USS Conestoga
Fleet Tug · United States · Lost 1921 · San Francisco & the Northern California Coast
A Navy tug that vanished with 56 men in 1921, its fate a mystery for 95 years until NOAA found it just three miles from the safety of the Farallon Islands.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS Conestoga left Mare Island for American Samoa on March 25, 1921, and was never heard from again, sparking the largest sea and air search in Navy history to that time. For nearly a century the tug was thought lost near Mexico or Hawaii. In 2014-2016 NOAA maritime archaeologists identified a wreck in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, just three miles off Southeast Farallon Island, as Conestoga, solving one of the U.S. Navy's longest-standing mysteries and confirming that all 56 aboard were lost within a day of leaving San Francisco Bay.
Vessel
- 1903
- AT-54
- Not established
- Not established
- Steel
- 170 ft
- Not established
- Not established
- Steam
- U.S. Navy
Loss
- March 25, 1921
- Storm
- Three miles off Southeast Farallon Island, California
- Pacific Ocean
- Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California → American Samoa via Pearl Harbor
- Not established
- 56
- 56
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 189 ft
- Broken but identifiable, with the main deck gun located inside the hull
- Not established
- 2014-2015
- Within Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary; protected under the Sunken Military Craft Act
Position
- 37.70° N 123.00° W
- Approximate position
- Southeast Farallon Island, California
Position approximates the surveyed wreck site three miles from Southeast Farallon Island.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (92/100)
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
Loss narrative, search history, discovery, and identification.
NOAA/U.S. Navy Archaeological Survey Report
Wreck depth, condition, and identification methodology.
