The Last Cruise of the Saginaw

In Short

George H. Read’s memoir details the 1870 disaster and rescue of the U.S. Navy steamer Saginaw, which ran aground on desolate Ocean Island in the North Pacific. Stranded over a thousand miles from civilized shores, the seventy-man crew under Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Sicard salvages food, distills fresh water, and maintains strict naval discipline while constructing shelters on a barren sandbank. To secure help, five crew members set out across the open ocean in a modified gig toward Hawaii. The book endures as a vivid, understated historical log of human resilience, selflessness, and seamanship under extreme duress.

The Story

The narrative opens in 1870 as the U.S.S. Saginaw leaves San Francisco for a year-long cruise, tasked with supporting coaling-station operations at the Midway Islands. Upon completing its assignment, the vessel turns westward under orders to inspect Ocean Island (Kure Atoll) for uncharted hazards or stranded mariners before heading home. Disaster strikes in the dark of night when heavy swells drive the ship onto the outer reef. Fierce pounding tears open the hull, floods the engine room, and extinguishes the boilers, sealing the vessel’s fate within an hour.

Under the calm direction of Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Sicard, the officers and crew evacuate safely to the small, barren sandbank. Confronted by isolation—more than a thousand miles from inhabited land—Sicard immediately establishes firm naval organization and strict food rationing to prevent chaos and despair. Officers and men share identical light rations of salvaged pork, flour, and sea turtle, supplemented by distilled sea water produced using an improvised condenser made from salvaged boiler parts and copper piping.

Recognizing that relief may never arrive by chance, Lieutenant John G. Talbot volunteers to lead a five-man crew in the ship’s small, open gig. Over several days, the carpenters deck over the boat, fit it with double masts, and stock it with thirty-five days of provisions, including desiccated potatoes. On November 18, 1870, Talbot and four companions—Coxswain William Halford, Quartermaster Peter Francis, and Seamen John Andrews and James Muir—set sail across fifteen hundred miles of treacherous Pacific waters toward the Hawaiian Islands.

For those left behind, weeks of grueling uncertainty follow. The men strip the wreckage, construct a small lookout tower, build tents from canvas awnings, and begin constructing a larger schooner as a fallback escape vessel. Meanwhile, Talbot’s crew endures a harrowing thirty-one-day voyage through severe gales, losing their sea anchors, suffering from extreme exhaustion and dysentery, and surviving on raw sea birds, flying fish, and wet potato meal.

Upon reaching the coast of Kauai in mid-December, heavy surf capsizes the gig while entering the harbor. Lieutenant Talbot, Francis, and Andrews drown in the breakers, while Muir dies shortly after reaching shore. Coxswain William Halford alone survives the capsizing, reaches the beach, and successfully alerts Hawaiian authorities. The Hawaiian steamer Kilauea is dispatched immediately, arriving at Ocean Island on January 4, 1871, to rescue the overjoyed crew. The survivors return safely to Honolulu and San Francisco, where the fallen sailors are honored with a permanent memorial at the United States Naval Academy.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins The U.S.S. Saginaw departs San Francisco into heavy seas, sailing westward toward Hawaii and the Midway Islands. The crew spends months assisting submarine engineers in clearing a channel for trans-Pacific steamships before receiving orders to check nearby Ocean Island for navigational hazards.

Disaster on the reef Navigating toward Ocean Island at night, the steamer strikes an unseen coral reef, breaking its hull and flooding the engine room. Captain Sicard maintains absolute order as the crew works through the darkness to launch boats and bring every man ashore to the desolate sandbank.

Life on Ocean Island The stranded crew establishes camp, improvises a water condenser from boiler pipes, and enforces strict equal rationing of pork, flour, turtle meat, and sea birds. To maintain morale and structure, Captain Sicard institutes regular work details, daily prayers, and mess watches while carpenters strip the grounded wreck.

The heroic departure Lieutenant Talbot and four volunteers outfit the ship's twenty-five-foot gig with a wooden deck and two small masts for a perilous trip to Honolulu. Armed with a air-tight tin containing official letters, gold coin, and desiccated potatoes, the small crew launches into the Pacific as their shipmates watch from the beach.

