USS Essex (1856)
![]() Essex at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 1862
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History | |
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Name | New Era |
Launched | 1856 |
Acquired | 20 September 1861 |
Decommissioned | 20 July 1865 |
Renamed | Essex in late 1861 |
Refit | as an ironclad late 1861 |
Fate | sold on 29 November 1865; scrapped 1870 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ironclad |
Displacement | 640 tons |
Length | 202 ft (62 m) |
Beam | 60 ft (18 m) |
Draft | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
Speed | 5.5 knots |
Complement | 124 |
Armament | 1 × 32-pounder; 3 × 11-inch Dahlgren smooth bores;1 × 10-inch Dahlgren smoothbore;1 × 12-pounder howitzer |
Armor | 1 ¾" forward casemate, ¾" sides |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/USS_New_Era.jpg/300px-USS_New_Era.jpg)
USS Essex was a 1000-ton
Service in Tennessee
In September 1861 New Era was purchased by the
Battling the CSS Arkansas
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/CSS_Arkansas_h73378.jpg/300px-CSS_Arkansas_h73378.jpg)
Commanding officer
On 6 August, the Essex once again engaged CSS Arkansas as that vessel attempted to relieve the beleaguered Confederates attacking Baton Rouge. As Essex approached, the steering mechanism of the Arkansas jammed and her crew was forced to scuttle her due to the presence of the Essex.
In October 1862 the Essex was transferred from the
In December 1864, the USS Essex was in Memphis, Tennessee. According to David Redrick, the Rear Admiral's cook, some of the boat's crew "slipped ashore at night" and "got on a spree". Boatswain William Bernard Dolen, age 33, was part of a detail sent ashore to "arrest the boys". During the arrest, he was stabbed in the right chest by a fellow seaman, and was honorably discharged for disability due to the chronicity of the wound, from which he later died in 1878.
After the war
Essex was decommissioned in July 1865. She was sold in November 1865 and reverted to the civilian name New Era. She was scrapped in 1870. USS Essex had the reputation as one of the most active gunboats on the Mississippi River, despite her relatively weak armor. It often was damaged in actions.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)