A Crippled Warship Sails Into a Storm
Tacoma fears for the USS Adams after the leaky, disabled vessel leaves Whatcom for San Francisco with stormy weather offshore.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
TACOMA, Sept. 11.—[Special.]—Owing to the stormy weather today off the Washington coast much anxiety is felt for the safety of the warship Adams, which left Whatcom Sunday for Mare Island, San Francisco, inasmuch as she is reported to be in a leaky and disabled condition, as a result of being aground in Alaska for twenty-eight hours. It was expected that the Adams would be ordered here for temporary repairs, and Seattleites say that if the sailors aboard the Adams knew that she had been ordered into the open sea when she left Whatcom, some of them would have escaped. The executive officer, Lieut. Norton, of the Adams, was in command when she went to sea. Capt. J. J. Price, who is a brother of Senator Price, having been relieved presumably on sick leave. He, however, was not a sick man while here, and may remain off duty pending an investigation of the Adams' injuries. He left for Portland this morning and may go to San Francisco. It is claimed that the Adams was in no condition to go into the open sea.
“It is claimed that the Adams was in no condition to go into the open sea.”
Naval readiness and the safety of crews still command public attention when ships are sent to sea with known damage. The 1891 anxiety over the Adams echoes modern debates about military maintenance, oversight and the risks taken by service members.
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