Worthy of Preservation
On April 22, 2021 the shipwreck remains of the USCG Cutter McCulloch was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination to the register was a joint submission by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the U.S. Coast Guard. The National Register listing highlights the national significance of the archaeological remains of the shipwreck, and McCulloch's role for the U.S. Revenue Service in the Bering Sea Patrols as a floating courtroom, and serving at the Battle of Manila Bay under the command of Commodore George Dewey.
The Discovery
McCulloch was sunk in a collision with the passenger ship SS Governor off Point Conception, California on June 13, 1917. The ship’s precise location was unknown for nearly 100 years. During a joint NOAA – USCG remotely operated vehicle (ROV) training mission in October 2016, the science team confirmed the historic remains of the USCG Cutter McCulloch off Point Conception, known as the "Cape Horn of the Pacific." Working off the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary's R/V Shearwater, a VideoRay Mission Specialist ROV was deployed to survey and characterize the archaeological remains of this historically significant shipwreck in America's U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy's military history.