parched fo r Kure. Ar the insistence of His Royal Highness Kamehameha V, King of Hawaii, the royal steamer Kilauea also set out on the rescue voyage. By 3 January 1871 both vessels reached Kure. The surv ivo rs were taken onboard the steamer, sixtyeight days after their shipwreck. They also learned their rescue was purchased at the cost of fo ur of their shipmates. The story of the loss of USS Sagi,naw and the rescue of her ship's company has become a permanent part of our naval legacy.
The ship's gig after her rescue journey.
Maritime Heritage Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) M arine Sanctuary Program, together with state and federal parmers, manages and protects the coral reef ecosystem of the Northwes tern H awaiian Islands (NWHI); this includes submerged cultural resources such as USS Saginaw. This 1,200-mile chain of atolls and coral reefs is an extraordinary and pristine natural resource. As the story of Saginaw confirms, it is also a chain of navigational hazards second to none. Approximately sixty vessels are known to have been lost in the NWHI, (and at least that many naval ai rcraft). Some of these shipwrecks date back to the 1820s. In the summer of 2003, N OAA researchers located portions of USS Saginaw on the eastern reef of Kure Atoll. Cannon, anchors, boiler pieces, fas teners, and rigging lie scattered in the rough coral
Coxwain William Halford was the only survivor of the open boat journey in the ship's gig. Within hours after he reported the loss of Saginaw and the survivors waiting at Kure to the American Minister at Honolulu, two vessels were dispatched to rescue them. Halford retired from the navy in 1910. Promoted to Lieutenant on the retired list, he returned to the Navy in 191 7. USS Halford (DD-480) was named for him.
topography. Ships wreck in difficult and dangerous locations, and the seaward reef has not changed over the years. The sire was only accessible for a single dive-many other clues wait to be discovered on future multi-disciplinary research cruises. William Halford recalled, "There was very little of anything saved, only what was washed over rhe reef into the lagoon in the shoal water, which we later fished up from the bottom." Archaeologists with NOAA's Maritime Heritage program returned to Kure in 2005 bur were kept off the sire
by high seas and thirty-five knot winds. Further attempts to complete the survey will be scheduled in the fut ure, bu r it will always be very taxing and unpredictable to work in the location. Sagi,naw's artifacts cannot speak directly of rransPacific ambition, of the promotion of American commerce overseas and Asian connections across the Pacific, bur they do speak to the very real hazards involved in seafaring in any age. The transitio n to steam propulsion and the extension of American influence into the Pacific were slow processes, sometimes accompanied by the loss of life. The low and inconspicuous characte r of the NWHI makes for formidable obstacles to navigation . In th is case, the atoll reef defeated the brigh tes t lookout, the most careful navigation, and most cautious nigh t orders. The sire of USS Sagi,naw is now a window into our past, and entry poi nt into our own maritime heritage. Notes 1 Reporr of the Secretary of the Navy, 1858 2 Marshall C. Campbell, Deck Logs, USS Saginaw, December 6th 186 1, RG 24, NARA. 3 Reporr of the Secretary of the Navy, 1868 4 Charles Walcott Brooks, Cruise of Gambia "Our Furrh est O urposr" Old and New (I 8701875) June 1870. 5 Herschel Main, 2nd assistant engineer USN, Court oflnquiry records RG 125, NARA Ham Konrad Vtm Ti/bu rg holds an MA in maritime history and nautical archaeology from East Carolina University and a PhD from the University ofHawai'i, where he fo cused on the maritime history ofA sia and the Pacific. H e is the M aritime H eritage Coordinator far N OAA's National Marine Sanctuaries Program in the Pacific Is/,ands region.
(Above) Dr. Bradley Rodgers measures Saginaw sboiler face; (right) In 2 003, archaeologists located two unshackled iron anchors resting on the sea flo01: These anchors may have been spares, stowed low in the vessel as ballast. Both seem too small far use as the main bower anchors ofa 155-faot warship. One-half ofa broken iron anchor stock lies on the reef near the boiler face, possibly from an anchor that was used, and broken, during the wrecking event.
SEA HISTORY 112, AUTUMN 2005
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