USS Pensacola (1859)

Last updated
USS Pensacola.jpg
Pensacola in Alexandria, Virginia, 1861
History
US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg US flag 34 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Pensacola
Builder Pensacola Navy Yard, completed at Washington Navy Yard
Launched15 August 1859
Commissioned5 December 1859
Decommissioned31 January 1860
Recommissioned16 September 1861
Decommissioned29 April 1864
Recommissioned16 August 1866
Decommissioned23 May 1884
Recommissioned16 August 1866
Decommissioned23 May 1884
Recommissioned4 April 1885
Decommissioned18 April 1892
Recommissioned22 November 1898
Decommissioned31 May 1899
Recommissioned14 July 1901
Decommissioned6 December 1911
Stricken23 December 1911
FateBurned and sunk May 1912
General characteristics
Type Screw steamer
Tonnage3000
Length230 ft 5 in (70.23 m)
Beam44 ft 5 in (13.54 m)
Draft18 ft 7 in (5.66 m)
Propulsion Steam engine and sail
Speed9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)
Armament
  • 1871
  • 2 × 11 in (280 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore gun
  • 18 × 9 in (230 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore guns
  • 2 × 60-pounder muzzle-loading rifles [1]
USS Pensacola at Alexandria, Virginia, in 1886. USS Pensacola (1859).jpg
USS Pensacola at Alexandria, Virginia, in 1886.

The first USS Pensacola was a screw steamer that served in the United States Navy during the U.S. Civil War.

Contents

Construction and commissioning

Pensacola was launched by the Pensacola Navy Yard on August 15, 1859, and commissioned there on December 5, 1859, for towing to Washington Navy Yard for installation of machinery. She was decommissioned January 31, 1860, and commissioned in full on September 16, 1861, Captain Henry W. Morris in command.

Service history

Civil War, 18621864

Pensacola departed Alexandria, Virginia on January 11, 1862, for the Gulf of Mexico to join Admiral David Farragut's newly created West Gulf Blockading Squadron. She steamed with that fleet in the historic dash past Confederate Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson which protected New Orleans, Louisiana on April 24. The next day, Pensacola engaged batteries below that great Confederate metropolis. On April 26, a landing party of Marines raised the United States flag over the mint at New Orleans. Four of her sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for their part in the battle: Boy Thomas Flood, Seaman Thomas Lyons, Captain of the Foretop James McLeod, and Quartermaster Louis Richards. [2] [3]

During the next two years, she helped guard the lower Mississippi River, returning to New York Navy Yard where she decommissioned April 29, 1864, for the installation of new and improved machinery originally intended for the cancelled sloop-of-war USS Wanaloset.

Pacific Squadron, 18661884

Recommissioned August 16, 1866, Pensacola sailed around Cape Horn to join the Pacific Squadron, serving from time to time as flagship. Her cruising ranged from Chile to Puget Sound and west to Hawaii. While in the harbor of Coquimbo, Chile, on 30 July 1873, Ordinary Seaman Patrick Regan jumped overboard and rescued a drowning shipmate, for which he was later awarded the Medal of Honor. [4] But for two periods in ordinary, February 15, 1870 to October 14, 1871, and December 31, 1873 to July 13, 1874, Pensacola continued this duty until detached from the Pacific squadron in June 1883. Departing Callao, Peru on July 18, she sailed west across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, transited the Suez Canal, and steamed the length of the Mediterranean Sea before crossing the Atlantic to arrive in Hampton Roads on May 4, 1884. She decommissioned at Norfolk, Virginia on May 23.

Atlantic and Pacific, 18851892

Recommissioned April 4, 1885, Pensacola, under the command of then Captain George Dewey, operated in European waters until returning to Norfolk in February 1888 for repairs.[ citation needed ] On April 7, 1889, she sank at Portsmouth Navy Yard when a drydock was inundated during a storm. [5] Operations along the Atlantic Coast and a cruise along the coast of Africa ended when the ship returned to New York in May 1890. In August she headed back to familiar haunts in the Pacific, arriving in San Francisco on August 10, 1891. Following a visit to Hawaii, she decommissioned at Mare Island on April 18, 1892.

Training and receiving ship, 18981911

Recommissioned on November 22, 1898, Pensacola served as a training ship for Naval apprentices until going back into ordinary on May 31, 1899. She was back in commission July 14, 1901, subsequently used as receiving ship at Yerba Buena Training Station, San Francisco until finally decommissioning on December 6, 1911, and struck from the Navy Register on December 23. She was burned and sunk by the Navy in San Francisco Bay near Hunters Point early in May 1912.

See also

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Brooklyn</i> (1858) Sloops-of-war of the United States Navy

USS Brooklyn was a sloop-of-war authorized by the U.S. Congress and commissioned in 1859. Brooklyn was active in Caribbean operations until the start of the American Civil War at which time she became an active participant in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.

USS <i>Minnesota</i> (1855) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Minnesota was a wooden steam frigate in the United States Navy. Launched in 1855 and commissioned eighteen months later, the ship served in east Asia for two years before being decommissioned. She was recommissioned at the outbreak of the American Civil War and returned to service as the flagship of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

USS <i>Franklin</i> (1864)

The fourth USS Franklin was a United States Navy screw frigate. The ship was launched in 1864, partially constructed from parts of the previous USS Franklin. Commissioned in 1867, Franklin, named after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, served as the flagship of the European Squadron from 1867 to 1868 and from 1869 to 1871. She was decommissioned in 1871. Recommissioned in 1873, she joined the North Atlantic Squadron and served until 1877, when she was decommissioned again, then immediately recommissioned for use as a receiving ship at Norfolk, Virginia. She served in this capacity until 1915, when she was stricken and sold.

USS <i>Rhode Island</i> (1860) Gunboat of the United States Navy

The first USS Rhode Island was a side-wheel steamer in the United States Navy, commissioned in 1861.

USS <i>Marion</i> Sloops-of-war of the United States Navy

USS Marion was a sloop-of-war of the third rate in the Union Navy during the American Civil War launched at the Boston Navy Yard on 24 April 1839. On 10 November 1839, she departed Boston on her first cruise, to Brazil. Sunk when heaved down in the harbor at Rio de Janeiro early in 1842, she was raised and sailed back to Boston, arriving in May. She then set sail for the Caribbean, returning in May 1843. For the next few years, she remained in ordinary at Boston and then cruised off the West Coast of Africa and in the Mediterranean until 1848. She captured the Casket, a slaver, near Cabinda on 2 August 1846. After a tour in the East Indies from 1850 to 1852, she resumed operations with the African Squadron from 1853 to 1855 and 1858-60, capturing three more slaving ships: Brothers off Mayumba on 8 September 1858 and Orion and Ardennes in late April 1859 off the coast of Kongo. 1856-57 was spent in ordinary at Norfolk.

USS <i>Hartford</i> (1858) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Hartford, a sloop-of-war steamer, was the first ship of the United States Navy named for Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. Hartford served in several prominent campaigns in the American Civil War as the flagship of David G. Farragut, most notably the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864. She survived until 1956, when she sank awaiting restoration at Norfolk, Virginia.

USS <i>Mississippi</i> (1841) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Mississippi, a paddle frigate, was the first ship of the United States Navy to bear that name. She was named for the Mississippi River. Her sister ship was Missouri. Her keel was laid down by the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1839; built under the personal supervision of Commodore Matthew Perry. She was commissioned on 22 December 1841, with Captain W. D. Salter in command and launched several weeks later.

USS <i>Wabash</i> (1855) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Wabash was a steam screw frigate of the United States Navy that served during the American Civil War. She was based on the same plans as Colorado. Post-war she continued to serve her country in European operations and eventually served as a barracks ship in Boston, Massachusetts, and was sold in 1912.

USS <i>Tacony</i> (1863) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Tacony was a double-ended, side-wheel steamboat acquired by the Union Navy during the third year of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a heavy gunboat with powerful guns and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.

USS <i>Lancaster</i> (1858) Sloops-of-war of the United States Navy

The first USS Lancaster was a screw sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War through the Spanish–American War.

USS <i>Richmond</i> (1860) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Richmond was a wooden steam sloop in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Lackawanna</i> (1862) Sloops-of-war of the United States Navy

The first USS Lackawanna was a screw-propelled sloop-of-war in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was named after the Lackawanna River in Pennsylvania.

USS <i>Iroquois</i> (1859) War ship

The first USS Iroquois was a Mohican-class sloop of war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Ossipee</i> (1861) Gunboat of the United States Navy

The first USS Ossipee was a wooden, screw sloop-of-war in commission in the United States Navy at various times between 1861 and 1889. She served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the Ossipee River of New Hampshire and Maine. The USS Ossipee was present during the Alaska Purchase.

USS <i>Narragansett</i> (1859) Gunboat of the United States Navy

The first USS Narragansett was a 2nd class screw sloop in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Narragansett was built at the Boston Navy Yard, launched on 15 February 1859, and commissioned on 6 November 1859.

USS <i>Jamestown</i> (1844) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

The first USS Jamestown was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.

USS <i>Kansas</i> (1863) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Kansas was a gunboat constructed for the Union Navy during the middle of the American Civil War. She was outfitted with heavy guns and assigned to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America. She was the first U.S. Navy ship to be named Kansas and was the first of a class of 836-ton screw steam gunboats. At war's end, she continued serving her country by performing survey work and defending American interests in Cuba until sold in 1883.

USS <i>Wachusett</i> (1861) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Wachusett – the first U.S. Navy ship to be so named – was a large (1,032-ton), Mohican-class steam sloop-of-war that served the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat and used by the Navy as part of the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.

USS <i>Swatara</i> (1873)

As part of the Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson's plans to overhaul and modernize ships of the Navy, the first USS Swatara was taken to the New York Navy Yard in 1872, ostensibly for "repairs". In fact, the "repairs" constituted construction of a new ship, for Swatara was given a new hull and unused machinery which had been in storage since 1865. Embodying only certain fittings and equipment from the first ship, the second Swatara was launched on 17 September 1873 at the New York Navy Yard and commissioned on 11 May 1874, Capt. Ralph Chandler in command.

USS <i>Fortune</i> (1865) Tugboat of the United States Navy

USS Fortune was a steam-powered tugboat that served in the United States Navy intermittently from 1871 to 1922. Built in 1865, she was the first ship so named. Fortune was classified as YT-11 on 17 July 1920. Through her lengthy career, she served as a harbor tug, fireboat, cargo transport, training ship, and submarine tender, among other duties.

References

  1. Harley, Simon. "U.S.S. Pensacola (1859)". dreadnoughtproject.org. The Dreadnought Project. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  2. "Medal of Honor Recipients - A–L". Medal of Honor Citations. United States Army Center of Military History. 26 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  3. "Medal of Honor Recipients - M–Z". Medal of Honor Citations. United States Army Center of Military History. 26 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  4. "Medal of Honor Recipients - Interim Awards, 1871–1898". Medal of Honor Citations. United States Army Center of Military History. August 3, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  5. "The United States". The Times. No. 32668. London. 9 April 1889. col C, p. 5.

See also