lance and reconnaissance capabilities. Ships City of Chester while surveying another of the Virginia class represent the commit- nearby shipwreck. Armed with historical m ent by the US Navy and industry to data provided by NOAA historians, the reduce costs without decreasing capabilities Coast Survey team returned to the site and through a multi-year procurem ent strat- co nducted a multi-beam sonar survey egy, continuous improvements in construc- whereby a sonar target was returned with tion practices, and cost-reduction design the right size and sh ape. The team spent changes. The contract is the largest number nearly nine months sorting through the of boats ordered ro date in a single contract data and later conducted a follow-up sideblock. Electric Boat and Newport News scan sonar survey. This survey revealed the Shipbuilding already have delive red 10 City of Chester, sitting upright, shrouded Virginia-class submarines to the US Navy. in mud, 216 feet deep at the edge of a small These submarines displace 7,800 tons, with undersea sho al. High-resolution sonar a hull length of 3 77 feet and a diameter of imagery clearly defined the hull , rising 34 feet. Capable of speeds in excess of 25 some 18 feet from the seabed, and the fatal knots, they can dive to a depth greater than gash on the vessel's port side. The shipwreck 800 feet, while carrying Mark 48 advanced site had been found in the past. In 1888, capability torpedoes, Tomahawk land-attack missiles, and unmanned underwater vehicles .... On 23 April, NOAA announced it had rediscovered the wreck site of the passenger steamer City of Chester, which sank in 1888 in a collision in dense fog near where the Golden Gate Bridge stands today. The 202-foot-long steamship had just left San Francisco and was head ed up the Califo rnia coas t to Eureka with 90 passengers o n 22 August the site had been reported by a team from the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, which was wire dragging the harbor, and in 18 90 by a salvage diver. There are no plans to raise the ship. (For more on the City of Chester and other wrecks documented by the NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program, visit www. SS C ity of C hester sanctuaries.noaa.gov and click on the link 188 8, when around 10 in the morning it to "Maritime Heritage.") ... The Trustees was struck by the steamer Oceanic. Impaled of the Sailors' Snug Harbor (SSH) in on Oceanic, which was arriving from Asia, New York City are seeking retired merCity of Chester sank in just six minutes. chant mariners. Today's SSH is a descenSixteen people died in the accid ent. The dant of the original Sailors' Snug Harbor rediscovery of the wreck restores an im- retirement center on Staten Island, NY, portant hiscorical link to San Francisco's which moved to Sea Level, NC, in the ea rl y Ch in ese-American com munity. 1970s . The Trust sold the North Caro lina Reports at the time initially c riticized facility in 2005 and now uses funds from Oceanic's C hinese crew in the racially its original endowment to serve m ariners charged atmosphere of the times . Criti- across the country in need of assistance. cisms turned to praise, however, w hen the The organization offers support to career bravery of the crew in rescuing many of mariners who can demonstrate they have City of Chester's passengers was revealed. a need for fin ancial assistance and m eet 1he wreck was then largely forgotten. In the followin g requiremems: 3,65 0 days of May 2013 , NOAA's Office of Coast Survey deep-sea time proven through discharge Navigational Response Team 6 (NRT6), papers (50% on US-Bagged ships); 65 yea rs in a 28-foot boat equipped with sonar, of age or older; a proven need for fin ancial rediscovered what they though t was the ass istance w ith assets not excee din g SEA HISTORY 147, SUMMER 2014
$5 0 ,000 (primary residence excluded). (For more details on services, eligibility, and how to apply, call the Sai lors' Snug Harbor Mariner Counselor at 1-888-2575456 or visit www.thesailorssnugharbor. org.) ... T h e Great Lakes H istorical Society op ened its brand new National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toled o, OH, on 26 April, with hundreds of artifacts, forty interactive exhibits, and th e 1911 Great Lakes freighter SS Col. James M. Schoonmaker. At 613 feet, the 15 ,5 00 GT Schoonmaker was th e largest ship on the Great Lakes at the time of her launch
Ocean Liner Row T HE GREAT O CEAN L INERS OF THE 20rH CENTURY IN N EW YORK HARBOR • We Appraise, Purchase & Sell Ocean Liner Memorabilia Ian Robertson • 917·416· 7653' P . O . BOX 20586, NEW YORK, NY 10025
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Ann e T. Converse Ph otography
Neith, 1996, Cover p hotograph
Wood, Wind and Water A
STORY OF THE OPERA HousE Cur RACE OF NANTUCKET
Photographs by Anne T. Converse Text by Carolyn M. Ford
Celebrating its 12th Anniversary!! Live vicariously through the pictures and tales of classic wooden yacht owners who lovingly restore and race these gems of the sea. "An outstanding presentation deserves ongoing recommendation for both art and nautical collections. " 10"x12" Hardbound book; 132 pages, 85 full page color photographs; Price $45.00
For more information contact: Anne T. Converse Phone : 508-728-621 O anne@annetconverse.com www.annetconverse.com
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