The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1918-06-07

NAVAL VESSELS
Of OTHER DAYS

lier CyclOps has revived interest in
other mysterious disappearance of
naval vessels. From the records of
the navy department there has been
compiled a brief list of naval vessels
which sailed and then went down in
the oceans NAV without leaving a.
soul to tell the story.
The Saratoga, a ship of IS guns,
commanded by Captain John Young,
was lost at sea with all on board in
March, 1881.
few years later the General Gates
also a ship of IS guns, built in 1777
or 1778, was lost without a trace
The Pickering, a brig of IA guns,
weighing 1877 tons and carrying a crew
of ninety men, sailed from Newcastle,
Del, on August 20, 1900, in command
Of Lieutenant b. Hillard. bound for the
| Guadaloupe station. She never was
heard from after that date, it being
believed that she foundercd in an
equinoctial sale in September of that
same year.
The Insurgent, which had been cap
tured from the French in 1879 by the
u. S. S. Constellation, sailed from
Hampton Roads on August 8, 1900,
for a cruise in the West Indies. She
also is believed to have gone down
with her crew of $40 men in one of
the equinoctial gales that caused the
Pickering to go under.
The Wasp, with 140 men, under COM
mand of Commander Johnston Blakely,
engaged and captured on September /
1914, the British brig Atlanta. A
Swedish brig reported having spoken
her three weeks after that date, but
no further news ever was had about
her. She is supposed to have foun-
dered in a gale.
The Hamilton, one of Commodore
Chauncy's squadron on Lake Ontario,
capsized on the night of August 10,
1913, while trying to weather the
| enemy's squadron. "All hands," says
the official chronicle, ARE supposed
! to have been at quarters"
The Epervier, ship of 10 guns and
a complement of 128 men, captured
from the British by the U. S. S. Pea
cock, sailed from Gibraltar for this
country on July 4, 1915. She last was
seen by merchant vessel on August
IA in mid-Atlantic.
The Lynx, a schooner of three guns,
with so men on board, commanded
by Lieutenant J. r. Madison, sailed
from ST Mary's, Fla, for Jamaica, on
New Years day, 1921 She last was
sighted on January % of that year.
The Wildcat, with three guns and
thirty-one men, commanded by
Lieutenant J. E. Legare, sailed from
Cuba for Key West in 1924. She is
supposed to have gone ashore on
Carysfort reef, as an arms chest and
other wreckage from the vessel later
were found there.
Armed with eighteen guns and car
rying crew of 140 men, the Hornet,
with Commander Ohio Norris as skip
per, foundered in a gale off Tampico
on September 10, 1929
The Sylph, small naval schooner,
also is believed to have foundered a
few years later, as she never was
heard from after her departure from
port.
The Sea Gull, which left Orange
Harbor for Valparaiso in company with
the Flying Fish on April %, 1899, lost
her consort one night and is believed
to have sunk in a severe gale, from
which the Flying Fish took refuge
under false Cape Horn.
The Grampus, schooner of II
guns, sailed from Charleston, S. c.
about March IA, 1S42, and was due
at Norfolk, Va, between the eighth
! and fifteenth of April In June
the navy department abandoned all
hope for her safety
The Jefferson, a steamer engaged
in the coast survey, was lost near
the Straits of Magellan in 1850.
! The Albany, a sloop-of-war with 210
men, under command of Commander
j. T. Gerry, sailed from Aspinwall on
. September %, 1854, for New York
After long wait, the steamers Full
ton and Princeton were sent in search
of her, but no trace ever was discov-
] cred
The Levant, also a sloop-of-war with
21O men, under Captain William
Hunt, departed from Hilo, in the Sand.
witch Islands, on September, IS, 1860
!. Vessels of the Pacific squadron