 On 13 January 1907 , Connecticut ran onto a reef while entering the harbor at Culebra Island . The Navy did not release any information about the grounding until press dispatches from San Juan carrying news of the incident reached the mainland on 23 January . Even then , Navy authorities in San Juan claimed to be ignorant of the situation , and , that same day , the Navy Department itself said that they only knew that Captain Swift thought she had touched bottom and that an examination of the ship 's bottom by divers had revealed no damage . The Navy amended this the next day , releasing a statement that Connecticut had been only slightly damaged and had returned to her shakedown cruise . However , damage to the ship was much more serious than the Navy admitted ; in contrast to an official statement saying that Connecticut had only " touched " the rocks , she actually had run full upon the reef when traversing " a course well marked with buoys " in " broad daylight " and did enough damage to probably require a dry docking . This apparent attempt at a cover @-@ up was enough for the United States Congress to consider an official inquiry into the matter . 
