Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-06-22
MISSING SHIPS TELL
MUTE STORY OF
SEA MYSTERY
LOSS OF u. S, S. NINA
ADDS TO LONG LIST
Government Records Reveal Dis
appearance Of Vessels That
Have Never Again Been
Heard From by Anyone,

- IfANA
The recent disappearance Of til,
naval tug Nina n her crow adds an
other To the list of naval vessels who's,
exact fate has never been ascertain,
ed.
one OF the costliest cases of tn,
Kind on record in tho navy depart
mcnt was that OF the ship Saratoga
IS uns, under command OF Captain
j. Young. She sailed away in 1850
and no one knows what befell her and
her crew.
Even stranger was the story Of the
brig Pickering and the ship In~surgent.
In August. 1900. both vessels sailed
out 10 sea. one from Delaware river
and the other from Hampton Roads.
each on a long cruise. The Pickering
uas bound for Guadaloupe station.
carried 80 men and was under the
command Of Lieut.. l. Hillar. After
she left the river she was never sight
ed and no vestise of wreckage from
her was ever found.
The Insurgent carried $40 men and
was under the command of Capt. G..
Fletcher. Her sailing instructions
were to cruise between Go and GS de-
grees west longitude and as far south
as so degrees north latitude. She was
never heard from again. II is sup
posed that both vessels. with all on
board. %foundered in the September
gales of 1900.
Then came the story Of the little brig
Hornet. which did valiant service in
the war of 1912. The Hornet weighed
anchor for her last cruise on Feb. 5.
1929. sailing out Of New York harbor
for Pensacola. where she arrived
March 4, 1929. and Immediately start
ed on a cruise along the Mexican
coast.
Early in November Commodore Ell
lott reported that the brig had prob
ably been d~ismantled in a gale and
the L. :. S. Peacock was sent to her
relief. on Dec. q, 1929. the Peacock
raised an anchor with l. 40-fathom
chain attached Off the coast Of Tam
pico. This was the only Supposed
trace Of the Hornet ever found. The
vessel Is entered on the navy records
as DESTROYED Sept. 10. 60 1929.
The Grampus, In command of Lieu
tenant DoWHes. started on a cruise
early in 1S43. The vessel expected to
reach Norfolk il April. and Lieuten-
art D0Wnes wrote to his wife in Mass
achusetts to meet him at the Virginia
port between April s and 10. Mrs.
Downes arrived at the appointed time
ftffN y Hfftt~~-t dfttQ Tor weeks. &
months. eYer eXpectant, but with
hopes growing fainter each day. The
Grampus never came. She was last
seen by the brig Howell on March 10.
at which time she was off Cape Hat
teras- The tenacity with which the
families of those on board nursed
their hopes can be gained from this
paragraph copied from Niles Nautical
Register Of June 8:
The m OF the loss OF that fine
little vessel. the Grampus. is. says the
Albany Evening journal Of Tuesday,
we rejoice To believe, without founda-
ton. Letters received in this city by
friends of Lieutenant Gansevoort
state that the Grampus had started N
u long cruise and that no news was
to be expected for some months"
1t was nearly a year between the
time that the United States sloop or
W9r LeVant, disappeared forever and
the final realization hal ship ana
crew had been lost. The Levant.
which vas built in 1897, sailed out OF
Boston June 3. 1853. ON oct. II. she
reached Valparaiso and four days
later hoistcd the flag of Commodore
J. b. Montgomery. In September OF
following year a letter from Com
mander w. +. Hunt, in command.
said that he would sail from Hilo
Panama in 10 or ~ days.
lie sailed out of Hilo on Sept. is
ana nothing has been heard from ship
or crew since. ON Nov. 20 Flag Off
'cr Montgomery reported from Pana-
that he had received Il letter from .
commanders Hunt and Lockwood say
ug that the Levant and Cyane we're
ln their way to Panama. ON the last
lay of January the Saranac and the !
were sent to search for The ,
which was then 105 days out !
Hilo. ,
The little ship Clipper had been dis =,
nantled in severe gales which devas- /
atcd the coast in the vicinity Of Hilo. !
nd il is supposed that the Levant !
vas lost during the same hurricane. 7
On June s, 1861. Consul Thomas Mil :
er reported that a mast had been \
Fashed ashore rs miles north of Hilo "a
nd that it was supposed to have been !
ne mainmast OF the LeVant Even
hen. however. hope was not entirely :
.bandoned for all her crew, and II a
not until July "a, 1861, that con-
ress declared the Levant had been {
1st and fixed the date as june 80, 4,
SCI. fully nine months after the vessel =
robahly f~oandered. :
II Is explained at the navy depart
that this great lcewdy in time {
allowed rs there are SO many small
ilands in the Pacific where members \
j a crew might find sustenance that y
is advisable TO delay the legal dec {
ration of total loss Of a vessel in q
hose waters. \
Insect names seem to be a hoodoo a
llh the navy. for as a companion h
r,