The ordeal of the gig Talbot’s crew battles thirty-one days of relentless gales, lost anchors, and severe sickness across fifteen hundred miles of open ocean. Surviving on flying fish and raw birds, they finally sight the island of Kauai, only for a massive breaker to capsize the boat at the harbor entrance, drowning Talbot, Francis, and Andrews.

Rescue and remembrance Sole survivor William Halford reaches land and alerts the Hawaiian government, which dispatches the steamer Kilauea to Ocean Island. The stranded crew is rescued without further loss of life, returning to San Francisco where a marble memorial tablet is commissioned to honor the sacrificed heroes.

The People

• Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Sicard: The commanding officer of the Saginaw. He seeks to maintain strict naval organization, preserve life, and ensure the survival of his seventy men through equal rationing and structured duty. His steadfast composure prevents panic during the initial wreck and throughout the long months of isolation.
• Lieutenant John G. Talbot: The executive officer who volunteers to lead the desperate open-boat mission to Hawaii. Driven by duty and selflessness, he accepts extreme physical hardship to save his shipmates. Though weakened by illness during the thirty-one-day voyage, he maintains his leadership until drowning just off the Kauai coast.
• Passed Assistant Paymaster George H. Read: The narrator and author of the account. Responsible for managing the ship’s stores, he diligently calculates food rations, oversees inventory, and maintains an detailed journal of the camp's daily struggles and mental strain.
• Coxswain William Halford: One of the five volunteers aboard the gig. Enduring relentless storms and physical exhaustion, his remarkable endurance enables him to survive the final capsizing, scramble ashore at Kauai, and deliver the urgent dispatch that secures the rescue of the Saginaw’s crew.

In Its Own Voice

"The doom of our good ship was now apparent and sealed."

Paymaster Read reflects on the terrifying moments immediately following the vessel striking the reef, as ocean water rushes into the engine room.

"He told us that by the Navy Regulations he was instructed, as our commanding officer, to keep up, in such sad conditions as we were thrown into, the organization and discipline of the Service so far as applicable; that he would in the event of our rescue... be held responsible for the proper administration of law and order..."

Captain Sicard addresses the assembled crew on the beach immediately after the wreck, establishing the rules that will save their lives.

"There was little conversation during the meal. The impending departure of our shipmates hung like a pall of gloom over us at the last and was too thought-absorbing for speech."

Read describes the tense, quiet meal shared by the officers just before Lieutenant Talbot and his four companions launch their small gig into the open ocean.

What It's Really About

Beneath the dramatic tale of shipwreck and survival, the book examines the practical power of naval discipline, camaraderie, and selfless leadership under existential crisis. Rather than descending into lawlessness or despair, the men of the Saginaw remain bound by mutual trust, clear duty, and an unyielding commitment to equal fairness—where officers and crew receive identical rations. The narrative functions as a quiet meditation on quiet duty versus sensational heroics, illustrating how meticulous organization, routine work, and technical improvisation keep hope alive on a barren sand spit. Above all, it honors the ultimate sacrifice of Lieutenant Talbot and his men, contrasting their tragic fate with the survival of the comrades they died to save.

Why Read It Today

George H. Read's memoir appeals to lovers of naval history, survival literature, and real-life maritime drama. Written without sensationalism or exaggerated prose, the text carries an authentic, unadorned naval tone that immerses the reader directly into nineteenth-century ocean life. The account feels surprisingly immediate, offering a stark contrast to fictional sea tales through its unpretentious focus on small, essential details: calculating ounces of flour, hammering together makeshift water stills, and scanning empty horizons for smoke.

While readers should anticipate period military formality, outdated technical ship terminology, and brief archaic references to non-Western peoples, these element reflect the original context of an 1870 naval officer’s log. What stays with you long after reading is the profound quiet tragedy of the gig's arrival—coming so close to complete success only to end in heartbreak—and the enduring spirit of men who refused to abandon one another in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.