USS Fort Hindman photographed during her Civil War service on the Western Rivers. | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Fort Hindman |
Namesake | A fortification in the Arkansas River near Saint Charles, captured from the Confederates in January 1863. |
Ordered | as James Thompson |
Yard number | Tinclad #13 |
Laid down | date unknown |
Launched | in 1862 at Jeffersonville, Indiana |
Acquired | 14 March 1863 |
Commissioned | circa 14 March 1863 |
Decommissioned | 3 August 1865 at Mound City, Illinois |
Stricken | 1865 (est.) |
Fate | Sold 17 August 1865 |
Notes | Renamed James Thompson and remained in use until about 1874 |
General characteristics | |
Type | river gunboat |
Displacement | 286 tons |
Length | 150 ft (46 m) |
Beam | 37 ft (11 m) |
Draught | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | not known |
Complement | not known |
Armament |
|
Armor | tinclad |
USS Fort Hindman was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was placed in service and used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
Fort Hindman, a side wheel steamer, was purchased 14 March 1863 as James Thompson; she was converted into a river gunboat by the addition of timber bulwarks and thin iron plate: a style of warship commonly referred to as a "tinclad". She joined the Mississippi Squadron in April 1863, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Thomas O. Selfridge Jr. in command; was renamed Manitou 23 March 1863; and renamed Fort Hindman 8 November 1863. The USS Fort Hindman was designed to patrol in shallow waters and small tributaries where heavier ironclads could not enter. Her light armor was only intended to stop small arms fire.
In July 1863, the steamer headed an expedition up the Little Red River, a tributary of the Black River, and captured quantities of ordnance and Confederate Government provisions, as well as the heavier Federal ironclad Louisville.
She continued to patrol the central Mississippi River and its tributaries, taking a Confederate merchantman prize in the Red River 1 March, engaging Confederate sharpshooters and a battery ashore in the Black and later that day in the Ouachita River. During the expedition, Fort Hindman transported troops and prisoners of war, over and over again engaged Confederate batteries, and took part in the passage of the falls off Alexandria, Louisiana, on 8 May.
Moving to a more southerly patrol area, Fort Hindman operated in the rivers and bayous of Louisiana, occasionally returning to Natchez, Mississippi.
She arrived at Mound City, Illinois, 1 August 1865. There she was decommissioned 3 August 1865, and sold 17 August 1865.
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USS Glide was a sternwheel steamer that served as a tinclad warship during the American Civil War. Built in 1862, she was purchased for military service late that year by the Union Navy. After being converted to a tinclad and armed with six 24-pounder Dahlgren guns, she entered service with the Mississippi River Squadron in early January 1863. Later that month, she saw action in the Battle of Arkansas Post, firing on Confederate-held Fort Hindman. Sent the next month to Cairo, Illinois, for repairs, Glide was destroyed in a fire of uncertain origin on February 7.
USS Marmora was a sternwheel steamer that served in the Union Navy from 1862 to 1865, during the American Civil War. She was built in 1862 at Monongahela, Pennsylvania, as a civilian vessel. She was purchased for military service on September 17 and converted into a tinclad warship. Commissioned on October 21, the vessel served on the Yazoo River beginning the next month. She encountered Confederate naval mines on the Yazoo on December 11, and was present the next day when the ironclad USS Cairo was sunk by two mines. After further service on the Yazoo during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou in late December, Marmora was assigned in January 1863 to a fleet that was preparing to operate against Confederate Fort Hindman, but was not present when the fort surrendered on January 11.
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USS Romeo was a sternwheel steamer that saw service as a tinclad warship during the American Civil War. Completed in August 1862 for civilian trade on the Wabash River, she was instead purchased by the Union Navy for military service in October. Commissioned in December, she cleared naval mines on the Yazoo River later that month before participating in the operations against Confederate-held Fort Hindman in January 1863. After the fall of Fort Hindman, Romeo was part of an expedition up the White River. In February and March 1863, she was part of the Yazoo Pass Expedition, and she fought with Confederates at river landings later in the year to help isolate Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Vicksburg campaign.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.