Saturday, May 18, 2019

Sepia Saturday: High and Dry


Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

With apologies to my fellow Homo-Sepians, I am preparing for a big trip and will be gone for several weeks, so my participation in Sepia Saturday will be minimal at best. I just hope I remember to link my post!


This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt depicts a ship launching sideways. My photo likewise depicts a ship in a precarious position: run aground.
 
USS Swallow Sep 1920 https://jollettetc.blogspot.com
USS Swallow Ketchikan, Alaska 12 Sep 1920
The photo was in the collection of photos belonging to my grandmother’s brother Ray Rucker from when he was in the Navy.

On the back of the photo he wrote: U.S.S. Swallow Ship wrecked and dashed high and dry on the rocks near Ketchikan Alaska Sept 12 – 1920.

News of the Swallow’s troubles reached newspapers across the country. Here is just one:
 
from the Santa Ana Register 15 Sep 1920
Newspaperarchive.com

Don’t be left high and dry - make your way to SepiaSaturday to see what other great stories have been launched.

Wendy
© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

9 comments:

  1. Must say, my ex-husband was stationed at one of those radio stations (which by the 1960s also had LORAN status) for the Coast Guard. It had to be part of our Cold War efforts. It was considered isolated duty, since there were just the men on the station, and no other people living nearby. Someone would bring supplies regularly.

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  2. Ships run aground couldn't be much fun! And it must have taken a special group of fellows to man a lonely isolated station like the one you mention!

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  3. What an experience! I'll have to look up mine sweepers. I don't know anything about them.

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  4. It was good he recorded what the picture was from; thankfully it wasn't Alaska in the middle of their winters.

    betty

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  5. What a super match for a difficult theme! Our Alaska cruise two summers ago was in a small ship about the same size as the navy ship in your photo. I was astonished to learn that the seaways around the islands near Juneau were 600-1000 feet deep. But when we got closer to land the hidden rocks were a real danger. It's interesting how ship accidents were once reported in newspapers far removed from the ocean. Today such things hardly merit a link to a YouTube video.

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  6. Congratulations, Wendy, on giving us such a good match to the prompt photograph. The story of “The Swallow”. It Illustrates how powerful one image can be. Also I always enjoy the way you write the link to other Blogger posts. Enjoy your trip!

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  7. I'm impressed that you have these posts ready to go in your absence! I think you get the super blogger award. And such good matches too!

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  8. You always have the best photos - and most creativity - when it comes to these prompts.

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