USS Wabash (1855)
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Wash drawing in grey tones by Clary Ray, circa 1900, showing USS Wabash under steam and sail
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Wabash |
Namesake | A river that rises in Drake County, Ohio, near Fort Recovery. |
Builder | Philadelphia Navy Yard |
Laid down | May 16, 1854 |
Launched | October 24, 1855 |
Sponsored by | Miss Pennsylvania Grice |
Commissioned | August 18, 1856 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Recommissioned | October 24, 1871 at Boston, Massachusetts |
Decommissioned | April 25, 1874 at the Boston Navy Yard |
Stricken | November 15, 1912 |
Fate | Sold, November 15, 1912 at Boston. |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Merrimack |
Type | Screw frigate[2] |
Displacement | 4,808 tons |
Length | 301 ft 6 in (91.90 m) |
Beam | 51 ft 4 in (15.65 m) |
Draft | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
Propulsion | steam engine, and schooner sail |
Speed | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
Complement | 642[1] |
Armament | |
General characteristics 1863 | |
Class and type | none |
Armament |
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General characteristics 1865 | |
Class and type | none |
Armament |
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USS Wabash was a steam screw
Pre-Civil War service
Wabash—the first U.S. Navy ship to bear that name—was laid down on May 16, 1854 by the
Wabash departed
First recommissioning, 1858–1859
Wabash was recommissioned on May 25, 1858, Captain
Civil War service, 1861–1865
Early war
With the outbreak of the
Wabash captured the brigantine Sarah Starr off Charleston, South Carolina, on August 3, 1861, and recaptured the American schooner Mary Alice, taken earlier by CSS Dixie. By this date, she had also captured the brigantines Hannah, Balch, and Solferino, along with 22 Confederate prisoners from the four vessels.
On August 26, 1861, Wabash departed
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron
Wabash was later designated the flagship of Flag Officer
After refit, Wabash departed Fort Monroe on 29 October 1861 to spearhead the Federal assault on Port Royal, South Carolina. The assembled invasion fleet was the largest yet organized by the Navy, containing 77 vessels and 16,000 Army troops under Brigadier General Thomas W. Sherman. The fleet ran into a hurricane on 1 November with devastating results.[7]
The combined force secured Port Royal Sound on 7 November 1861 after a furious four-hour battle. Wabash led the battle line in this major strategic Union victory. Executive Officer Corbin remained with the Wabash following Captain Mercer's retirement, and was promoted to Commander in July 1862, only leaving when assigned as Commandant of Midshipmen at the
Meanwhile, Wabash now took up permanent station on the Charleston blockade, operating out of Port Royal. On March 11, 1862, a landing party led by ship's commanding officer, Commander
Confederate vessels twice harassed Wabash while on duty in Port Royal Sound. On August 5, 1863, CSS Juno, a small steamer on picket duty below Fort Sumter, fired upon and ran down a launch from Wabash, capturing 10 sailors and drowning two. The CSS David submarine torpedo boat also attacked Wabash on April 18, 1864. Ensign Charles H. Craven, officer of the deck, spotted the cigar-shaped vessel in time for Wabash to get underway. The David disengaged from the attack in the face of musket fire and round shot discharged from Wabash.
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
Wabash departed her station on 1 October, bound for the
Wabash returned to Hampton Roads on January 17, 1865, receiving orders on January 25, 1865 to proceed to the Boston Navy Yard. Wabash was decommissioned at Boston on February 14, 1865.
Prizes
Date[8] | Prize Name[9] | Gross Proceeds | Costs and Expenses | Amount for Distribution | Where Adjudicated | Sent to 4th Auditor for Distribution | Vessels Entitled to Share |
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Jun 18, 1861 | Amelia | ||||||
- Jul 1861 | Hannah Balch | ||||||
Aug 3, 1861 | Sarah Starr | ||||||
Aug 3, 1861 | Mary Alice | ||||||
May 13, 1863 | Wonder | $3,627.85[10] | $966.01[11] | $2,661.84[12] | Philadelphia[13] | 2 Feb 1865[14] | Daffodil, Detachment from Wabash[15]
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Officers during Fort Fisher siege
- Captain, Melancton Smith
- Lieutenant Commander, C. H. Cushman.
- Lieutenants, Ellicot C. V. Blake, H. C. Tallman
- Surgeon, H. F. McSherry.
- Passed Assistant Surgeon, James H. Tinkham.
- Acting Assistant Surgeon, N. L. Campbell.
- Paymaster, George Cochran.
- Chaplain, Charles A. Davis.
- Marine Second Lieutenant, L. E. Fagan.
- Acting Masters, W. U. Grozier, S. J. White.
- Acting Ensigns, George T. Davis, Whitman Chase, E. A. Small, Joseph F. Brown.
Notable crew
- Samuel Barron, Captain 1858, United States, and later Confederate naval officer, Confederacy representative to Europe.
- George Dewey, Midshipman 1858, future Admiral of the Navy and Presidential candidate 1900.
- Samuel Francis Du Pont, flag officer 1861–1862
- Frederick K. Engle, Captain 1856,
- Ordinary Seaman1861, first enlisted man in the Navy to reach flag rank
- Samuel Mercer, Captain1861,
- Edward D. Robie, Naval engineer 1871, inventor, Union naval officer during the American Civil War and future Rear Admiral.
- Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, and Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Squadron.
- Melancton Smith, Captain 1865, Commander during the Siege of Fort Fisher.
- John Henry Upshur, Executive officer 1862 during the Battle of Port Royal, Port Royal, South Carolina.
