USS De Soto (1859)
USS De Soto in the harbor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1868. The original print is mounted on a carte de visite.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | SS De Soto |
Namesake | Hernando De Soto (1496-1524), Spanish explorer and conquistador |
Owner | Livingston, Crocheron & Co. |
Port of registry | United States |
Route | New York–Havana–New Orleans |
Builder | Lawrence & Foulks (New York City) |
Launched | 25 June 1859 |
Completed | 1859 |
In service | August 1859? |
Out of service | 12 August 1861 |
Fate | Sold to U.S. Navy , 12 August 1861 |
United States | |
Name | USS De Soto |
Acquired | Purchased 21 August 1861 |
Commissioned |
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Fate | Sold 30 September 1868 |
United States | |
Name | SS De Soto |
Owner | Livingston, Fox & Co. |
Port of registry | United States |
Route | New York–Havana–New Orleans |
Acquired | Purchased from U.S. Navy 30 September 1868 |
In service | 1868 |
Out of service | 31 December 1870 |
Fate | Destroyed by fire 31 December 1870 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 1,675 tons |
Length | 253 ft (77 m) |
Beam | 38 ft (12 m) |
Draught | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 14 mph (12 knots) in favorable conditions |
Complement | 130 |
Armament |
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USS De Soto was a fast wooden-
De Soto was originally a privately owned vessel, built for passenger service between New York and New Orleans. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, she was purchased by the Navy, commissioned as USS De Soto, and sent to assist with the blockade of Confederate ports. De Soto's speed made her an effective pursuit ship, and she would capture or bring about the destruction of a total of eighteen blockade runners during the war.
In the postwar period, De Soto continued to serve with the Navy, mostly in South American waters, until resold to her original owners in 1868 for resumption of service as a passenger ship. She caught fire and was burned to the waterline in December 1870.
Construction and design
De Soto was built by
De Soto was powered by a 65-inch (170 cm)
Commercial service, 1859–61
De Soto appears to have entered service in August 1859,
The ship made a fast passage of less than four days from Havana to New York in April 1860, at an average speed of around 14 mph. By this time she had already earned a reputation as a "fast and popular steamship".[9] Another fast run, again at an average speed of about 14 mph, was made in June following.[10]
In addition to her passengers and cargo, De Soto also acted as a conduit for news between Cuba and the United States. Most of the news conveyed by De Soto was of a mundane character—for example, reports of activity on the Havana sugar market—but sometimes it was of more interest. In October 1860 for instance, De Soto reported the interception at Sierra Morena, Cuba of an illegal slave ship carrying 800 African slaves. The captain and crew of the slave ship were detained by local authorities, but about 400 of the slaves had already been dispersed ashore and could not be retrieved.[11]
De Soto became one of the last steamships to engage in trade between the North and the breakaway Southern states when she departed New York for New Orleans on 23 April 1861, eleven days after the outbreak of the Civil War. The Confederacy however missed the opportunity to seize the vessel, and she returned safely to New York.[3] On 6 May, De Soto departed New York for Havana once again, but on this occasion it was "not considered prudent" for the ship to continue on to New Orleans.[12]
De Soto made one further voyage to Havana in June.[13] On 21 August 1861, she was purchased by the U.S. Navy for the sum of $161,250[14] for conversion into a gunboat.[4]
American Civil War, 1861–65
Gulf Blockading Squadron
At the
The steamer put to sea on 19 November with ordnance stores for
In spite of this initial mishap, De Soto's first capture did not take long, as she and a
Western Blockading Squadron
Upon Rear Admiral
Repair and refit
Three months of hot weather and lack of maintenance facilities took a toll on De Soto's
De Soto stood down the Delaware River on 3 February 1863 and, after stops at Havana, Cuba and Santo Domingo, arrived back at Key West, Florida on the 15th.[4]
Eastern Gulf Blockade
Assigned to the
Patrolling north and west of the
