USS Bienville

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Bienville in merchant service
History
Union Navy Jack United States
NameUSS Bienville
Namesake
Jean Baptiste de Bienville
Builder
Williamsburg, NY
Launched1860
AcquiredAugust 14, 1861
CommissionedOctober 23, 1861
DecommissionedSoon after war's end
Stricken1867 (est.)
FateDestroyed by fire,
Watling Island
, Bahamas, 15 August 1872
General characteristics
TypeSidewheel steamship
Displacement1,558 long tons (1,583 t)
Length253 ft (77 m)
Beam38 ft (12 m)
Draft16 ft 2 in (4.93 m)
Installed powerWalking beam
PropulsionSidewheels; auxiliary sails
Speed15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement185
Armament1 × 30-pounder rifle, 8 × 32-pounder smoothbore guns

USS Bienville was a 1,558 long tons (1,583 t) (burden) wooden side-wheel paddle steamer acquired by the Union Navy early in the American Civil War. She was armed with heavy guns and assigned to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.

Built in Brooklyn, New York

Bienville built at

Brooklyn, New York in 1860. She was a two-masted sail-steamer, with a walking beam steam engine driving a pair of side paddle wheels
. The Union Navy bought her in August 1861 as part of the great expansion that took place in the first months of the American Civil War.

Civil War operations

Assigned to the South Atlantic blockade

She was commissioned in October 1861 and soon took part in the expedition that seized future Naval bases at Port Royal and Beaufort, South Carolina. Bienville operated off the Confederacy's Atlantic coast for more than a year, taking part in the capture of positions along the Georgia and Florida shore as well as ending the careers of several blockade runners, among them the steamships Stettin (later USS Stettin) (taken on May 24, 1862) and Patras (May 27, 1862).

Gulf of Mexico operations

Bombardment and Capture of Port Royal, South Carolina, November 7, 1861

In 1863 USS Bienville was transferred to the

Galveston Bay, Texas to seize two schooners loaded with cotton. The actual prize sought was the destruction of Wren, a ship built by Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead (no. 317), along with sister ship (no. 318) the Lark, for Fraser, Trenholm and Company. The Wren had run aground February 6, 1865, but was freed, narrowly escaping capture, and moored inside Galveston Harbor. The schooners Pet, with 256 bales of cotton on board, and Annie Sophia, with 220 bales, were anchored near the main channel at Fort Point. Acting Ensign George French was dispatched with twenty seamen and three officers to destroy the Wren and capture the schooners. Successful in capturing the schooners, they were not able to get to the Wren.[1]

Decommissioning and civilian career

Bienville was decommissioned soon after the end of the Civil War. After about two years in reserve, she was sold in October 1867. She operated under the same name as a commercial steamship until August 15, 1872, when a fire destroyed her at

Bahamas. Mexican-born Spanish artist Fortunato Arriola was aboard the ship during the fire, and was lost at sea.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ "Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog". February 6, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  2. ^ "Fortunato Arriola". The Inter Ocean. October 14, 1872. p. 4. Retrieved March 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. The San Francisco Examiner
    . October 23, 1872. p. 3. Retrieved March 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

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