Honored Crew
- Albert Burton, Seaman 1865, Medal of Honor recipient from New York City
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Ashtabula County, buried in Lakeview cemetery, Port Clinton, Ottawa County, Ohio.
- Andrew J. Tomlin, Corporal 1865, Medal of Honor recipient from Goshen, New Jersey, buried in Goshen Methodist cemetery, Goshen, New Jersey.
Post–Civil War service, 1866–1912
Wabash was placed in ordinary from 1866 to 1869; overhauled during 1870 to 1871; and recommissioned on October 24, 1871, Captain
Surviving guns
Five IX-inch Dahlgren smooth-bore cannon which served on the Wabash survived at the Boston Navy Yard. They were transferred in 2010 to the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia, where they are on display. Four of the guns are Tredegar Iron Works pieces. One is registry #45, one is either #50 or 51, one is probably #34, and the number of the fourth is unknown. All were cast in 1855. The fifth Dahlgren gun was cast by Cyrus Alger & Co., Boston, Massachusetts, in 1864, registry # 852.[16]
Additionally, a 6.4-inch (100-pounder) Parrott rifle which served on the Wabash survives in Danvers, Massachusetts. It is a West Point Foundry foundry piece, registry #116, cast in 1863.[17]
See also
- List of steam frigates of the United States Navy
- Union Navy
- Battle of Fort Pulaski
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Porter, David D. The Naval History of the Civil War Castle, Secaucus, NJ, 1984, ISBN 0-89009-575-2.
- Silverstone, Paul H. Warships of the Civil War Navies Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1989, ISBN 0-87021-783-6.
- ^ Silverstone, Warships, p. 27.
- ^ Silverstone, Warships, p. 27.
- ^ Silverstone, Warships, p. 27.
- ^ Silverstone, Warships, p. 27.
- ^ Silverstone, Warships, p. 27.
- ^ "The Italian States". The Morning Chronicle. No. 28788. London. 18 April 1859.
- ^ Ashcraft, Jenny (7 February 2024). "The Great Expedition Encounters a Hurricane". fold3. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
On October 29, 1861, the Naval fleet assembled at Hampton Roads. They set sail arranged in three parallel lines, each following another at about a half-mile distance. The USS Wabash took the lead as flagship. USS Wabash, flagship during the Great Expedition The Expedition enjoyed calm seas and light winds for the first few days. However, a tropical storm churning off the tip of Florida was climbing the eastern seaboard and had developed into a hurricane. On November 1, while rounding Cape Hatteras, the winds intensified and increased to a gale. Heavy seas caused the orderly columns of ships to disassemble, and the fleet scattered. One sailor aboard the Wabash described water crashing over the gunboats and side-wheel steamers lurching so ferociously that their paddles revolved in the air. Throughout the night, timbers creaked and groaned as the ships rolled and pitched in the storm. Onboard the steamer Winfield Scott, 500 soldiers from the 50th Pennsylvania fought to keep the ship afloat as waves battered it. The masts broke, and a huge seam opened onboard the vessel, allowing torrents of ocean water to spill in. The soldiers worked feverishly to pump out the water, throwing anything with extra weight overboard, including their guns, knapsacks, and overcoats. Reading Times: November 19, 1861 Another ship, the Bienville, tried to come to the rescue, but the engineer and several crew members from the Winfield Scott abandoned their posts and leaped into the rescue boat, which was then swamped. Miraculously, the Winfield Scott survived the storm and was towed to safety by the steamer Vanderbilt. The SS Governor sank during the storm, but in a daring rescue by the USS Isaac Smith and the USS Sabine, all but seven of the nearly 700 men were saved before the ship went down. On November 4, the battered ships began to assemble outside the Port Royal Sound. On November 7, the Battle of Port Royal began, and despite its weather-worn fleet, Union forces took control of Fort Wagner and Fort Beauregard, and Confederate forces retreated. Union forces then established a base of operations to support the Union blockade of Confederate ports.
- ^ Silverstone, Warships, p. 27.
- ^ Silverstone, Warships, p. 27.
- ^ Porter, Naval History, p. 843.
- ^ Porter, Naval History, p. 843.
- ^ Porter, Naval History, p. 843.
- ^ Porter, Naval History, p. 843.
- ^ Porter, Naval History, p. 843.
- ^ Porter, Naval History, p. 843.
- ^ The Artilleryman magazine (Historical Publications, Inc., Tunbridge, VT.), Vol. 32 No. 1 Winter 2010
- ^ The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon. By Edwin Olmstead, Wayne E. Stark & Spencer C. Tucker. Museum Restoration Service, Bloomfield, Canada, 1997.
External links
- The Steam Frigate USS Wabash
- Pictures of USS Wabash
- Letter from Henry Goulton on board USS Wabash to his mother – 25 January 1859
- USS Wabash (1856–1912)
- Admiral DuPont and staff Deck of U.S.S. Wabash.
- USS Wabash Musicians
- Deck of the USS Wabash
- USS Wabash After pivot gun. X in. Dahlgren
- USS Wabash Forward pivot gun Officers and sailors
- USS Wabash Forward pivot gun. 200 pdr Parrott
- U.S.S. Wabash Horizontal Steeple Engines
- U.S.S. Wabash Horizontal Steeple Engines
- The Egotistigraphy, by John Sanford Barnes. An autobiography, including his Civil War Union Navy service on USS Wabash, privately printed 1910. Internet edition edited by Susan Bainbridge Hay 2012
- Letterbook of the U.S.S. Wabash, 1857, MS 158 held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy