Navy tugboat USS Conestoga found by Golden Gate after 95 years lost at sea
- 8 years ago
SAN FRANCISCO — After nearly a century of trying to uncover the mysterious fate of the U.S.S. Conestoga and its crew, scientists can finally offer an explanation as to what happened.
On March 25, 1921, the USS Conestoga set sail from Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California, carrying 56 officers and crew members on board. Bound for Pearl Harbor, then Tutuila, American Samoa, it was intended to operate as a station ship. Unfortunately, it never made it to its destination.
Weather logs indicate that at some point along its ill-fated journey, it met with a vicious storm, rough seas and dastardly winds likely damning the Navy tugboat and the men on board in shark-infested waters.
In 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was conducting a hydrographic survey to measure the depths of the seafloor using multibeam sonar technology, when it discovered what appeared to be a shipwreck.
An investigation followed in 2014 using remotely operated vehicles and robots. Roughly 185 feet below the water's surface, scientists found a ship 170 feet long and 26 feet wide, complete with a steam engine, steering gear, and a naval gun to match those of the once-vanished Conestoga.
These remarkable findings have led scientists and the Navy to declare the Conestoga found and the mystery finally solved, hopefully bringing closure to the families of the lost souls. Based on the location of the wreck, the Conestoga barely managed to travel just 24 miles after departing from California's Golden Gate Strait, sinking within the first 24 hours of the expedition, roughly three miles from Southeast Farallon Island.
While many questions have been answered, what became of the crew is still anyone's guess. No traces of the sailors' bodies were ever recovered.
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On March 25, 1921, the USS Conestoga set sail from Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California, carrying 56 officers and crew members on board. Bound for Pearl Harbor, then Tutuila, American Samoa, it was intended to operate as a station ship. Unfortunately, it never made it to its destination.
Weather logs indicate that at some point along its ill-fated journey, it met with a vicious storm, rough seas and dastardly winds likely damning the Navy tugboat and the men on board in shark-infested waters.
In 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was conducting a hydrographic survey to measure the depths of the seafloor using multibeam sonar technology, when it discovered what appeared to be a shipwreck.
An investigation followed in 2014 using remotely operated vehicles and robots. Roughly 185 feet below the water's surface, scientists found a ship 170 feet long and 26 feet wide, complete with a steam engine, steering gear, and a naval gun to match those of the once-vanished Conestoga.
These remarkable findings have led scientists and the Navy to declare the Conestoga found and the mystery finally solved, hopefully bringing closure to the families of the lost souls. Based on the location of the wreck, the Conestoga barely managed to travel just 24 miles after departing from California's Golden Gate Strait, sinking within the first 24 hours of the expedition, roughly three miles from Southeast Farallon Island.
While many questions have been answered, what became of the crew is still anyone's guess. No traces of the sailors' bodies were ever recovered.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
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Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
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Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus