jerry
Guest
First of all what it looked like...http://pigboats.com/subs/h-boats.html
Good pictures of the wreck and crew on shore ..
History of US Submarine lost outside Magdalena Bay...
ScubaBoard.com: She sunk in 50 ft deep water off of Santa Margarita Island off the South-West coast of Baja California Sur, at the entrance of Magdalena Bay. The US Navy had a lease on Magdalena Bay in the late 1800's and into the early 1900's just like with Gitmo. The bay was used extensively for gunnery practice, coaling of ships, and other maneuvers. Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet did a lot of work there on the circumnavigation. They also used the area as a harbor of refuge when the Pacific storms got bad. At one time it was advocated that the US should annex all of Baja just so we had control of the bay.
The wreck was sold for salvage but that never tells you if it was salvaged or to what extent. But I did look at the bottom and there is a lot of deep sand in the area, so the wreck could be buried like the U-701 is No one can tell unless you go looking. But Mexico can be protective of their coastal waters as far as wrecks go and even though the wreck was sold for salvage, that doesn’t mean that the US Navy would not try to claim the wreck as US property like they did with the US San Diego off of Long Island NY which was also sold for salvage.
USS H-1 (SS-28), the lead ship of her class of submarine of the United States Navy, was originally named Seawolf, making her the first ship of the U.S. Navy to be named for the seawolf. Seawolf was laid down by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco, California. She was renamed on 17 November 1911, launched on 6 May 1913 sponsored by Miss Lesley Jean Makins, and commissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard on 1 December 1913, Lieutenant Henry M. Jensen in command. The new submarine was attached to Torpedo Flotilla 2, Pacific Fleet, and operated along the West Coast out of San Pedro, California. During various exercises and patrols, she traveled the coast from Los Angeles, California to lower British Columbia, often in company with her sister ships H-2 and sometimes H-3. Sailing from San Pedro, California on 17 October 1917, she reached New London, Connecticut on 8 November. For the remainder of World War I, she was based there and patrolled Long Island Sound, frequently with officer students from the submarine school on board.
H-1 and H-2 sailed for San Pedro, California on 6 January 1920, transiting the Panama Canal on 20 February. On 12 March, as H-1 made her way up the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, she ran aground on a shoal off Santa Margarita Island. Four men — including the commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander James R. Webb — died trying to reach shore. USS Vestal pulled H-1 off the rocks in the morning of 24 March, but in only 45 minutes, the submarine sank in some 50 ft (15 m) of water. Further salvage effort was abandoned. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 12 April, and she was sold for scrap in June 1920, but never recovered.
Her wreck was rediscovered by a diver in 1992.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_H-1_%28SS-28%29
Good pictures of the wreck and crew on shore ..
History of US Submarine lost outside Magdalena Bay...
ScubaBoard.com: She sunk in 50 ft deep water off of Santa Margarita Island off the South-West coast of Baja California Sur, at the entrance of Magdalena Bay. The US Navy had a lease on Magdalena Bay in the late 1800's and into the early 1900's just like with Gitmo. The bay was used extensively for gunnery practice, coaling of ships, and other maneuvers. Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet did a lot of work there on the circumnavigation. They also used the area as a harbor of refuge when the Pacific storms got bad. At one time it was advocated that the US should annex all of Baja just so we had control of the bay.
The wreck was sold for salvage but that never tells you if it was salvaged or to what extent. But I did look at the bottom and there is a lot of deep sand in the area, so the wreck could be buried like the U-701 is No one can tell unless you go looking. But Mexico can be protective of their coastal waters as far as wrecks go and even though the wreck was sold for salvage, that doesn’t mean that the US Navy would not try to claim the wreck as US property like they did with the US San Diego off of Long Island NY which was also sold for salvage.
USS H-1 (SS-28), the lead ship of her class of submarine of the United States Navy, was originally named Seawolf, making her the first ship of the U.S. Navy to be named for the seawolf. Seawolf was laid down by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco, California. She was renamed on 17 November 1911, launched on 6 May 1913 sponsored by Miss Lesley Jean Makins, and commissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard on 1 December 1913, Lieutenant Henry M. Jensen in command. The new submarine was attached to Torpedo Flotilla 2, Pacific Fleet, and operated along the West Coast out of San Pedro, California. During various exercises and patrols, she traveled the coast from Los Angeles, California to lower British Columbia, often in company with her sister ships H-2 and sometimes H-3. Sailing from San Pedro, California on 17 October 1917, she reached New London, Connecticut on 8 November. For the remainder of World War I, she was based there and patrolled Long Island Sound, frequently with officer students from the submarine school on board.
H-1 and H-2 sailed for San Pedro, California on 6 January 1920, transiting the Panama Canal on 20 February. On 12 March, as H-1 made her way up the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, she ran aground on a shoal off Santa Margarita Island. Four men — including the commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander James R. Webb — died trying to reach shore. USS Vestal pulled H-1 off the rocks in the morning of 24 March, but in only 45 minutes, the submarine sank in some 50 ft (15 m) of water. Further salvage effort was abandoned. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 12 April, and she was sold for scrap in June 1920, but never recovered.
Her wreck was rediscovered by a diver in 1992.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_H-1_%28SS-28%29
