USS Oneota (1864)
Oneota after her rechristening as Manco Cápac and the addition of two masts
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Oneota |
Namesake | Oneota Tribe of the Sioux Indians |
Ordered | 1862 |
Builder | Alexander Swift & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio |
Laid down | 1862 |
Launched | 21 May 1864 |
Completed | 10 June 1865 |
Fate | Sold to builder, 13 April 1868 |
Peru | |
Name | BAP Manco Cápac |
Namesake | Manco Cápac |
Acquired | 1868 |
Fate | Scuttled , 7 June 1880 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Canonicus-class monitor |
Displacement | 2,100 long tons (2,100 t) |
Tons burthen | 1,034 tons (bm) |
Length | 225 ft (68.6 m) |
Beam | 43 ft 3 in (13.2 m) |
Draft | 13 ft 6 in (4.1 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | |
Speed | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
Complement | 100 officers and enlisted men |
Armament | 2 × 15-inch (381 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns |
Armor |
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USS Oneota was a single-turreted
Description and construction
The ship was 225 feet (68.6 m) long overall, had a beam of 43 feet 3 inches (13.2 m) and had a maximum draft of 13 feet 6 inches (4.1 m). Oneota had a tonnage of 1,034 tons burthen and displaced 2,100 long tons (2,100 t).[1] Her crew consisted of 100 officers and enlisted men.[2]
Oneota was powered by a two-cylinder horizontal
The exposed sides of the hull were protected by five layers of 1-inch (25 mm) wrought iron plates, backed by wood. The armor of the gun turret and the
The contract for Oneota, the only Navy ship to be named after the Oneota Tribe of the
The ships needed a deep-water berth and were moved opposite Cairo, Illinois in mid-1865 even though they still had to be anchored in the main channel where they were often struck by debris, drifting ice, and vulnerable to accidents. Tippecanoe's anchor chain was broken on 27 March 1866 when she was struck by a steamboat towing barges and the monitor collided with Oneota and the two ships were dragged 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream before they could be brought under control. This was a persistent problem and the Navy finally decided to move the ships down to New Orleans in May 1866. In August 1867, the Navy turned over Oneota and Catawba to Swift & Co. contingent on a guarantee that they would be returned in good shape if they could not be sold, and the company began refitting them for Peruvian service.[10]
In October 1867, an agent for Swift & Co. negotiated a deal with Peru to purchase Oneota and her sister for a million dollars apiece.
BAP Manco Cápac
The monitor was renamed by the
While this was going on, the United States was negotiating with Great Britain over compensation for losses inflicted by British ships knowingly sold to the Confederacy during the Civil War (the Alabama Claims). Peru had been involved in an undeclared war with Spain (the Chincha Islands War) in 1864–66 and the US was not willing to prejudice its claims against the United Kingdom by performing a similar action for a belligerent power.[13] Negotiations over the issue delayed the departure of the two monitors until January 1869, after Peru bought two steamers, Reyes and Marañon to tow the monitors. They only reached Pensacola, Florida, before machinery breakdowns forced them to wait 30 days for repairs to be completed. En route from Key West to the Bahamas, the ships were separated in heavy weather. When Reyes attempted to reattach her towrope after the storm moderated, she collided with the sharp bow of Manco Cápac and sank in 15 minutes. The monitor, short of coal and food, was forced to make port at Naranjo, Cuba, then held by rebels against the Spanish government. They allowed the ship to restock her supplies, but no coal was available so the crew loaded up enough wood to reach the Bahamas where they were able to send a local schooner to Nassau to inform the authorities of their plight. The ships finally reunited at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and had to wait for the Pachitea to arrive from Peru to tow Manco Cápac. While entering Rio de Janeiro on the night of 15 September, Manco Cápac ran aground; she was refloated the following day, but the damage required three months to repair. The ships were joined by the steam corvette Unión during this time. They reached the Strait of Magellan on 29 January 1870 and Callao on 11 May.[14]
In 1879, disagreements over
Discovery
The wreck was discovered in 1960 and is located 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the mouth of the San José River at a depth of 15.7 meters (51 ft 6 in). The hull is badly corroded and the wreck has been heavily looted. In June 2007 a documentary about the ship, directed by Miguel Vásquez, titled Manco Cápac, la última Estela, premiered.[16][17]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Silverstone, p. 7
- ^ a b Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 122
- ^ a b Canney, p. 85
- ^ Olmstead, et al, p. 94
- ^ West, pp. 15–16
- ^ a b c d Oneota
- ^ Canney, p. 138
- ^ Roberts, pp. 75–76, 80, 118–19
- ^ Roberts, p. 166
- ^ Roberts, p. 182 and fn. 37
- ^ Roberts, p. 181
- ^ Alden, p. 81
- ^ Roberts, p. 182
- ^ Alden, pp. 81–82
- ^ Alden, p. 82
- ^ Castillo, Mauricio (17 June 2007). "Manco Capac, La Última Estela". El Morrocotudo (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ Silva, Mauricio (17 June 2007). "Proyecto vecinal logra imágenes inéditas del buque Manco Cápac". El Mercurio (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 April 2013. Registration required
References
- Alden, John D., Commander (September 1974). "Monitors 'Round Cape Horn". United States Naval Institute Proceedings. 100 (4). Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute: 78–82.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Canney, Donald L. (1993). The Old Steam Navy: The Ironclads, 1842–1885. Vol. 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-586-8.
- Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Jumonville, P. C. (2012). "Peruvian Monitors Manco Capac ex-USS Catawaba and Atahualpa ex-USS Oneota". Warship International. XLIX (2): 170–172. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Olmstead, Edwin; Stark, Wayne E.; Tucker, Spencer C. (1997). The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon. Alexandria Bay, New York: Museum Restoration Service. ISBN 0-88855-012-X.
- "Oneota". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History & Heritage Command(NH&HC). Retrieved 25 January 2013.
- Roberts, William H. (2002). Civil War Ironclads: The U. S. Navy and Industrial Mobilization. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 0-8018-6830-0.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1989). Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-783-6.
- West, W. Wilson Jr. (1996). USS Tecumseh Shipwreck: Management Plan (PDF). Department of Defense: Legacy Resource Management Program.