Deep mystery, Conestoga alum bound by coincidence
Soon after Michael Carver joined the mission to solve one of the deepest mysteries in U.S. naval history, he realized he shared a connection with the vessel that had been missing almost a century.
Soon after Michael Carver joined the mission to solve one of the deepest mysteries in U.S. naval history, he realized he shared a connection with the vessel that had been missing almost a century.
The World War I-era tugboat that disappeared in 1921 and the high school from which Carver graduated 74 years later shared a name: Conestoga.
"It was one of those strange coincidences," said Carver, a 1995 graduate of the highly regarded Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Chester County.
Carver piloted a remotely operated underwater vehicle that played a key role in identifying and mapping out the wreck of the USS Conestoga off the coast of San Francisco.
Federal officials announced last month that they had found the tugboat that had sailed from a naval shipyard in California with 56 men aboard bound for American Samoa in 1921. It failed to reach a scheduled stop at Pearl Harbor.
The find brought some closure to members of the crew's families, who met the news with tears, and marked a critical step toward preserving the sailors' underwater gravesite.
The Conestoga connection created an extra layer of meaning for Carver, 39, a Wayne native who now lives an hour north of San Francisco.
As a child, Carver learned respect for nature from his mother and a passion for the sea from his father. His father home-schooled him in fifth grade while the family sailed from Maine to Florida as his father was writing a cruise guide.
"These formative experiences later crystallized my sophomore year at Conestoga when I read A Sand County Almanac on a road trip to Alaska," Carver said, referencing the popular 1980s book of essays by environmentalist Aldo Leopold.
As deputy superintendent of Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Carver usually focuses on marine organisms. Over the last several years, he has worked with a team to reroute shipping lanes to protect whales.
The search for the USS Conestoga was a rare maritime culture mission for him.
Robert Schwemmer, who codirected the investigation into the lost vessel, called Carver "an amazing asset" to the mission. Carver's expertise operating the sanctuary's underwater vehicle played a significant part in identifying the boat, he said.
"He's got his fingerprints all over this," said Schwemmer, West Coast regional maritime heritage coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
Carver's vehicle dived into 189-foot-deep water to carefully record video of the 170-by-29-foot vessel in 2014.
"Slowly the wreck comes into view. And that's so exciting," Carver said.
An investigation confirmed in October 2015 the ship was the lost Conestoga, named for the covered wagon developed in Conestoga, Pa.
As it set out on its fateful journey on March 25, 1921, the tugboat encountered a storm. Government records suggest it was buffeted by 40 mph winds. Investigators believe the Conestoga sank as the boat, carrying Lt. Ernest L. Jones, three warrant officers, and 52 enlisted men, tried to reach a protected cove.
Carver said he felt "a lot of pride and happiness for everyone involved" in the investigation.
Carver's Conestoga connection has been important in his personal life too.
He still counts several classmates among his closest friends, including his best friend, who introduced him to his wife, Haley Mears, 18 years ago, and officiated at the wedding ceremony.
610-313-8207@MichaelleBond