Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery

At 10:38 on the morning of July 21, 1905, a boiler let go aboard the gunboat Bennington at anchor in the bay. Scalding steam filled the living spaces. Sixty-six men died and forty-six more were burned, a toll larger than the Navy took in the whole Spanish-American War, and most of the dead were in this ground two days later. Eleven survivors received the Medal of Honor. The sixty-foot granite obelisk raised over them in 1908 was, for a time, the most visible thing on Point Loma after the lighthouse.

What the plaque says

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery A burial ground before 1847, this graveyard became an army post cemetery in the 1860s. It is the final resting place for most who fell at San Pasqual in 1846, and for the USS Bennington victims of 1905. It became Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in 1934 and was placed under the Veterans Administration National Cemetery System in 1973. Over 50,000 who served the U.S. honorably in war and peace lie here. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 55 First registered Dec. 6, 1932. Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus. May 28, 1990

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Fort Rosecrans — 0.6 mi
• Cabrillo Landing Site — 0.6 mi
• Ballast Point Whaling Station Site — 0.6 mi
• Site of Fort Guijarros — 0.6 mi