USS Saginaw - Kure Atoll
The 133-year old wreck of the American warship USS Saginaw was located on a NOAA research mission at Kure Atoll in 2003. Kure Atoll waters are managed by the State of Hawai'i and are adjacent to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Reserve. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and manages the Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. These agencies all share a common goal to protect the natural and heritage resources located at Kure Atoll, including shipwreck sites like USS Saginaw.
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| USS Saginaw wrecking on reef at Kure Atoll. (Photo: Read, 1912) |
The team that found the USS Saginaw was led by Hans Van Tilburg, maritime heritage coordinator for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. Joining Van Tilburg for the Reserve’s August 2003 fieldwork at Kure were colleagues Brad Rodgers and Kelly Gleason of East Carolina University’s Program in Maritime Studies, and Andrew Lydecker of Panamerican Maritime Inc. The work was conducted in coordination with the State of Hawai'i, the Naval Historical Center, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The USS Saginaw captures a critical period of American involvement in the Pacific, an historic vessel of the “old steam navy.” The side wheel steamer served in the East Indian squadron protecting American citizens in China and Japan and suppressing pirates. In 1862 she joined the Pacific squadron and operated on the West Coast to prevent Confederate activity. Her cruises took her to many ports in Mexico and Central America.
The USS Saginaw served as the supply ship for the team of engineers and divers who took up the six-month task of blowing a passage through the reef at Midway when it to be made into a coaling station for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. At the end of this operation, the acting Captain, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Sicard ordered that Ocean (Kure) Island, a known navigational hazard, be checked for castaways during the return to Honolulu. The Officer on Deck, Ensign Gorst, was first to hear the breakers and see the surf. Topsails were immediately taken in and both anchors let go, but the ship was bilged in 10 minutes, and within an hour water flooded the engine room and doused the boilers.
The castaways established a camp ashore, and the ship’s gig was modified and manned by five volunteers to make the journey east. Ninety three survivors waited on Green Island. Coxswain William Halford was the only one to survive the violent surf landing at Kalihi Kai on Kaua’i after a rough 31 day passage. His Majesty Kamehameha V lent the royal steamer Kilauea to the American minister at Honolulu for the rescue mission, and the remaining crew were picked up on January 3, 1862.
During the August 2003 maritime archaeology expedition, the team documented artifacts with digital photography and rough positions of individual items. High surf and rough weather made thorough investigation of the site difficult, and time at Kure Atoll was limited. Initial conclusions are possible following the 2003 discovery, however. The nature of the artifact collection is consistent with that of a wooden hull naval sailing steam ship, battered and broken in the high energy environment of a windward reef setting. Artifacts photographed and recorded by the team include anchors, cannon, sounding lead, a gudgeon and sheathing nails. There are no other similar vessels reported as lost at Kure, and the location of the wreck site coincides with historical reports.
The distribution of artifacts seen so far is consistent with the bow impact and subsequent breaking apart of the vessel. The aft section engineering and boiler components are consequently being strewn further down the reef. This coincides with and supports the account of the shipwrecked crew.
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