfoundland in 177S and -
fatal cruise OF the ship Macedon- :
an in 1922. The Reprisal was tho ,
irst United States vessel that ever l
listed Europe. whittier she carried [
benjamin Franklin soon after the
declaration Of independence. OF all {
Ter crew the cook alone was saved.
II 1892 the Macedonian, with a crew
f $50 men. started on a cruise of the
Vest Indies. Before she returned to
n American port 1903 men had died '
t yellow fever
The record Of the United States T
Of war Albany. kept Mt the navy
apartment, concludes as follows:
NOV. 20. 1S52.-Commander j. T.
took command. sailed from As :
inwall TO cruise in West Indies az
of squadron of Commodore J. 7.
Last heard from under date of 5,
ept. IS, 1851. in
In connection with the loss Of the I,
ina It IS interesting 10 recall that IL
this vessel which was towing the y,
.alena when the latter went aground n,
n Gray Head. Martha's Vineyard. in \
1891. The Galena was an old cg
OGDEN vessel, which was afterward IS
off and sold. but the accident ii
in the suspension from rank -,
al lut,+ .f f~aufauant Com Gsgrr-~ =.