Returning to sea in mid-June, De Soto's luck held and she captured schooner Lady Maria north of Tampa Bay on 6 July, laden with 104 bales of cotton. On the 18th, while cruising near Mobile Bay, De Soto spotted a steamer and closed and took the steamer James Battle, laden with rosin and cotton. At that point, two screw steamers from the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Aroostook and Ossipee, closed with some disappointment, as they had been chasing the blockade runner. Later that same evening, as De Soto and Ossipee independently chased a second steamer, Capt. Walker closed and took William Bagley before the other Union ship could do so. Those actions by De Soto, which put Capt. Jonathan P. Gillis of the Ossipee in mind of "a voracious aquatic bird", led to a dispute over prize claims. The controversy was resolved later in the month when Rear Admiral Bailey and Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, commander of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron, agreed to split prize shares.[4]
De Soto continued her patrols in the Gulf of Mexico into the month of August, braving the sweltering heat to board and inspect coastal and seaborne traffic. The steamer Alice Vivian was seized on 16 August, as she had no papers, and the steamer Nita was taken the next day for the same reason. During this month, wear and tear on the steamer's boilers began to show and, despite attempts at repair, De Soto steadily lost speed. On 12 September, following a nine-hour chase under steam and sail, the Union ship finally took the blockade runner Montgomery, a chase Capt. Walker claimed should have taken one fourth the time if the boilers were in good order. Tinkering helped build up steam pressure to a point, and De Soto managed to chase down the screw steamer Leviathan on 22 September.[4]
Returning to Key West in late October, De Soto received minor repairs and re-coaled. Captain Walker was relieved of command in early November by Captain
Yellow fever outbreak
Sometime in April or May, De Soto's crew began coming down with yellow fever and the steamer was sent north in early June, arriving at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 16 June. As per normal practice, the warship was decommissioned that same day and the crew quarantined until the fever burned out. On 12 January 1865, De Soto was sent to Baltimore, Maryland for the installation of new boilers. She was still there when the war ended on 9 April 1865.[4]
North Atlantic Squadron
De Soto was recommissioned at Baltimore on 12 August 1865, with Captain Walker placed back in command. The steamer stood out for Norfolk, Virginia, on 7 September and joined the newly organized North Atlantic Squadron, whose cruising ground covered the Atlantic Ocean south to the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico.[4]
Haiti rebellion
At this time, "revolutionists" in Haiti were fighting the government of President Geffrard from a base at Cap-Haïtien, and De Soto steamed to that port to safeguard Americans residing in that area. On 19 October, following a confrontation between the rebel steamer Valorogue and HMS Bulldog, revolutionaries in the port seized refugees out of the British Consulate, which was viewed as a "gross outrage against the British flag." On 23 October, despite Capt. Walker's attempts at mediation, HMS Bulldog attacked both the fort guarding the harbor and batteries in town. While so doing, the Royal Navy steamer ran hard aground inside the harbor. She continued to fire, however, and her cannon sank Valorogue and destroyed many buildings ashore. Being in cold iron, De Soto could not immediately move, but Capt. Walker did send his boats ashore to take off foreigners. A short while later, Captain Wake in HMS Bulldog asked for towing assistance, which Capt. Walker denied, though De Soto's boats did take off the sick and wounded. Following a boiler explosion, and unable to get off the reef, the British blew up their warship and withdrew from the harbor in their boats.[4][15]
