USS Craven (TB-10): The Cursed Torpedo Boat That Met a Fiery End

The USS Craven (TB-10) was no ordinary naval vessel. This torpedo boat seemed cursed from her earliest days, plagued by mechanical failures and an unusual pattern of decommissioning that kept her out of service more than in. Her final chapter would prove the most tragic, ending in a deadly boiler explosion that claimed four lives and left survivors with haunting memories of screams and scalding steam.

Built at Bath Iron Works in Maine, the Craven belonged to the experimental Dahlgren-class torpedo boats. These vessels tested foreign designs for the U.S. Navy, with the Craven based on French Normand blueprints. The ship’s experimental nature may have contributed to her troubled service record. She was commissioned in 1900, but spent more time sitting idle at various navy yards than patrolling the seas.

The vessel’s pattern of frequent decommissioning was unusual even for the era. Most ships served continuously unless undergoing major repairs. The Craven, however, was repeatedly pulled from service and left to rust at dock. Some sailors whispered that the ship was jinxed, though naval records attributed the problems to mechanical issues with her experimental design.

The Deadly USS Craven (TB-10) Boiler Explosion

September 10, 1913, started as a routine transit for the USS Craven (TB-10). The torpedo boat was steaming from Martin’s Industry Lightship toward Tybee Light off the Georgia coast. At 12:45 PM, the number one boiler suddenly exploded with tremendous force. The blast tore through the engine room, instantly killing some crew members and trapping others in a hellscape of superheated steam and twisted metal.

Fireman 1st Class Thomas W. Gabbitt died instantly. Water Tenders William Oscar Milton, John William McCaffrey, and James Charles Dalton were caught in the explosion’s fury. Milton succumbed to his injuries before the ship could reach port. The others clung to life as their shipmates fought desperately to save them.

Watertender D.B. Smith became an unlikely hero that day. Despite suffering burns on his hands and feet, he climbed down into the scalding wreckage to rescue Chief Watertender McCaffrey. Smith’s selfless act couldn’t prevent McCaffrey’s eventual death at the hospital, but it showed the bonds that held naval crews together even in their darkest moments.

The ship’s young commanding officer, Ensign W.D. LaMont, earned high praise for his handling of the crisis. His division commander later commended LaMont’s “excellent judgment shown under such trying conditions.” The explosion marked the end of the Craven’s troubled career, though she limped back to port one final time.

Strange Rescue Signals and USS Craven (TB-10)’s Final Hours

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As the USS Craven (TB-10) fought to stay afloat after the explosion, her crew hoisted distress signals that painted a haunting picture against the Georgia sky. They flew their ensigns upside-down at the signal halyards – the universal maritime sign of extreme distress. The inverted flags fluttered like ghostly warnings as smoke poured from the damaged vessel.

The tugboat Cynthia from Savannah spotted these ominous signals first. Her crew immediately recognized the severity of the situation and raced to assist. A second tug, the Estelle, was summoned to bring doctors from nearby Fort Screven. The rescue operation took on an almost supernatural quality as multiple vessels converged on the smoking torpedo boat.

At 6:05 PM, the Craven finally tied up to the pier at Fort Screven. The injured sailors were rushed to the base hospital, but for some, help came too late. The ship herself would never sail again. Her experimental French design, which had promised speed and innovation, had instead delivered tragedy and death.

The timing of the explosion raised questions that were never fully answered. Why did the boiler fail so catastrophically? Had the experimental Normand design contained fatal flaws? Naval investigators examined the wreckage, but their findings remain buried in dusty archives.

The Experimental Curse of French-Designed Warships

The Craven’s French heritage may have contributed to her troubled existence. The U.S. Navy’s experiment with foreign torpedo boat designs produced mixed results at best. The Normand blueprints promised vessels capable of reaching 31 knots, making them the fastest of their class. However, speed came at a cost that would prove deadly.

The French-designed boilers that powered these experimental boats were temperamental and required constant maintenance. Sailors who served aboard similar vessels reported unusual vibrations and steam pressure fluctuations. Some crew members developed superstitions about the foreign-built components, believing they carried bad luck from across the Atlantic.

The Craven’s sister ships also experienced problems, though none as catastrophic as the 1913 explosion. The pattern of mechanical failures across the experimental fleet suggested fundamental design flaws rather than isolated incidents. Naval engineers struggled to adapt French specifications to American manufacturing standards and operational requirements.

These experimental torpedo boats represented a fascinating but ultimately failed chapter in naval history. The U.S. Navy learned valuable lessons from vessels like the Craven, but at a terrible human cost. The four sailors who died in the boiler explosion became unwitting sacrifices to technological progress.

Final Fate and Ghostly Legacy

After the September explosion, the USS Craven never returned to active service. She was officially decommissioned on November 14, 1913, and designated for use as a target. This ignoble end seemed fitting for a vessel that had spent more time in dry dock than at sea. The experimental torpedo boat that had promised so much delivered only tragedy in her final act.

The ship’s conversion to target practice represented the navy’s final judgment on the experimental program. Rather than attempting repairs, officials decided the damaged vessel was beyond salvation. The Craven would meet her end not in glorious battle, but as practice for other ships’ gunnery crews.

Some former crew members reported strange dreams about the explosion in the years that followed. They described recurring nightmares of steam and screaming metal, as if the ship’s traumatic final voyage had left psychic scars. Whether these were simply the natural result of survivor’s guilt or something more supernatural remains a matter of speculation.

The USS Craven (TB-10) stands as a reminder that naval innovation often comes with hidden costs. Her brief, troubled career ended in flames and death, marking the close of an experimental chapter in American naval history. The four sailors who perished in her boiler explosion deserve to be remembered not just as casualties of technological progress, but as brave men who served their country aboard a cursed and ultimately doomed vessel.