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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- The 1910s -- 1916
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August 1916
At three in the afternoon of 29 August 1916, the 14,500-ton
armored cruiser Memphis
and the 1177-ton gunboat Castine
were riding gently, anchored in the open roadstead off Santo Domingo,
capital city of the Dominican Republic. Rear Admiral Charles F.
Pond, for whom Memphis was flagship, and a recreation party
were ashore and the remainder of the ships' officers and crews
were engaged in normal duties. Far away somewhere in the depths
of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea, a seismic event had already
generated a powerful tsunami, or tidal wave, as such things were
then termed. One of the two ships would barely escape its effects,
while the other would be driven ashore a complete wreck. More
than forty men would lose their lives.
Perhaps twenty minutes later, Memphis' Executive Officer
was troubled by the "looks of the sea" and at about
half past three Captain Edward
L. Beach, the cruiser's Commanding Officer, ordered steam
power increased enough to allow his ship to leave the anchorage.
Previous experience had demonstrated that this could be done in
about forty minutes. Waves began breaking ashore and, since Memphis
was now rolling too much to recover boats in the water, two of
hers were sent out to sea, soon to be followed by one of Castine's.
Shortly afterwards, when a large wave was seen on the horizon,
both ships began to prepare for heavy weather. This laborious
work was greatly hindered by violent rolling and pitching as waves
rapidly became larger and then immense. The effort to get steam
up on Memphis suffered even more, with the problem becoming
worse as water began to flow over her decks and enter through
ventilators, incompletely closed gunports, and even her four tall
smokestacks. As a result, when the main tsunami waves reached
the anchorage about half-past four, Memphis did not have
enough steam available to run her engines properly. She dragged
her anchor, all the while battering her bottom against the bottom,
normally some twenty-five feet below her keel. At about five PM
she went hard aground near Santo Domingo's rocky coastal cliffs.
Castine, meanwhile, had gotten clear of the anchorage,
following a heroic effort that left her badly battered and barely
seaworthy. A motor launch, erroneously sent out of port with much
of Memphis' recreation party embarked, had foundered in
the tremendous breakers, leaving twenty-five men dead. Another
eight Sailors were lost when the three boats sent to sea sank
or were wrecked attempting to reach shore after dark. Ten more
were fatally injured on board Memphis, either by being
washed overboard or from burns and steam inhalation as the ship's
powerplant broke apart during her ordeal.
The big cruiser's remaining officers and men, many of them
badly injured, were brought ashore by ship to shore lines, hastily
rigged by U.S. Marines, Navy personnel and local residents. USS
Memphis, so thoroughly damaged as to be not worth refloating,
remained just off Santo Domingo's shoreline for many years, a
monument to a sudden tsunami, one of nature's most unforseeable
and powerful forces.
This page features all the views we have taken on 29 August
1916, as USS Memphis was driven ashore by a tsunami at
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and provides links to coverage
of related images taken later.
For more views concerning the loss of USS Memphis
and of salvage efforts on her wreck, see:
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August
1916 -- Views taken the day after the Incident;
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August
1916 -- Salvage Efforts on the Ship's Wreck;
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August
1916 -- Views of the Wreck taken in 1917 and Later; and
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August
1916 -- Miscellaneous Images.
For photographs concerning the Memphis' Chief Engineer,
who received the Medal
of Honor for his conduct when she was driven ashore, see:
Rear Admiral
Claud A. Jones, USN, (1885-1948).
For related information, see:
Tsunami
(Tidal Wave) Disasters and the U.S. Navy.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 101130
USS Castine (Gunboat # 6)
Among the breakers off Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, while
escaping from the tidal waves that wrecked USS Memphis
(Armored Cruiser # 10), 29 August 1916.
From the album of Francis Sargent; Courtesy of Commander John
Condon, 1986.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 48KB; 740 x 450 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 65672
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown
ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916.
This view was taken during the late afternoon, immediately after
she struck. Note waves breaking over the ship. Men are visible
on her bridge and midships superstructure.
This photograph appears to have been retouched.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 62KB; 740 x 430 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 99960
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Driven ashore by tidal waves at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,
29 August 1916.
Photograph by Senior, heavily retouched and printed on postal
card stock.
Collection of Lieutenant Commander Abraham DeSomer, USN.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 485 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 99959
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Driven ashore by tidal waves at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,
29 August 1916.
Photograph by Senior, heavily retouched and printed on postal
card stock. Note the photographer's seal in the lower left.
Collection of Lieutenant Commander Abraham DeSomer, USN.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 59KB; 475 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 99958
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Driven ashore by tidal waves at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,
29 August 1916.
Photograph by Senior, heavily retouched and printed on postal
card stock.
Collection of Lieutenant Commander Abraham DeSomer, USN.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 79KB; 465 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 46224
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown
ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916.
This view probably was taken during the late afternoon or early
evening, as Memphis was being abandoned. Note water streaming
from the ship's foredeck, and violent wave action around her
bow.
Photographed by the local U.S. Consul, Carl M.J. von Zeilinski.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 46225
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown
ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916.
This view probably was taken during the late afternoon or early
evening, as Memphis was being abandoned. Note water streaming
from her decks. Men are visible atop her forward gun turret,
at her port deck edge and on her bridge.
Photographed by the local U.S. Consul, Carl M.J. von Zeilinski.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 46228
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown
ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916.
This view was taken during the late afternoon or early evening,
as Memphis was being abandoned. Note waves breaking over
the ship's superstructure, and lines rigged between ship and
shore.
Photographed by the local U.S. Consul, Carl M.J. von Zeilinski.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 570 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 46226
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown
ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916.
This view probably was taken during the late afternoon or early
evening, as Memphis was being abandoned. Note Sailors
on the rocks in the center foreground. Other men are visible
on the ship's superstructure.
Photographed by the local U.S. Consul, Carl M.J. von Zeilinski.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 46220
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown
ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916.
This view probably was taken during the late afternoon or early
evening, as Memphis was being abandoned. Note water streaming
from the ship's superstructure, and the U.S. Ensign flying from
her stern.
Photographed by the local U.S. Consul, Carl M.J. von Zeilinski.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 46221
USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)
Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown
ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916.
This view probably was taken during the late afternoon or early
evening, as Memphis was being abandoned. Note water streaming
from the ship's superstructure.
Photographed by the local U.S. Consul, Carl M.J. von Zeilinski.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 570 pixels |
 |
For more views concerning the loss of USS Memphis
and of salvage efforts on her wreck, see:
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August
1916 -- Views taken the day after the Incident;
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August
1916 -- Salvage Efforts on the Ship's Wreck;
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August
1916 -- Views of the Wreck taken in 1917 and Later; and
Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August
1916 -- Miscellaneous Images.
For photographs concerning the Memphis' Chief Engineer,
who received the Medal
of Honor for his conduct when she was driven ashore, see:
Rear Admiral
Claud A. Jones, USN, (1885-1948).
Return to Naval
Historical Center home page.
Page made 10 January 2005
Links added 28 February 2005