Pax River Sailors Remember the USS Tulip

Sailors from Naval Air Station Patuxent River gathered with local residents Nov. 8 for the annual USS Tulip memorial ceremony at the monument’s site in Saint Inigoes, Maryland.

On Nov. 11, 1864, the Union gunboat USS Tulip was ordered up the Potomac River for overdue repairs. The ship’s boiler exploded near what is now Webster Outlying Field. Only ten men survived the disaster from a crew of 57, with two dying shortly afterward.  Eight unidentified bodies were recovered and are buried along those same shores near St. Inigoes Creek.

Today, a secluded memorial stands at the burial site, and Pax River officials commemorate the event every year.

(U.S. Navy photo by Donna Cipolloni)