USS Albatross (1858)

USS Albatross (1858)

Sketch of Albatross by William M. C. Philbrick, depicting her off Mobile, Alabama, on 25 September 1863.
History
United States
Namesake	the bird Albatross
Launched	1858 at Mystic, Connecticut
Acquired	23 May 1861 at Brooklyn, New York
Commissioned	25 June 1861 at the New York Navy Yard
Decommissioned	11 August 1865 at the Boston Navy Yard
Stricken	1865 (est.)
Fate	Sold 8 September 1865 at Boston, Massachusetts
General characteristics
Type	screw steamer
Tonnage	378
Length	150 ft (46 m)
Beam	30 ft (9.1 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion	steam engine, screw-propelled
Sail plan	rigged as a three-masted schooner
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement	not known
Armament	1 × 8 in (200 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren gun 2 × 32-pounder (15 kg) smoothbore guns

USS Albatross was a screw steamer rigged as a three-masted schooner acquired by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat with heavy guns and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.

Built in Mystic, Connecticut

Albatross was built at

in command.

Civil war operations

Assigned to the Atlantic blockade

Acquired during the Union Navy's efforts to expand the fleet early in the civil war to carry out the blockade of the

Hampton Roads, Virginia

on 1 July 1861.

Following a week's service in the Chesapeake Bay along its eastern shore and off the mouth of the Rappahannock River, the steamer rounded Cape Henry on 10 July and proceeded south to waters outside the bar off Hatteras Inlet to assist in sealing off the North Carolina coast. The ship's first action came on 11 July after a Confederate shore battery near Oregon Inlet opened fire on her. She answered with all her guns, knocked out one of the Confederate cannon, and drove the Southern soldiers from the area.

Albatross made her first capture on 18 July, when a party from the steamer boarded and seized the schooner Velasco of

.

Capturing pirates

Harpers Weekly

, 1861)

On 22 July 1861, while Albatross was chasing a sailing vessel near

in charge of the prize over a crew consisting of five Union sailors and the rescued man who had been on Enchantress when she surrendered to the Southern privateer.

Albatross took the

and Albatross entered the shipyard for repairs.

After completion of the machinery work late in the month, the steamer returned to Hampton Roads on the evening of 31 August and began cruising in Chesapeake Bay where she took the schooner Alabama off the mouth of the

South Atlantic Blockading Squadron

.

Reassigned to the South Atlantic blockade

The highlight of this stint of service off Beaufort was her discovery and destruction of the grounded 800-ton

. There, on 20 June, two boats from Albatross captured the steam tug Treaty and schooner Louisa.

Reassigned to the West Gulf blockade

Early in July 1862, the steamer proceeded to

, probably intended for a less utilitarian purpose.

Outbreak of yellow fever

Late in September 1862,

took command of Albatross.

After the health of her crew had been restored, the steamer began patrolling off the

.

Mississippi River operations

On 11 December 1862, Albatross sailed for the

, but no soldiers were made available for the operation.

Finally, with the approach of the spring, misfortunes to Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's Mississippi Squadron, which had been attempting to send some of its gunboats past Vicksburg, Mississippi, to patrol the river between that strongly fortified position and Port Hudson, prompted Farragut to brave the guns of Port Hudson without help from Banks. On the evening of 13 March 1863, he moved seven of his warships - four saltwater men-of-war and three gunboats - some 15 miles above Baton Rouge and anchored for the night.

During the next day, he gave careful attention to the readiness of each ship in the force for battle. He had three of the heavy warships lashed to the port and soon-to-be-engaged sides of the smaller gunboats, pairing his flagship, USS Hartford, with Albatross, Richmond with USS Genesee, and USS Monongahela with USS Kineo. USS Mississippi, proceeding alone, brought up the rear. Farragut later explained his selection of Albatross as Hartford's partner:

Albatross being the most vulnerable of the gunboats, and her speed being about equal to that of this ship, was assigned to her. ...

Braving the fire of Port Hudson

Shortly after 10:00 p.m., the fleet got underway. Moving up the river "in good style," Hartford and Albatross weathered the hail of shot from the batteries. Major General Franklin Gardner, commanding Confederate forces at Port Hudson, noted: "She returned our fire boldly." While the flagship and her consort were passing the lower batteries, the current nearly swung the pair around and grounded them; "but," Farragut reported, "backing the Albatross, and going ahead strong on this ship, we at length headed her up the river." Though able to bring only two guns to bear on the upper batteries, Farragut successfully passed those works.

Following the

reported, "but I soon found, even with the aid of the Genesee, which vessel was lashed alongside, that we could make no headway against the strong current of the river, and suffering much from a galling cross fire of the enemy's batteries, I was compelled though most reluctantly, to turn back, and by the aid of the Genesee soon anchored out of the range of their guns."

