USS Bedloe Dive
By Tane Casserly
On July 29, I had the opportunity to
make an exploratory dive to the shipwreck site of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter
Bedloe that sank in a hurricane on September 14, 1944. Working with the Outer
Banks Dive Center in Nags Head, NC, we conducted a visual reconnaissance of the
wreck that lies 20 miles off the coast of Northern Cape Hatteras in 150 feet of
water. Both the National Marine Sanctuary Program and the U.S. Coast Guard are
looking for ways to partner, and to work with the local community, to protect
this submerged historic resource. Discovered in 2003, the shipwreck is already
showing signs of damage from looters. All of the deck lights and portholes have
been removed, as well as a gun site from the 3-inch bow gun. The 20mm guns and
gun pod have been tampered with and collapsed into the sand. Ordinance from the
3-inch gun has been exposed in a wooden box, just aft of the bow gun, (images
Bedloe_3_inch bow_gun.jpg and Bedloe_wheel_house.jpg) and several of the 3-inch
shells have been removed as well. Thankfully the ASDIC sonar, one of the first
installed on a U.S. military vessel, is still in excellent condition and fully
deployed underneath the Bedloe's hull.
The USCGC Bedloe’s History:
Launched in 1927 and commissioned as Antietam, she was first stationed in
Boston, where she served until 1935. While there she was assigned to law
enforcement and search and rescue duties and also broke ice when needed. She
then transferred to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and saw service on the Great Lakes. She
was sent to Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1940 where her armament was upgraded at the
plant of Tietjen & Lang. She was assigned to the EASTSEAFRON (Eastern Sea
Frontier) and was stationed out of Stapleton, Staten Island, where she saw
service as a convoy escort vessel along the eastern seaboard.
While operating off Cape Hatteras with its sister cutter USCGC Jackson the two
vessels foundered in heavy weather on 14 September, 1944. The cutters had gone
to the assistance of a Liberty Ship which had been torpedoed off the North
Carolina coast and almost driven ashore in a hurricane.
During that same storm, the 125’ Bedloe was struck four times by the towering
waves, and tossed like a matchstick in the ocean before going down. All 38
officers and crew men safely abandoned ship and at least 30 were able to obtain
a hold on the life rafts. However, the strain of fighting the hurricane, plus
the ordeal of hanging onto the life rafts for 51 hours, proved too much for most
of the men and only 12 were able to hang on until rescued. One man slid under
the water only minutes before the rescue craft came into sight.
The remains of the Bedloe now lie in 150 feet of water on her port side nearly
20 miles off Nags Head, North Carolina.
--
Tane Casserley
Maritime Archaeologist
NOAA's Maritime Heritage Program
National Marine Sanctuary Program
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
100 Museum Drive
Newport News, Virginia 23606