River Gunboats
Page 57
Tinclads
‘Tinclads’ was the name given to the shallow-draught gunboats intended to patrol the Mississippi and its tributaries, backing up the three timberclads and releasing the large ironclads for more hazardous work. The tinclads were not actually protected with tin plating: this referred to the thinness of their protection, usually timber boards with bulletproof plating around the upper decks. Iron sheets up to 25mm thick were often placed around the front of the casemate, the machinery and pilot house.
The vessels chosen were selected for their light draught, and were usually around 200 tons displacement. Average length was 150ft (45.7m), and many of them were armed with up three 12-pounder or 24-pounder howitzers on the broadside, with two larger-calibre guns, 32-pounder smoothbores or 30-pounder rifles, up front. Although the tinclads could not stand up to an ironclad, a shore battery or even a battery of field artillery, they carried out valuable patrol work, and were often used to transport troops.
By August 1862, the first tinclads were patrolling the Ohio and the Tennessee Rivers, to dissuade guerrilla activity, and a total of sixty-nine would eventually be built.
USS Black Hawk
USS Black Hawk, originally commissioned as USS New Uncle Sam, was equipped with powerful pumps to aid in raising sunken vessels. Used as flagship for most of her career, she took part in the Red River Expedition, and afterwards patrolled the Mississippi and its tributaries. She caught fire and sank on 22 April 1865 three miles north of Cairo. Her wreck was raised and sold at St Louis in April 1867.
The large tinclad USS Black Hawk, converted from a luxury riverboat, and flagship successively of Rear Admirals Porter and Lee. (US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 499)
Launched:
1848 as Uncle Sam at New Albany; purchased 24 November 1862.
Dimensions:
Displ: 902 tons; L: 79.2m/260ft; B: 13.87m/45ft 6in; D: 2.44m/8ft.
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; steam engines.
Guns/Armour:
4 × 32-pounders; 2 × 30-pounder rifles; 1 × 12-pounder rifle; 1 × 12-pounder SB.
Fate:
Sunk 22 April 1865; wreck raised and sold St Louis April 1867.
USS Ouachita
Tinclad USS Ouachita. (US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 49986)
Rubberclads
With her near sister-ship USS Choctaw, the Lafayette was notable in being protected by sheets of rubber. During the run downriver past Vicksburg, the Confederate batteries put no less than nine shots through her casemate protection. In addition, it was discovered that shot which failed to penetrate had the disconcerting habit of rebounding off the rubber sheeting, causing a hazard to friendly vessels in close formation. It was therefore decided to cover the rubber sheets with iron plating.
One night in August 1864 Confederate engineers attempted to sink Lafayette with a floating mine disguised to look like a piece of driftwood. Fortunately lookouts on board Lafayette detected it in time and it was deflected away from the ironclad. Laid up on 22 May 1865, concerns about Confederate forces being reluctant to adhere to the surrender caused her to be recommissioned. Lafayette accepted the surrender of CSS Missouri on 3 June 1865 and escorted her down the Red River.
USS Lafayette. (US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 2739)
Launched:
1848 in St. Louis, Missouri, as Aleck Scott. Purchased 18 May 1862.
Dimensions:
Displ: 1,193 tons; L: 85.3m/280ft; B: 13.7m/45ft; D: 2.7m/9ft.
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; steam engines/4 knots.
Guns/Armour:
Originally: 2 × 11in Dahlgren SB; 4 × 9in Dahlgren SB; 2 × 100-pounder Parrott rifles. From 20 April 1863: + 4 × 24-pounder howitzers. From 9 May 1863: 2 × 11in Dahlgren SB; 2 × 9in Dahlgren SB; 2 × 100-pounder Parrott rifles; 2 × 24-pounder howitzers; 2 × 12-pounder howitzers/50mm rubber sheets + 63mm iron plating.
Fate:
Sold 28 March 1866 at New Orleans.
