USS Oregon strikes uncharted Pinnacle rock
heavily damaged and almost sinks
June 28th 1900 was a usual day as the crew went about their duties. Instantly the ship was slammed to a crashing halt, throwing many to the decks, as the sounds of scraping and ripping steel screeched throughout the ship. While steaming through the Bohai strait to reinforce allied forces at Taku,The ship struck an uncharted rock, identified as Pinnacle rock, near the Changshan Islands.This incident caused severe damage to the ship's hull and it remained grounded for a week until being refloded on July 5th 1900. Water still flooding in, the crew and pumps working tirelessly, the crippled ship then faced a 9-day trip to Japan for temporary repairs
She was heavily scarred and caved in from her forefoot for 20 ft both sides, and ripped open, port midship for 20 ft, her keel and several frames smashed
She was flooding and sinking!
Read the whole story from the newspaper
The original newspaper archived, PDF.
Photos show USS Oregon is in serious trouble, if those pumps had failed she would be at the bottom
