US Navy Ensign James C. Hull Images

[warpath]

Period Civil War images of Ensign James Cooper Hull US Navy... Frames of gilt gesso.

Midshipman, 24 July, 1863. Graduated June, 1868. Lost in the sinking of the USS Oneida 24 January, 1870...Sailing out from Yokohama, Japan on 24 January 1870, Oneida was struck by the British Peninsula & Oriental steamer City of Bombay, at 6:30 pm near Saratoga Spit. The starboard quarter was cut off Oneida and she was left to sink, as the City of Bombay steamed on without rendering assistance. Oneida sank at 6:45 pin in 20 fathoms of water with the loss of 125 men, 61 sailors being saved in two Japanese fishing boats.

(Period framed Civil War image of Ensign James Cooper Hull USN )

 

 

 

 

 

Screw Sloop USS Oneida accidently struck by the British P. & O. steamer City of Bombay off Yokohama, Japan, and sank. 125 lost. 24 Jan. 1870.

 

Asiatic Squadron, 1867–1870

Gravestone to the dead of the U.S.S. Oneida on the grounds of Ikegami Temple in Tokyo. There was once metal lettering on the stone, but they were apparently pried off and melted for the war effort during World War II.

Recommissioned in May 1867, she was attached to the Asiatic Squadron and continued in that capacity until January 1870.^[2][3]

Oneida departed from Yokohama, Japan on 24 January 1870, on passage back to the United States. Some 12 miles into this voyage, she was struck by the British Peninsula & Oriental steamer Bombay, at 6:30 pm near Saratoga Spit. The Court of Inquiry unanimously held that the officers of Oneida were entirely to blame for the collision. The Oneida was under the command of an inexperienced junior officer whilst the senior officers were at dinner. On seeing a light ahead, this young officer had sought the advice of a navigating officer who briefly came on deck and then returned to dinner. Confusing helm orders were given on Oneida, with the result that Bombay's efforts to avoid collision were in vain and she struck Oneida at an angle of 45 degrees, abaft the mizzen chains. The starboard quarter was cut off Oneida and she sank at 6:45 pm in 20 fathoms (37 m) of water with the loss of 125 men, 61 sailors being saved in two Japanese fishing boats.

There is controversy over the subsequent actions of Captain Eyre of the Bombay. He was accused of steaming on without rendering assistance. He had his certificate suspended for 6 months by the Court of Inquiry and the ship itself was libeled, meaning that steamer and other ships of the P.& O. Line kept away from American ports.^[2][3] The findings of the Inquiry were debated in the House of Commons, with speakers making clear that Bombay remained at the position of the collision for, by varying reports, between 5 or 6 minutes and 10 or 12 minutes, whilst Oneida carried on under full sail and steam, with a full tide under her. No indication of distress from Oneida were seen or heard on Bombay (Oneida's crew admitted they did not show any blue lights), it would have been time-consuming to turn the ship in a narrow channel, making the provision of any useful help impossible, and the position of Oneida was not clear as she was not showing any lights. Furthermore, there was damage to Bombay, with 9 feet of water in the forward compartment, the ship was 18 years old and carrying a number of passengers.^[1][6]

The wreck of the Oneida was sold at public auction at Yokohama 9 October 1872, to Mr. Tatchobonaiya. Inside the wreckage were found many of the bones of the dead sailors, which were interred, at the expense of the salvagers, on the grounds of Ikegami Temple in Tokyo. In Jinrikisha Days in Japan (1891), Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore tells the story, writing:

...[the American] government made no effort to raise the wreck or search it, and finally sold it to a Japanese wrecking company for fifteen hundred dollars. The wreckers found many bones of the lost men among the ship's timbers, and when the work was entirely completed, with their voluntary contributions they erected a tablet in the Ikegami grounds to the memory of the dead, and celebrated there the impressive Buddhist segaki (feast of hungry souls), in May 1889. The great temple was in ceremonial array; seventy-five priests in their richest robes assisted at the mass, and among the congregation were the American admiral and his officers, one hundred men from the fleet, and one survivor of the solitary boat's crew that escaped from the Oneida. The Scriptures were read, a service was chanted, the Sutra repeated, incense burned, the symbolic lotus-leaves cast before the altar, and after an address in English by Mr. Amenomori explaining the segaki, the procession of priests walked to the tablet in the grounds to chant prayers and burn incense again.^[7]

 

In depth long version of the incident:

http://disasteroushistory.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-sinking-of-uss-oneidathe-infamous.html

[Dirk]

Ed another great acquisition! Thank you for sharing it.

[warpath]

I've owned this set for a while. Interesting history with a really sad ending.

 

Google Books copy of the minutes of the Court of Inquiry concerning the collision and the official reports of the surviving officers from Oneida. Interesting find...and read!

 

Loss of the United States Steamer Oneida

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=d1ZHAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA17&lpg=RA2-PA17&dq=Peninsular+and+Orient+Steamer+1870&source=bl&ots=xQRd4-WJte&sig=nKs7hfhUJg6o6MdeAaLLrZ-XiBY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xM3WU-3kEsWVyATG_IDQBg&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Peninsular%20and%20Orient%20Steamer%201870&f=false

[warpath]

US Naval Academy image

[warpath]

2

[warpath]

Colored studio image

[warpath]

Circa 1870 image

[warpath]

Memorial stone for the lost sailors and Marines

[warpath]

2

[warpath]

Mourning jewelry from his family with a lock of his hair according to the family oral history. I think this was his sister's.

[Dirk]

Ed simply fantastic!