USS Shepherd Knapp
USS Shepherd Knapp was a large (838-ton) ship with eight guns, purchased by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War.
With her eight guns and a crew of 93, she was employed by the Union Navy as a heavy
During the course of her fruitless searches for Semmes, she ran aground on a reef near Haiti and was abandoned.
Service history
Shepherd Knapp—a ship-rigged sailing vessel—was purchased at New York City on 28 August 1861 from Laurence Giles & Co.
Since the logs of Shepherd Knapp are missing, many details of her career are not known. However, records of correspondence between Naval Command and her captain were published in Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Her
In November, Shepherd Knapp was back in New York and by early February 1863 she was heading to the West Indies seeking Confederate ships, especially CSS Alabama. As a sailing ship it was unlikely that Shepherd Knapp could overhaul a steam powered raider such as CSS Alabama, powered by 2 x 300 hp engines. However, a letter from Charles Wilkes, Acting Rear Admiral of the West Indies Squadron, to the Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles dated 26 February 1863, shows that their plan was for the USS Shepherd Knapp to disguise as a merchantman and act as decoy. By following a trade route they hoped to draw in a raider so that they could engage at close quarters.[5]
After cruising in the Caribbean for over three and one-half months, Shepherd Knapp struck a coral reef off Cap-Haïtien on 18 May 1863 and was abandoned. All equipment, including her guns, was salvaged.[6]
References
- ^ Wilkes, Charles (1895). Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion by United States Naval War Records Office (Series 1 Volume 2 ed.). Government Printing Office. p. 142/143. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
- ^ Compiled by officials of the Naval war records office (1896). Official records of the Union and Confederate navies in the war of the rebellion (Series 1 Volume 3 ed.). Government Printing Office. p. 222. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
- ^ Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (Series 1 Volume 13 ed.). Government Printing Office. 1901. p. 905, index to 27 entries. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ Official dispatches and letters of Rear Admiral Du Pont, U. S. Navy. 1846-48. 1861-63. Wilmington: Ferris Bros. 1883. p. 307. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ Official records of the Union and Confederate navies in the war of the rebellion (Series 1 Volume 2 ed.). Government Printing Office. 1895. p. 104. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion by United States Naval War Records Office (Series 1 Volume 2 ed.). Washington: Government Printing Office. 1895. p. 197. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.