1928 — May 7, US Army dredge Navesink sinks, collision in Narrows off Clifton, S.I., NY-18

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-17-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–18  Berman, Bruce D.  Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 68.

–18  NavSource Online. “USED Dredge Navesink.” 7 June 2023 update.

Narrative Information

NavSource Online. “USED Dredge Navesink.” 7 June 2023 update:

“Seagoing Hopper Dredge:

  • Built in 1908, at Maryland Steel, Sparrow Point, MD.
  • Launched, in 1908
  • Delivered 1908 christened and placed in commission by the US Army Corps of Engineers, as USED Dredge Navesink
  • Assigned to the US Army Corp of Engineers New York District
  • Sunk by collision, 7 May 1928, with freighter SS Swinburne in the Narrows off Clifton, Staten Island, N.Y. with the loss of 18 crewmembers
  • Raised, 27 September 1928
  • Repairs and construction completed 1 March 1929
  • Placed out of US Army service, date unknown
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown.”

 

Newspaper

 

May 8: “New York, May 8 – Divers were ready to be lowered into the Narrows channel off Stapleton, Staten Island this morning to search for the bodies of seventeen men believed to have perished yesterday when the U.S. Army dredge Navesink was sunk in a collision with the Lamport and Holt freighter Swinburne.

 

“A final checkup by U.S. Army engineers and police showed that seventeen officers and members of the crew of the Navesink were still missing. The dredge carried a crew of fifty officers and men when the collision occurred. Thirty-three of these have been accounted for.

 

“The first body from the wreck drifted ashore last night at Keyport, N.J., on Raritan Bay, twenty-five miles south of New York.  It bore a life preserver from the Navesink.

 

“The freighter was anchored at the time of the collision and was not damaged severely.”    (Charleroi Mail (PA). “Divers to Search for 17 Men Lost…Dredge Sinks,” 8 May 1928, 1.)

 

Sources

 

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

 

Charleroi Mail, Charleroi, PA. “Divers to Search for 17 Men Lost…Dredge Sinks,” 5-8-1928, 1. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=24619472

 

NavSource Online. “USED Dredge Navesink.” 7 June 2023 update. Accessed 2-17-2025 at: http://www.navsource.org/archives/30/26/2679.htm