Rams
On 10 May 1862 a flotilla of Confederate rams had defeated the Union gunboat fleet at Plum Point Bend in Tennessee. To counter the Confederate flotilla, Colonel Ellet purchased tow-boats and converted them into rams. The basic requirements were a fair turn of speed, and handiness, both always essential in a ram ship. To resist the shock of deliberate collisions it would have been judicious to reinforce the fastenings securing boilers and machinery. At first they went into combat armed with only their iron ram, no guns being carried. In their first action on 7 June 1862, the Union rams were crucial in defeating the Confederate rams at the battle of Memphis, which led to the fall of the city.
The Union rams were named Lancaster, Monarch, Queen of the West, Switzerland, Lioness, Mingo, Samson, Fulton and T D Horner. They were operated by the US Army and never became navy ships. Lancaster, badly damaged by ironclad Arkansas, was sunk by Confederate batteries when trying to pass Vicksburg, and Queen of the West was disabled by the guns of Fort de Russy and captured. Part of the Queen’s protection in Union service was provided by cotton bales – similar to the protection used on Confederate vessels – and when she was captured, several of her crew members attempted to float to safety on cotton bales they had thrown overboard.
US ram Switzerland, after having been armed with guns. What appears to be her ram is in fact a reflection of her bow. Her iron spur is underwater and therefore not visible in the photo.
Launched:
1854 in Cincinnati, Ohio as towboat. Converted to ram in 1862.
Dimensions:
Displ: 257 tons; L: 53.6m/176ft.
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; steam engines.
Guns/Armour:
Originally armed only with iron ram/Protected with timber, and cotton bales. Later given several guns.
Fate:
Sold October 1865 and in commercial use up to 1870.
Dummy Ironclads
At least one and possibly two were built on the order of Commodore Perry, based on a coal barge. Funnels built from pork barrels contained burning oil pots to simulate boiler smoke and logs painted black stood in for gun barrels. Porter wrote that he intended to use them to draw fire to give away the positions of Confederate artillery batteries. In the following illustration, the appearance of the dummy ironclad was given as the reason the Confederates scuttled the captured USS Indianola. (In spite of the massive detonation shown, the Indianola was still intact enough to be salvaged later by the Union Navy). These dummy ironclads may have been the inspiration for the Austro-Hungarian dummy ironclad of the Maros class used on the Danube half a century later, which would also be intended to make enemy batteries unmask themselves.
An illustration showing ‘Bache’s Quaker’, Porter’s first dummy ironclad, drifting down river on the left. Confederate gunboats including Webb and the captured Queen of the West withdraw before the supposed threat. (US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59105)
Captured Confederate Gunboats
USS Albemarle
The former CSS Albemarle, sunk by Lieutenant Cushing with a spar torpedo. For details, see CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. After salvage she was purchased by the US Navy.
USS Atlanta
SS Fingal was an iron-hulled, schooner-rigged screw steamship used as a blockade runner. In 1862 she was converted to an ironclad ram and renamed CSS Atlanta. Her iron hull was cut down to the main deck, and wooden sponsons were added to carry her iron protection, a conversion which resulted in serious leakages. She ran aground and was forced to surrender to USS Weehawken on 17 June 1863, and was taken into Union service as USS Atlanta. Sold off in 1869, she was resold to Haiti and renamed Triumfo, but was lost without trace en route to Haiti.
Photo of Albemarle in Norfolk Naval Yard after her salvage. Note the two lady visitors who give scale to the vessel, what may be the salvage strops still attached around her hull, the displaced casemate corner, and her replaced funnel, missing
from a photo of the wreck on the river bottom. (US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo)
An official drawing of Albemarle made after her salvage. Note that the drawing is at variance with all other illustrations of her, notably in the position of the armoured pilot house which is set at the top of the front glacis, and also in the provision of gunports at the forward and rear angles. As photos of her sunk and then salvaged show the original pilot house to be missing, and sections of her armour protection displaced, this may have been a proposal for an intended rebuild by the US Navy. The drawing is informative in that it shows the internal structure reinforcing her ram, and also the pivoting slides for her two guns which enabled them to use any one of the ports forward or aft. (US Naval History & Heritage Command photo No NH 76384)
USS Atlanta, the ex-CSS Atlanta, on the James River. The pole projecting from the bow is a spar torpedo. (Photo by Mathew Brady, in the National Archives and Records Administration, Still Pictures Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S)
USS Atlanta in drydock. Note her original iron hull resting on the drydock floor, and the unusual extension to support her armour, with its false bow and side sponsons. (Photo Mariners Museum, Newport News)
Launched:
1861 as SS Fingal, by James & George Thompson, Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard, Glasgow. Converted to ironclad ram 1862 by Asa & Nelson Tift, Savannah.
