Lost & Found
USS San Diego
June 20, 2015 - Carrying a small box, I walked up to the front door of Joan Russell Mikkelsen’s Berkeley, California, home. Joan, her brother, Benton Russell, and other members of the family were expecting me. Inside the box was a gold pocket watch that spanned three generations of the Russell family and belonged to Joan and Benton’s father before having been lost in a shipwreck. For sixtythree years, the watch lay buried and forgotten until I happened to find it. Another thirty-four years passed before I found Joan and Benton.
The morning of July 19, 1918, found the USS San Diego steaming off the south coast of Long Island, New York. German U-boats were reported to be operating in the area so the 504’, 13,680-ton armored cruiser was on high alert. Watertight doors were closed, gun crews manned their stations, damage control parties remained at the ready, and lookouts were posted at strategic points around the ship. Enough lifejackets and canteens filled with fresh water were stacked on the boat deck for every man aboard. The sea was calm and sky overcast. Captain Harley Christy stood in the open wheelhouse above the bridge. For the past 11 months, the San Diego had provided armed escort for transatlantic convoys in support of the Great War. Until this day, she had not fired her guns in anger.
Suddenly, at 11:05 A.M., an explosion ripped a gaping hole in the portside engine room, instantly killing two men and disabling the port engine. Almost immediately the ship took a 10-degree list to port. Alarms were sounded and all hands sprang into action. Not knowing that the true source of the explosion was a mine planted days earlier by the U-156, it was assumed that a torpedo had struck the ship. The San Diego was not going down without a fight. The six- and three-inch guns roared into action, firing at anything that remotely resembled a U-boat.
The listed further and sank deeper with each passing minute. It was soon apparent that nothing could be done to save the ship. With the portside guns practically firing into the water and the starboard guns firing into the empty sky, Captain Christy gave the command to abandon ship.
