Humboldt County Historical Society
Shipwrecked at Samoa
by Ray Hillman
(Review by Evelyn McCormick)
Fog, darkness, turbulent combers and human error combined, led to the wrecking of two United States Navy ships off the Humboldt County coast during the 1910s.
Stories of the wreck of the submarine H3, on Dec. 14, 1916, and a rescue which failed are told in detail by Ray Hillman, author and historian, in his latest book, Shipwrecked at Samoa. The book recounts the tragedy which occurred near Samoa, a small town on the North Peninsula of Humboldt Bay.
The heavy cruiser, the U.S.S. Milwaukee, was called to the North Coast for the purpose of pulling the submarine off the beach. Even though it was backed by other ships in the effort, it, too, was caught in the current, swept into the breakers and grounded. This "part two" in the tragedy happened just one month later: Jan. 13, 1917.
As in most great tragedies, the loss of life was uppermost, but the stories of these two ships are different in that no lives were lost during the incidents themselves, only after the fact when two people perished. Bravery and heroism prevailed as U.S. Coast Guard personnel and volunteers took over, intent upon the safety of the submarine crew and, during the following month, for the more than 400 servicemen who manned the heavy cruiser.
The rescues were far more than child's play. The residents of Samoa welcomed the rescued submarine crew into their homes while the personnel from the cruiser were housed in bunkhouses and other shelters around the bay.
Once the U.S.S. Milwaukee was rendered useless, the U.S. Navy accepted the bid of Mercer-Fraser Co. of Eureka to put the submarine into the bay. The company's bid of salvaging the submarine had earlier been rejected. The underwater craft was checked for damages and towed to Mare Island near San Francisco where she was repaired and used as a training ship during World War I. The cruiser was transformed into a stalwart skeleton following the months of salvaging (the U.S. Navy removed anything and everything valuable). Today, some two-thirds of the bulk is hidden in the depths while only rusted bulkheads peek out above the sand at the lowest of tides.