USS Tyler
![]() The U. S. S. Tyler by F. Muller
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History | |
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Name | USS Tyler |
Launched | 1857 |
Commissioned | September 1861 |
Decommissioned | 1865 |
Fate | Sold at public auction , 1865 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Sidewheel gunboat |
Tonnage | 575 |
Length | 180 ft (55 m) |
Beam | 45 ft 4 in (13.82 m) |
Draft | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
Depth of hold | 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m) |
Propulsion | Steam engine |
Speed | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
Complement | 61 officers and men |
Armament |
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Gunboat_Tyler%2C_where_W.W._Stuart_served_during_the_Civil_War_LCCN2014646296.jpg/220px-Gunboat_Tyler%2C_where_W.W._Stuart_served_during_the_Civil_War_LCCN2014646296.jpg)
USS Tyler was originally a merchant ship named A. O. Tyler, a commercial side-wheel steamboat with twin stacks and covered paddles positioned aft. Constructed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1857, it was acquired by the United States Navy, 5 June 1861 for service in the American Civil War and converted into the gunboat USS Tyler on 5 June 1861. She was commissioned in September 1861. She was protected with thick wooden bulwarks.
Before military acquisition
Just four days after Mississippi's secession, on the evening of 13 January 1861, the steamboat was fired upon by cannon used by militia defending Vicksburg.[1]
On the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Lexington_and_Tyler_at_Belmont.jpg/220px-Lexington_and_Tyler_at_Belmont.jpg)
Tyler served in the
In February 1862, Tyler assisted in General Ulysses S. Grant's advance up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, helping in the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, securing western Kentucky for Federal forces. Between assaults on the two forts, Tyler joined USS Conestoga and Lexington moving along the Tennessee River, destroying an important railroad bridge and capturing three Confederate gunboats, most notably the CSS Eastport which was converted into an ironclad for Union service. After participating in the two-day action which culminated in the surrender of Fort Donelson, Tyler resumed operations on the Tennessee River in support of Grant's advance southward along the river's banks through western Tennessee.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Lexington_and_Tyler_at_Shiloh.jpg/220px-Lexington_and_Tyler_at_Shiloh.jpg)
In the
The Mississippi and Vicksburg
On 19 April 1862, Tyler moved farther south where she captured the Confederate transport Albert Robb and burned another Southern ship, Dunbar. After Shiloh and the
On 15 July, the Union probe and the falling river brought Tyler and her colleagues into a collision with Arkansas. After a brisk exchange of cannonades, Carondelet was disabled. Only Tyler, abandoned by Queen of the West, remained to suffer the full onslaught of the powerful Southern warship. Recognizing the futility in attacking her adversary unsupported, Tyler reluctantly retreated with Arkansas in pursuit. After a running fight all the way down the Yazoo, the two warships reached the Union fleet lying near the confluence of the two rivers. Tyler sought refuge among the fleet while Arkansas ran through it, delivering salvo after salvo into the aggregate of ships, and moored safely under the protection of the Vicksburg shore batteries.
During the first phase of the
On the 29th, she joined another expedition up the Yazoo, and it resulted in the fall of the important fortifications on Haynes Bluffs on 1 May. That operation was the gunboat's last major role in the reduction of Vicksburg which surrendered to Union forces on 4 July 1863. Tyler resumed her support for Army troops upriver invading Arkansas. On the day that Vicksburg surrendered, the gunboat brought her guns to bear on an attacking Confederate force near Helena, Arkansas.
On the White River
For the remainder of the war, she participated in the invasion of Arkansas, operating principally on the
Rescue efforts in the Sultana tragedy
The Tyler was pressed into rescue duty with a volunteer crew to assist in the steamboat Sultana disaster, north of Memphis on 27 April 1865, as her regular complement had recently been discharged.[2]
In June, Tyler moved to Mound City, Illinois where she remained until sold at auction there on 17 August 1865.
See also
References
- ^ "The American Civil War: January 13, 1861: Steamboat A.O. Tyler fired on near Vicksburg". Archived from the original on 2016-01-26.
- ^ Harvey, Hank, retired staffer, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, Sunday, October 27, 1996, Section C, Pages 3,6.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Hank Harvey, retired staffer for The (Toledo) Blade, coverage on Sultana disaster, Sunday, 27 October 1996, Section C, Pages 3,6.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1989). Warships of the Civil War navies. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-783-6.