Dimensions:
Displ: 1,006 tons; L: 62.2m/204ft; B: 12.5m/41ft; D: 4.8m/15ft 9in.
Crew:
136.
Power/Speed:
As ironclad: twin screws; 2 × vertical steam engines/7–10 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 7in Brooke rifles; 2 × 150-pounder rifle; 2 × 100-pounder SB/Casemate 4in; Deck: half inch; Hull: 2in; Pilot house: 4in.
Fate:
Lost at sea December 1869.
USS Eastport
The steamer C E Hillman was undergoing conversion into a Confederate ironclad at Cerro Gordo, when she was captured by Union gunboats Tyler, Conestoga and Lexington. She was subsequently completed at Cairo, Illinois as an ironclad ram for the Union Army, under the name of Eastport (USS Eastport on transfer of the flotilla to the Navy). Completed in August 1862, she had to be reconstructed two months later as her armour and armament had strained her hull. Two of her original 9in Dahlgrens were removed at this time.
Porter’s decision to send the large ironclad Eastport up the Red River on the ill-fated expedition was motivated by the fact that he knew the Confederates had three warships at Shreveport, the ironclad CSS Missouri, the gunboat Cotton and the ram Webb. During the opening moves, Eastport used her wrought-iron ram to weaken the wooden barrage across the lower reach of the Red River, then pulled the loosened piles from the river bed with a 9in hawser. Later, however, during the retreat to Alexandria, Eastport struck a mine below Grand Ecore on 15 May 1864. She was pumped dry and repaired. However, as the river level continued to fall, she grounded eight more times in five days. On 26 April she was blown up to avoid capture.
Just after the end of the Civil War, the Federal transport Edward F Dix was carrying US cavalry to Shreveport when she collided with the submerged wreck of Eastport. The wooden transport had a gash torn in her hull by the iron casemate of Eastport, and sank on top of the ironclad. Both wrecks were investigated by the Corps of Engineers in 1995.
Launhed:
Captured on 7 February 1862, converted August 1862.
Dimensions:
Displ: 700 + tons; L: 70.1m/230ft (some sources give 85.3m/280ft); B: 13.1m/43ft; D: 1.9m/6ft 3in.
Crew:
Approx. 150.
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; steam engines/9 knots.
Guns/Armour:
6 × 9in Dahlgren SB (later 4 only); 2 × 100-pounder Parrott rifles; 2 × 50-pounder Parrott rifles/Probably 51mm on the casemate.
Fate:
Destroyed in the Red River by her own crew 26 April 1864.
USS Eastport.
USS General Sterling Price
The former CSS General Sterling Price. For details, see CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. Sunk during the battle of Memphis, General Sterling Price was raised by the Union Army and commissioned as an Army ram. On 30 September 1862 she was transferred to the Navy. She saw a great deal of action in Union hands, including participation in the ill-fated Red River expedition, before being decommissioned at Mound City on 24 July 1865 and sold the following October.
USS Selma
The former CSS Selma. For details, see CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. During the Battle of Mobile Bay, CSS Selma was forced to surrender to the USS Metacomet, a 1,173-ton Sassacus class ‘double-ender’ gunboat. She was quickly put into US Navy service as USS Selma, and served up until 16 July 1865 when she was sold at New Orleans. Recertified for merchant use the following month, SS Selma sank off the mouth of the Brazos River on 24 June 1868.
USS Teaser
The former CSS Teaser. For details, see CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. After her capture and repair, she became the USS Teaser, assigned to the Potomac. In April 1863 she ran aground in the Namsemond River and suffered damage. Decommissioned on 2 June 1865, she was sold the same month and re-registered as a tug under her original name York River, working commercially up until 1878.
