An 1852 painting of Robert J. Walker by W. A. C. Martin in the collection of the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Robert J. Walker |
Namesake | Robert J. Walker (1801–1869), United States Senator from Mississippi (1836–1845), Secretary of the Treasury (1845–1849), and Governor of Kansas Territory (1857) |
Builder | Joseph Tomlinson, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Completed | 1844 |
Acquired | 1848 |
In service | 1848 |
Fate | Sunk in collision 21 June 1860 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Survey ship |
Length | 133 ft (41 m) |
Beam | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
Draft | 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) |
Propulsion | Steam engine, sidewheel |
Robert J. Walker shipwreck and remains | |
NRHP reference No. | 14000064 |
Added to NRHP | March 19, 2014 |
USCS Robert J. Walker was a survey ship that served in the United States Coast Survey, a predecessor of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, from 1848 until sinking in 1860 after a collision at sea. Her loss resulted in the death of 20 men, the greatest loss of life in single incident ever to befall the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or any of its ancestor agencies. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 19, 2014.[1]
Robert J. Walker, shipwreck and remains (ID#5327)