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Hugh McCulloch, the first Comptroller of the Currency and two-time Treasury Secretary, died on May 24, 1895. In his honor, the U.S. Revenue Cutter McCulloch was commissioned in December 1897, the largest ship in the Revenue Service at the time. In her 22 years of service, the 219-foot ship became part of the newly formed U.S. Coast Guard fleet and then joined the Navy.
Though built in Philadelphia, the McCulloch was to serve on the west coast out of San Francisco. As fate would have it, her shakedown cruise would send her across the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean to the Suez Canal, and then continuing to Singapore. Yet, arriving in Singapore in April 1898—just two weeks before the start of the Spanish-American War—the McCulloch was instructed to report for duty with the U.S. Navy’s Asiatic Squadron stationed in East Asia under the command of then Navy Capt. George Dewey—a man who would later be appointed “Admiral of the Navy,” the only person to ever attain that rank.
On May 1, 1898, the McCulloch joined the Battle of Manila Bay. Because the cutter had only four 3-inch guns and a bow-mounted torpedo tube, its role was to protect the storeships from enemy gunboats, protect the other ships from surprise attacks, and be available to tow any disabled ship away from the battle.
“Americans present that day, long recalled, with satisfaction, that the McCulloch found no need to tow any warship out of the battleline” according to Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. “During five firing runs, made at close range, the accurate gunners of Dewey’s squadron wrought devastation upon the Spaniards. … All the Spanish warships were destroyed.”
After the war, the McCulloch served on the west coast from the Mexican border to Oregon. Between 1906 and 1912, she enforced fur seal regulations around the Pribilof Islands, 300 miles off the coast of Alaska in the Bering Sea. The ship served along the Pacific coast from 1912 to 1917. On April 6, 1917, the day that the United States entered World War I, the McCulloch was transferred to the U.S. Navy as a patrol ship.
However, at roughly 7:30 a.m. on June 13, 1917, while on her way to be fitted with larger guns, the McCulloch was in a heavy fog and was struck by the passenger steamer Governor near Point Conception off the California coast. One crewman, who was in his bunk, died from his injuries, but the 89 others were rescued.
Capt. John C. Cantwell, the ship’s commander, described the scene. “When the boats were clear of the ship, Chief Engineer Glover in charge of the gig [a narrow boat adapted for rowing], came alongside and advise me to leave the ship as she was sinking faster every minute and nothing more could be done to save her. I thereupon slided [sic] down the boat-falls [ropes and blocks used for lowering a lifeboat] into the gig and we pulled clear to await further developments. The entire forward section of the deck was submerged and the propeller was half out water. At 8:06 a.m., about twenty minutes after the collision, the McCulloch with colors flying, suddenly up-ended and sank in 60 fathoms [360 feet] of water.”
Lost for nearly 100 years, the McCulloch was found in 2016 during a joint training operation of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Coast Guard. The 15-inch torpedo tube at the bow, the 3-inch guns, and the propeller blade were distinguishing characteristics. However, the Coast Guard explained, the ship could not be recovered because of strong currents, accumulation of sediment, and fragility of the ship. On April 22, 2021, the McCulloch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
