Conestoga Mystery Solved After 95 Years
By James Donahue
The USS Conestoga was a 170-foot Navy tugboat that went missing in June, 1921, while towing a barge of coal from Mare Island, California, to Pearl Harbor. Commanded by Lt. Ernest Larkin Jones, the tug was scheduled to duty as a station ship at Tutuila, American Samoa. But the vessel went missing with its entire crew of 56 sailors.
No trace of the tug was found in spite of an extensive search. All that was found was an empty lifeboat bearing the letter “C” floating near Manzanillo, Mexico.
In 2009 a mystery wreck was spotted near the Farallon Islands, just 30 miles off the San Francisco coast, during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hydrographic survey. Then in October, 2015, a joint NOAA and Navy mission confirmed that the wreck was the Conestoga. The wreck, with all 56 members of the crew still aboard, has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
An archaeological study of the wreck helped researchers learn what happened. It seemed that the Conestoga’s bilge pumps were not working properly after the tug and its barge encountered rough weather just after leaving the Golden Gate. The tow winch was found to be twisted and improperly spooled on the drum, suggesting a problem with the barge. After the barge was lost the tug was taking on too much water to remain afloat. In desperation the crew turned for Southeast Farallon Island in a last-ditch effort to save themselves. The tug never made it.
The tug was the second of four naval vessels to bear the name Conestoga. It was built for the Philadelphia and Reading Railway by the Maryland Steel Company in 1904. After war broke out in 1917 the tug was purchased by the Navy for war duty.
With Lieutenant C. Olsen in command, the Conestoga was assigned to carry out towing duties along the Atlantic coast. She also carried supplies and guns, and escorted convoys to Bermuda and the Azores. It was assigned to harbor tug duty at Norfolk, Virginia in 1919, then sent to San Diego and Mare Island, in the Pacific in 1920.
By James Donahue
The USS Conestoga was a 170-foot Navy tugboat that went missing in June, 1921, while towing a barge of coal from Mare Island, California, to Pearl Harbor. Commanded by Lt. Ernest Larkin Jones, the tug was scheduled to duty as a station ship at Tutuila, American Samoa. But the vessel went missing with its entire crew of 56 sailors.
No trace of the tug was found in spite of an extensive search. All that was found was an empty lifeboat bearing the letter “C” floating near Manzanillo, Mexico.
In 2009 a mystery wreck was spotted near the Farallon Islands, just 30 miles off the San Francisco coast, during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hydrographic survey. Then in October, 2015, a joint NOAA and Navy mission confirmed that the wreck was the Conestoga. The wreck, with all 56 members of the crew still aboard, has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
An archaeological study of the wreck helped researchers learn what happened. It seemed that the Conestoga’s bilge pumps were not working properly after the tug and its barge encountered rough weather just after leaving the Golden Gate. The tow winch was found to be twisted and improperly spooled on the drum, suggesting a problem with the barge. After the barge was lost the tug was taking on too much water to remain afloat. In desperation the crew turned for Southeast Farallon Island in a last-ditch effort to save themselves. The tug never made it.
The tug was the second of four naval vessels to bear the name Conestoga. It was built for the Philadelphia and Reading Railway by the Maryland Steel Company in 1904. After war broke out in 1917 the tug was purchased by the Navy for war duty.
With Lieutenant C. Olsen in command, the Conestoga was assigned to carry out towing duties along the Atlantic coast. She also carried supplies and guns, and escorted convoys to Bermuda and the Azores. It was assigned to harbor tug duty at Norfolk, Virginia in 1919, then sent to San Diego and Mare Island, in the Pacific in 1920.