A Civil War Gunboat in Pacific Waters: Life on Board USS Saginaw

379 Pages·2010·4.131 MB·English

by  Hans Konrad Van Tilburg

MIlITarY/CIVIl War/arCHaEOlOgY • • • • •

A
“An epic shipwreck tale. Sacrifice and heroism are recounted in a comprehensive A
study of a ship that embodied America’s role in the nineteenth-century Pacific as
C CiViL WAr
Yankee enterprise helped open Asia to trade. Well-researched, well-written, this i
v
book also takes readers for the first time into Saginaw’s long-lost grave beneath
i
the sea.”—James P. Delgado, president, The Institute of Nautical Archaeology l

W
GUnBoAT
“An impressive study of a naval vessel from construction to destruction.” a
r
—William Still Jr., author of Crisis at Sea
G
u PACifiC
In 2003, research divers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
n
tion’s Office of Marine Sanctuaries discovered a possible shipwreck site near a b in
remote atoll in the geographic middle of the North Pacific, 1,200 miles across open o
a WATerS
ocean from Honolulu, Hawai`i. The wreck turned out to be the remains of a Civil
t
War gunboat, USS Saginaw, a wooden side-wheel steamer that served in Pacific and
i
Asian waters between 1860 and 1870. During this decade, the crew witnessed the n
• •
trade disruptions of the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, the transportation of
P
Confederate sailors to Central America, the French intervention in Mexico, and the a
Life on Board USS Saginaw
c
growing presence of American naval forces in Hawai`i.
i
In 1870, the ship sank at one of the planet’s most remote coral reefs. Her crew fi
was rescued sixty-eight days later after a dramatic open-boat voyage. More than 130 c

years passed before Hans Van Tilburg led the team that discovered and recorded W
Saginaw’s remains near Kure Atoll’s reef. Van Tilburg’s narrative provides fresh a
insights and a vivid retelling of a classic naval shipwreck. He provides a fascinating t
e
perspective on the watershed events in history that reshaped the Pacific during r
s
these years. And the tale of archaeological search and discovery reveals that
adventure is still to be found on the high seas. •
HaNS KONrad VaN TIlBurg, maritime heritage
coordinator for the National Oceanic and V
a
Atmospheric Administration, is the author of N
Chinese Junks on the Pacific. T
I
l
B
A volume in the series New Perspectives on u
r
Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology, g

edited by James C. Bradford and Gene Allen Smith
Front, middle: Sicard’s sketch from memory of USS Saginaw
hard aground at Kure Atoll. From Read, Last Cruise of the
Saginaw. Bottom: The Martin boiler face on the reef. Courtesy
of NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
Author photo by Sabina Fe Van Tilburg.
UPF
University Press of Florida
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www.upf.com
Hans Konrad Van Tilburg
ISBN 978-0-8130-3516-1
A Civil War Gunboat in Pacific Waters
New Perspectives on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology
University Press of florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

A Civil War Gunboat
in Pacific Waters
Life on Board USS Saginaw
Hans Konrad Van Tilburg
Foreword by James C. Bradford and Gene Allen Smith
University Press of Florida
Gainesville | Tallahassee | Tampa | Boca Raton
Pensacola | Orlando | Miami | Jacksonville | Ft. Myers | Sarasota
Copyright 2010 by Hans Konrad Van Tilburg
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Van Tilburg, Hans.
A Civil War gunboat in Pacific waters : life on board USS Saginaw / Hans
Konrad Van Tilburg ; foreword by James C. Bradford and Gene Allen Smith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8130-3516-1 (alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8130-3657-1 (e-book)
1. Saginaw (Steamer) 2. Pacific Area—History, Naval—19th century. 3.
Seafaring life—Pacific Area—History—19th century. 4. United States.
Navy—History—19th century. I. Title.
VA65.S227V36 2010
359.3'25—dc22 2010020781
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State
University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida
Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International
University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, University of
Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University
of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
To my original mentor in maritime history,
Dr. William N. Still Jr., who told me,
“You’ve got to get out there in the Pacific—it’s wide open!”
It still is.

Contents
List of Figures ix
Foreword xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1. A New Ship for a New Ocean 9
2. Seasoning on the China Station 37
3. The Civil War on the Pacific Coast 80
4. Hard Times on Coastal Patrol 121
5. Exploring Seward’s Icebox 147
6. Hawai`i and the End of the Archipelago 179
7. The Castaways of Ocean Island 218
8. Afterword: Legacy and Shipwrecks 280
Notes 325
References 343
Index 349

Figures
1. The Pacific cruising areas of USS Saginaw 7
2. Rare photo of USS Saginaw 17
3. Saginaw waterlines and internal details, 1859 21
4. Saginaw sail plan and elevation drawing, 1863 22
5. Saginaw deck plans, 1863 23
6. Mare Island Navy Yard, ca. 1850s 26
7. Mare Island and the town of Vallejo, 1870 26
8. Receiving ship USS Independence at Mare Island 27
9. Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Sicard, ca. 1870 180
10. Rear Admiral Montgomery Sicard, 1890s 180
11. The Northwestern Hawaiian Island chain 206
12. The shacks at Midway Island, 1870 209
13. Details of the cut surveyed by Sicard, 1870 212
14. Townsend’s patented rock-drilling machine, 1869 214
15. Sketch of USS Saginaw hard aground at Kure Atoll 226
16. Satellite image of Kure Atoll, eastern reef crest 230
17. Island rats swarming the wing holes in the dunes 233
18. Sicard’s tent on the beach, Ocean Island 235
19. Sketch of the stern breaking apart on the reef 236
20. Donkey boiler condensing freshwater, Ocean Island 236
21. Crew laying out sails for the gig 241
22. Sketch of the captain’s gig ready for sea 241
23. Executive Officer John Gunnel Talbot 245
24. Gunner’s Mate William Halford 245