Next in line, Monongahela ran hard aground under Port Hudson's lower batteries where she remained for nearly half an hour, taking severe punishment. At least eight shots passed entirely through the ship. The bridge was shot from underneath Captain James P. McKinstry, wounding him and killing three others. With Kineo's aid, Monongahela was refloated; and she attempted to resume her course upriver. "We were nearly by the principal battery," wrote Lieutenant Nathaniel W. Thomas, the executive officer, "when the crank pin of the forward engine was reported heated, and the engine stopped. ..." The ship became unmanageable and drifted downstream, where she anchored out of range of the Confederate guns.

USS Mississippi is lost after grounding

Meanwhile, on board Mississippi, Captain

saw Richmond coming downstream but, because of the heavy smoke of the battle, was unable to sight Monongahela. Thinking that she had steamed ahead to close the gap caused by Richmond's leaving the formation, he ordered his ship "go ahead fast". In attempting to do so, Mississippi ran aground and, despite every effort, could not be brought off. After being set afire in four places, she was abandoned. At 3:00 a.m., Mississippi was seen in flames floating slowly down river; and, two and one-half hours later, she blew up. Thus ended one of the war's fiercest engagements. Only Hartford and Albatross had succeeded in running the gauntlet.

Commenting on Albatross' role, Farragut stated,

"... although it was not in Lieutenant Commander Hart's power to do much, still he did all that was in his power, and whenever he could bring a gun to bear, ahead or astern, on the port side, it was instantly fired." Albatross' only casualty in the action was Charles Raick, the captain's steward, who according to the ship's deck log, "... was killed while nobly fighting his gun."

But for a Parrott gun which lost a part of its trunnion when struck by a shell, the ship suffered little material damage.

Beyond the reach of Port Hudson's guns

After reaching comparative safety beyond the range of Port Hudson's guns, the two Union warships operated in the stretch of the Mississippi between that Southern fortress and Vicksburg until both of these Confederate riverbank strongholds had fallen almost four months later. While plying these waters which bristled with hostile batteries, they denied the Southern armies fighting in the East the steady flow of men, food, horses, and miscellaneous supplies which had supported Confederate troops since the onset of the conflict.

In the middle of March, Albatross engaged the Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, and suffered one man killed and nine wounded. On 4 May 1863, she attacked the Confederate Fort De Russy and engaged two Confederate steamers moored to the earthworks, CSS Grand Duke and Mary T.

James Brown awarded the Medal of Honor

In the engagement, Grand Duke was set on fire five times and suffered seven wounded, while Albatross was badly shot up and suffered heavy casualties when a 32-pounder ball came through the wheelhouse carrying the wheel away and causing the relieving tackles to be manned by men in plain view of the enemy. Two men from the ship were killed and four wounded. Quartermaster James H. Brown displayed most unusual courage during the action. After the steering wheel and wheel ropes had been shot away, Brown stood on the gun platform of the quarterdeck, exposing himself to close fire from musketry ashore and rendered invaluable assistance by his expert management of the relieving tackles. By doing so, he was instrumental in extricating the vessel from a perilous position and thereby aided in the capture of Fort De Russy's heavy works. Brown later received the Medal of Honor for his valor.

Death of Lt. Commander Hart

In June 1863, while Albatross was stationed above Port Hudson, her captain, John E. Hart, contracted yellow fever. A few days later he became delusional, and on 11 June 1863, he committed suicide in his cabin with his own revolver. He was officially listed as "killed in battle".

Repair and quarantine

Following the surrender of Port Hudson on 9 July, Albatross dropped down river and briefly operated on patrol out of New Orleans before beginning a repair period which lasted until mid-September when the ship joined the blockading forces off Mobile Bay. A month later, yellow fever was again raging and compelled the ship to be placed in quarantine at Pensacola.

Returned to the Gulf blockade

When again ready for duty, Albatross served as a dispatch vessel, then returned to blockade duty off

where she was decommissioned on 6 June.

Recommissioned on the day after

for repairs. When once more seaworthy, she headed for the gulf and was stationed at Mobile where she served through the end of the war.

Post-war sale and subsequent maritime career

Following the collapse of the Confederacy, Albatross sailed to the Boston Navy Yard where she was decommissioned on 11 August 1865. She was sold at public auction there on 8 September 1865 to C. P. Stickney. Redocumented on 23 September 1865, the ship operated in merchant service until her engines were removed in 1888, and she was dropped from shipping registers.

See also

• Confederate States Navy

Notes

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here. (USS Albatross)
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here. (USS Bohio)

External links

• USS Albatross (1861-1865)