De Soto withdrew the next day as well, carrying the wounded British sailors to Jamaica before putting into Port-au-Prince, to debark the many foreign refugees picked up at Cape Haiten. After consultations with the American Consul, Capt. Walker took De Soto back to Cap-Haïtien on 7 November. There, he negotiated with a British squadron under Captain Macguire in HMS Galatea in the hopes of averting a retaliatory bombardment of the town, particularly as the Americans feared such an act would provoke widespread unrest and attacks on foreigners throughout Haiti. These talks failed and on 9 November, the British squadron bombarded the town in conjunction with an attack by President Geffrard's forces. With the defensive works destroyed and the town falling to government forces, the rebel leaders took refuge on De Soto. Capt. Walker then carried them to Monte Christo in the Dominican Republic. De Soto returned to Cape Haiten to keep an eye on events until 13 December when she sailed for home, arriving in Hampton Roads on 19 December.[4]
Later South American service
Three days later, De Soto stood up the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River to the Washington Navy Yard, where she picked up letters for the West Indies. Steaming south on 1 January 1866, the warship stopped at Santo Domingo, Port-au-Prince and Havana before returning to Washington, D.C., on the 28th. She remained there until 19 March when she proceeded down river and into the Bay, reaching Hampton Roads on the 23d. On 10 April the warship was placed under the command of Captain Charles S. Boggs.[4]
As the revolutionary disturbances in, and friction between, Haiti and the Dominican Republic continued apace, De Soto returned to the West Indies in June, arriving at Port-au-Prince on the 19th. The steamer also patrolled in the Gulf of Mexico, with an eye on the unsettled conditions in
Earthquake and tsunami
Following a repair period at the
After completing more substantial repairs over the winter, De Soto sailed to Venezuela on 3 March 1868, to secure the release of crewmen from the whaling schooner Hannah Grant, who had been captured on the peninsula of Paraguano. At Curaçao, Capt. Boggs learned that the crew had already been released, but he remained in Venezuelan waters in support of the American minister during interviews with the Venezuelan vice-president and other officials of the Republic.[4]
De Soto steamed to
Return to commercial service, 1868–70
On 30 September 1868, De Soto was resold to her original owners, now known as Livingston, Fox & Co. After a thorough reconditioning,[1] she was returned to service as a commercial steamship, operating on her old route between New York and New Orleans with a port of call at Havana.[16] She maintained a monthly service on this route for another two years.[17]
On 25 December 1870, De Soto cleared New Orleans for New York but collided with a
References
- ^ a b c Heyl, p. 129.
- ^ Morrison, p. 456. Morrison states that the ship was completed in May 1860, but this is clearly an error as a number of voyages made by the ship in 1859 are documented in The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e Morrison, p. 456.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x De Soto, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- ^ a b c Baughman, p. 244.
- ^ See the Eric Heyl watercolor at the Naval Historical Center's photo page for USS De Soto.
- ^ "Movements Of Ocean Steamers", The New York Times, 1859-08-25.
- ^ See Google News Archive search, for "steamer De Soto" from 1859 to 1861. Note that there was also a De Soto running between the United Kingdom and the U.S. in this period; this was a different vessel.
- ^ "News Of The Day", The New York Times, 1860-04-20.
- ^ "From Havana", The New York Times, 1860-06-20.
- ^ "From Havana - Arrival Of The De Soto", The New York Times, 1860-10-13.
- ^ "News From Havana - Arrival of the De Soto", The New York Times, 1861-05-21.
- ^ "From Havana", The New York Times, 1861-06-06.
- ^ Documents, p. 478.
- ^ "The Bombardment of Cape Haytien". The Times. No. 25357. London. 1 December 1865. col B, p. 10.
- ^ Morrison, p. 460.
- ^ Google News Archive search for "steamer De Soto" from 1868 to 1870.
- ^ "Louisiana", The Atlanta Constitution, 1871-01-04 (subscription required).
- ^ "The South", Lyons Weekly Mirror, 1871-01-14.
Bibliography
- Baughman, James P. (1968): Charles Morgan and the Development of Southern Transportation, Vanderbilt University Press
- Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, 89th Session, 1866, Volume 4, Nos. 61 to 85 inclusive, p. 478, C. Wendell, Albany
- Heyl, Eric (1953): Early American Steamers, Volume 1, p. 129, Eric Heyl, Buffalo, New York
- Morrison, John Harrison (1903): History of American Steam Navigation, W. F. Sametz & Co., New York
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.