 |
|
US Brig Somers
|
|
The US Brig Somers, built in 1842 for the training of young naval officers under sail, was the scene of an attempted mutiny and subsequent hanging at sea of three alleged ringleaders, among them the 19-year-old son of the Secretary of War. The ensuing "Somers Affair" was a national scandal. In the aftermath of the events aboard Somers, the Navy established a national academy at Annapolis for training its young officers. Author Herman Melville, whose first cousin was an officer aboard the brig, was influenced by the notorious events of Somers and utilized the story in his novella Billy Budd.
Somers was built at the New York Navy Yard to a design by Samuel Humphreys and was launched on April 16, 1842. The vessel was built of oak, copper-fastened and copper sheathed. The hull was sharp, with a clipper bow, and was 100 feet long between perpendiculars with a 35-foot molded beam and a 35-foot depth of hold. When fully loaded, the vessel drew 13 feet, 6 inches. Somers displaced 259 tons, and cost $37,650 to build.
Assigned to the Home Squadron of the United States Navy, Somers, under the command of Lieut. Raphael Semmes (later captain of CSS Alabama), was sent to blockade the important port of Veracruz during the Mexican-American War. The primary intent of the U.S. blockade was to prevent friendly vessels from entering or leaving the Mexican port. |
 |
|
| After 45 days on station, on December 8, 1846, Somers was in the lee of Isla Verde, some five miles off the port, when the officers spotted an unidentified vessel making for the harbor. The brig got underway to intercept the other vessel when a squall blew up, striking Somers as sail was being taken in. The brig was light on ballast and provisions and capsized. Somers sank in less than eight minutes, drowning 32 of its crew. As the men took to the water, Semmes commanded "every man save himself who can!" While salvage of the brig was entertained, war intervened and Somers was left on the bottom. |
|
|
The wreck of the Somers was discovered in 1986 by George Belcher of San Francisco while under contract to survey the waters off Veracruz as part of a project to locate material for the new state museum in Jalapa, Mexcico. Mr. Belcher, conscious of the brig's exceptional role in U.S. history, worked to arrange protection and study of the site by both the Mexican and the United States governments. The National Park Service was contacted in 1987 by Mr. Belcher, and provided an NPS archeologist to accompany him to Veracruz to see the site and confirm its identification.
In 1990 a joint team of Mexican and SRC archeologists met in Veracruz to commence work on the wreck site. The project resulted in a site plan that disclosed numerous intact features, including ordnance, hull structure, and rigging lying on the bottom in undisturbed paterns that conform to the brigs original layout and construction, indicating a gradual, undisturbed site formation process. INAH's Pilar Luna, James P. Delgado and Larry Nordby were principal investigators.
The investigation of the US Brig Somers was one of the few underwater archeological projects conducted jointly by two national governments. The mutual inspection and preliminary documentation of the wreck of the Brig Somers was a clear demonstration of international cooperation, particularly since the wreck site represents a ship lost in war between the two participating nations. The project was a combined effort, with considerable assets provided by the Mexican Navy and INAH.
|
|
- 1989 NPS-SRC assisted INAH with the archeological documentation of the US Brig Somers.
References:
- Delgado, James P., 1994, Rediscovering the Somers in Naval History, 8, 28-31.
- Delgado, James P., 1998, The Wreck of the US Brig Somers (1842-1847) in Excavating Ships of War (edited by Mensun Bound) Anthony Nelson, Shropshire, England.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
