However, it seems likely that the very first modern sighting of the Bank was not by Cropper but by US Navy Lt. James Alden and Captain Jonathan "Mad Jack" Percival.
On November 3, 1855, the New York Times carried the story "Dangerous Rock off the Coast of California," which reported MacRae's finding and the fact that he and the crew of the ship had anchored a pair of casks bearing a flag to mark the spot. Two weeks after the story appeared, MacRae committed suicide aboard the Ewing in San Francisco Bay, shooting himself in the head with a large caliber Colt revolver, while anchored alongside Alden's ship, the USS Active.[8][9]
