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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USED Dredge Caucus

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredge::
  • Built, date and location unknown
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Christened, commissioned and placed in service by the US Army Corp of Engineers, as USED Dredge Caucus, date unknown
  • Assigned to the US Army Corps of Engineers District, unknown
  • Decommissioned and retired from US Army service, date unknown
  • Sold, date unknown, to Standard Dredging Co. of New York
  • Caucus dredged the entrance to the harbor at Pearl Harbor from 1927 to 1929
  • Final Disposition, On 7 May 1929 Caucus was being towed from Honolulu Harbor, where she was being repaired. At 0930 Caucus caught fire off Pearl Harbor. A backfire is believed to come from one of the boilers. The ten man crew escaped without injury. Caucus was purposely beach off Puuloa Point. The dredge was a total loss and was not insured
    Specifications:
    Displacement unknown
    Length unknown
    Beam unknown
    Depth of Hull unknown
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Range unknown
    Complement unknown
    Machinery unknown
    Propulsion, steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USED Dredge Caucus
    Caucus
    302620101    		 75k USED Dredge Caucus undergoing repairs at USED Dredge Depot, Tampa, FL., August 1923.
    US Army Corp of Engineers Digital Library    		 US Army Corp of Engineers Digital Library
    Commercial Service
    Caucus
    302620102    		 181k Dredge Caucus on fire in Pearl Harbor, 7 May 1929. (Top photo has incorrect date) Blade Shepherd-Jones
    Caucus
    302620105    		 116k
    Caucus
    302620103
    Star-Bulletin    		 517k Newspaper photos of the dredge Caucus on fire in Pearl Harbor, 7 May 1929
    Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 May 1929 and Honolulu Advertiser, 8 May 1929     		Blade Shepherd-Jones
    Caucus
    302620104
    Advertiser    		 862k
    Caucus
    302620106
    boiler    		 87k The hulk of Caucus did not go to waste. The Army used her for aerial target practice for intermediate and high attitude bombing runs. The aircraft from the US Army Air Corps 5th Composite Group usually dropped sand filled dummy bombs but occasionally they dropped live bombs. The old hulk could only take so much abuse. In some cases during live bombing runs, all bombs hit the target. The US Army stopped using Caucus as a bombing target in 1932 By that time the hulk was only visible during extremely low tide.
    The last two photos of the Caucus hulk at the bottom of Pearl Harbor are of her boiler and rudder mechanism.     		Blade Shepherd-Jones
    Caucus
    302620107
    rudder mechanism    		 248k
    There is no history available for USED Dredge Caucus at NavSource
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 13 May 2022