Perhaps the most celebrated shipwrecks at Ocean was that of the 
U. S. S. Saginaw, under Li out,-Commander Montgomery Si card, engaged In 
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1870 in deepening the channel into the lagoon at Midway. Late in October, 
with this work completed, the Saginaw set out for San Francisco. On 
reaching the open sea the commanding officer announced his intention of 
proceeding to Ocean Island, to verify its position and to examine it 
for possible shipwrecked sailors. A coarse was laid supposed to bring 
them to this island at daybreak, but at three in the morning, with only 
brief warning, the ship ran ashore on the reef and by dawn the Saginaw 
had been pounded in two by the surf, so that a part had sunk. The ship 
had struck near Green Island, which proved a haven of refuge to the orew 
who remained here fran the end of Ootober, 1870 until the first part of 
January, 1871, living in part on the scanty stores saved from the ship, 
but mainly dependent on tbe seals and sea birds that made this island their 
homes. These natural resources were carefully husbanded, useless killing 
was prohibited and oare was taken not to disturb these harmless oreatures 
unnecessarily. In the meanwhile five men in the ship’s gig, a well built 
whale boat which had been carefully decked over had made the perilous 
journey to Hanalei, Kaxai, where they were wrecked as they attempted to 
land in the surf, and four of their number drowned; the survivor, William 
Halford, brought news of the plight of the Saginaw and a ship was dlspatohed 
from Honolulu at onoe to rescue her crew. The ship's gig, which made the long 
journey from Ooean Island may be seen by the curious in the Naval Museum at 
Annapolis. 
