Discovery of Lost USS Innsmouth Leaves Many Unanswered Questions

ASTORIA, OREGON - Marine archaeologists have discovered the wreck of USS Innsmouth - a 200 year old sloop of war - in Young's Bay at the mouth of the Columbia River.

After two years of searching followed by months of mapping the wreck with imaging SONAR and pulling artifacts from the wreck and its surroundings there is no doubt of the identification.

"The water is murky down there and there's not much left to the wreck, but we've imaged it from every direction and every angle," said Michael Akagi, head of the Miskatonic University expedition, "and what's left conforms to prints of the original builders plans in the university archives."

He is quick to point out, however, that it took more than just a comparison to make the call. "It was only this week, when Nineteenth Century records confirmed a cannon we recovered last month was issued to the vessel, that we knew we had finally found her." The cannon was made in Boston and issued to Innsmouth when it was built.

Still, Akagi admits that this is not an ending, but a beginning. "We still have no clues as to why the ship and crew were lost."

USS Innsmouth was built as a "subscription ship" in 1809 in Innsmouth, MA. Subscription ships were typically paid for by towns and counties.

In return, the Navy typically allowed the town to appoint the ship's first captain and some other crew members. USS Innsmouth's first captain was Master Commandant Joshua Marsh, an uncle of Obed Marsh.

USS Innsmouth saw action in the War of 1812, capturing several British privateers and merchants between Maine and Baltimore. Joshua Marsh was promoted during the war, obtaining the rank of Captain before returning to private life in 1815.

In 1816, Innsmouth was dispatched to the Pacific to protect American commercial claims in the Oregon Territory, to which England had also laid economic claims. Fort Astoria - the first American settlement on the Pacific and a key feature in the dispute - seemed a likely destination.

"The ship sent two letters back to Washington DC before rounding Cape Horn, and was never heard from again. From Tierra Del Fuego all the way north to Oregon where Innsmouth met its fate, it's all a mystery," states Akagi excitedly. "It was logical that USS Innsmouth would head there; until now, we had no idea if she made it. There is no mention of the ship in any of Fort Astoria's records from that time. Now that she’s been found, we hope we can put the missing pieces into place."

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