USS Conestoga (AT-54)
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Conestoga in 1921
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Conestoga |
Builder | Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Maryland, U.S. |
Laid down | 1904 |
Acquired | by purchase, 14 September 1917 |
Commissioned | 10 November 1917 |
Reclassified | AT-54, 17 July 1920 |
Fate | Declared lost with all her crew, 30 June 1921 [wreck found 2016] |
General characteristics | |
Type | Tugboat |
Displacement | 420 long tons (430 t) |
Length | 170 ft (52 m) |
Beam | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
Draft | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
Speed | 13 kn (15 mph; 24 km/h) |
Complement | 56 |
Armament | 1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun |
USS Conestoga (shipwreck and remains) | |
San Francisco, California | |
Coordinates | 37°39′N 122°57′W / 37.650°N 122.950°W |
Built | 1903 |
Architect | Maryland Steel Company |
NRHP reference No. | 16000358 [1] |
Added to NRHP | October 6, 2016 |
The second USS Conestoga (SP-1128/AT-54) was an ocean-going
Construction
The tug was built for the
Service history
Assigned to the Submarine Force, Conestoga carried out towing duties along the Atlantic coast, transported supplies and guns, escorted convoys to Bermuda and the Azores, and cruised with the American Patrol Detachment in the vicinity of the Azores. At the end of the war she was attached to Naval Base No. 13, Azores, from which she towed disabled ships and escorted convoys until her arrival at New York on 26 September 1919. She was then assigned to harbor tug duty in the 5th Naval District at Norfolk, Virginia.
Conestoga (which had received the hull number AT-54 in July 1920) went to the Pacific in late 1920. She was at
Commanded by Lt. Ernest Larkin Jones, Conestoga was not heard from again. Despite an extensive search, the only trace found of her at the time of her loss was a lifeboat bearing the initial letter of her name found near Manzanillo, Mexico.[3]
Rediscovery
Her wreck was discovered in 2009, as an unidentified shipwreck in the
See also
- USS R-14, a submarine sent to search for the ship
References
- ^ "USS CONESTOGA (shipwreck and remains)". National Park Service. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- ^ "Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point MD". Shipbuilding History. Delray Beach, FL: Tim Colton. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- ^ a b Khimm, Suzy (March 23, 2016). "With the Discovery of the USS Conestoga, Researchers Have Solved a Mystery That Was Nearly 100 Years Old". Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ Barakat, Matthew (23 March 2016). "Navy tugboat lost for a century found off California coast". Associated Press. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ Michael E. Ruane (23 March 2016). "After 95 years, a Navy ship lost at sea with all hands is finally discovered". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ Castillo, Mariano (23 March 2016). "95 years after disappearance, the USS Conestoga is found". Cable News Network.
Further reading
- This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Naval History and Heritage Command.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.
External links
- USS Conestoga (AT-54) Wreck Site (1921) (Naval History and Heritage Command, December 2, 2020)
- history.navy.mil: USS Conestoga Photos
- Photo gallery of USS Conestoga at NavSource Naval History
- Roll of Honor