USS Texas
The former CSS Texas. For details, see CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.
CHINA GUNBOATS
USS Wachusett
On 5 March 1865 Wachusett left for the East Indies to join in the search for the Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah. While in Chinese waters her crew joined in efforts to track down pirates who were attacking American interests, and in mid-August 1866 she sailed some 600 miles (over 1,000km) up the Yangtze to Hankow, in order to promote trade. Several members of the crew succumbed to heatstroke in the 42° summer heat, including her captain, Commander Robert Townsend. Executive Officer John Woodward Philip, took command and returned the ship down river. Wachusett left China in 1867, and served in the Navy for a further twenty years.
USS Wachusett in 1867. ((US Naval History and Heritage Command photo)
Launched:
10 October 1861 by Boston Navy Yard.
Dimensions:
Displ: 1,032 tons; L: 61.3m/201ft 4in; B: 10.3m/33ft 11in; D: 4.26m/14ft.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; steam engine/11.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 11in Dahlgren SB; 2 × 30-pounder Parrott rifles; 1 × 20-pounder Parrott rifle; 4 × 32-pounder SB; 1 × 12-pounder rifle.
Fate:
Sold 30 July 1887.
USS Ashuelot
Ashuelot joined the Asiatic Squadron on 15 January 1867 at Hong Kong, and would spend the whole of the rest of her service life on this station. Profiting from her shallow draught and double-ended configuration, she was used more frequently on riverine missions, such as the ascent to Tientsin in June 1870 to investigate the murder of twenty-two Europeans, including ten nuns. In May 1874 she ascended the Yangtze as far as Ichang, trailblazing for the gunboats of the Yangtze Patrol which would follow her. She met her end in fog before dawn on 18 February 1883 on a voyage from Amoy to Swatow, when she hit a rock off East Lamock Island.
Double-ender USS Ashuelot in the spring of 1874. (US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 43838)
Launched:
22 July 1865 by Donald McKay Shipyard, East Boston.
Dimensions:
Displ: 1,370 tons; L: 77.7m/255ft; B: 11m/36ft; D: 2.74m/9ft.
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; steam engines/8 knots.
Guns/Armour:
4 × 8in Dahlgren SB; 2 × 60-pounder Parrott rifles; 2 × 24-pounder howitzers; 2 × 20-pounder Parrott rifles.
Fate:
Wrecked 18 February 1883.
USS Monocacy
The first USS Monocacy, a side-wheel double-ended gunboat, took part in the opening-up of Japan. On 23 March 1871 her crew began charting the Yangtze River
. Then after seeing action in Korean waters, they resumed their survey work in September. By 4 February 1872 she was at Shanghai. Between 23 October and 11 November 1899 she carried the US Minister to China on visits to ports on the Yangtze. After participating in the suppression of the Boxer Uprising, she was sold for scrap at Nagasaki.
USS Monocacy in the Pei-Ho River, Tientsin, China, circa 1902. (US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 100314)
Launched:
14 December 1864 by A 1 W Denmead & Son, Baltimore.
Dimensions:
Displ: 1,370 tons; L: 80.77m/265ft; B: 10.7m/35ft; D: 2.74m/9ft.
Crew:
159.
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; steam engines/11.2 knots.
Guns/Armour:
Original: 2 × 100-pounder Parrott rifles; 4 × 9in Dahlgren SB; 2 × 24-pounder howitzers; 1 × 12-pounder rifle; 1 × 12-pounder SB. Later reduced to just 6 guns, calibres not recorded.
Fate:
Sold 22 June 1903.
USS Palos
The first USS Palos was an iron screw tug which entered service at the Boston Naval Yard in 1866. Laid up in 1869, she was converted to a gunboat for the Asiatic Station. She visited Japanese and Chinese ports, and sailed the Yangtze, once reaching Hankow, 600 miles (960km) from the sea. She was withdrawn from service in 1892.
Launched:
1865 by James Tetlow, Chelsea, Mass.
Dimensions:
Displ: 420 tons; L: 41.8m/137ft; B: 7.9m/26ft; D: 3m/9ft 10in.