USS Laurel

Last updated
History
US flag 34 stars.svgUnited States
NameErebus
Operator United States Army
Launched1862
Completed1862
Acquired1862
FateTransferred to U.S. Navy 30 August 1862
History
US flag 34 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Laurel
Operator United States Navy
Acquired30 August 1862
Commissioned19 October 1862
Decommissioned12 August 1865
FateSold 17 August 1865
General characteristics
Type Tug
Tonnage50 tons
Length60 ft (18 m) [1]
Beam14 ft (4.3 m) [1]
Draft6 ft (1.8 m)
Propulsion Screw steamer
Speed5 knots
Armamentnone

USS Laurel was a screw tug in commission in the United States Navy from 1862 to 1865. She saw service in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Prior to her U.S. Navy service, she served as the United States Army tug Erebus.

Contents

Construction and U.S. Army service

The tug was built for the U.S. Army in 1862 at St. Louis, Missouri, as Erebus for Union Army service. She entered service early in 1862. On 14 April 1862, she accidentally burned to the waterline on the Mississippi River and sank within a half-mile (0.8 km) of Craighead Point, 3,800 yards (3,475 meters) above Fort Pillow, Tennessee. Her crew was rescued, and she was refloated, repaired, and returned to service. [1]

U.S. Navy service

Erebus was transferred from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Navy on 30 August or 30 September 1862 [1] (sources disagree) and renamed USS Laurel on 19 October 1862. She operated on the Mississippi River for the remainder of the American Civil War, supporting operations of both the Union Army and U.S. Navy.

After the war ended in 1865, Laurel assisted in the demobilization of the Mississippi Squadron before decommissioning at Mound City, Illinois, on 12 August 1865. She was sold at auction there to Sol. A. Silver on 17 August 1865. Documented as for commercial service as Laurel on 2 January 1867, she remained in service until abandoned in 1903.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Choctaw</i> (1856) Union gunboat and ram

USS Choctaw was a large (1,004-ton) steamer built for the merchant service, but acquired by the Union Navy during the second year of the American Civil War.

USS <i>Carondelet</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Carondelet (1861) was a City-class ironclad gunboat constructed for the War Department by James B. Eads during the American Civil War. It was named for the town where it was built, Carondelet, Missouri.

USS <i>Cairo</i> American Civil War ironclad warship

USS Cairo is the lead ship of the City-class casemate ironclads built at the beginning of the American Civil War to serve as river gunboats.

USS <i>Monarch</i>

USS Monarch was a United States Army sidewheel ram that saw service in the American Civil War as part of the United States Ram Fleet and the Mississippi Marine Brigade. She operated on the Mississippi River and Yazoo River during 1862 and 1863.

USS Curlew was a Union Navy stern-wheel steamer that saw service during the American Civil War. Built in 1862 in Pennsylvania as a civilian vessel, she was purchased by the Union Navy on December 17, 1862. Converted into a tinclad gunboat, she saw service from 1863 to 1865, often serving on the Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Tennessee River. In May 1863, she was involved in a minor action against Confederate forces on the Mississippi River off of the shore of Arkansas. July saw Curlew take part in an expedition up the Red River of the South, the Tensas River, the Black River, and the Ouachita River that captured two steamers and destroyed two more and a sawmill. On May 24, 1864, she dueled with Pratt's Texas Battery while on the Mississippi River, and on November 4 of that same year, was near the action of the Battle of Johnsonville but was unable to join the fighting. Decommissioned on June 5, 1865, she was sold in mid-August and her further career is unknown.

USS <i>Samson</i> Tugboat of the United States Navy

USS Samson was a steamer acquired by the Union Army at the start of the American Civil War for usage in the United States Ram Fleet in the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

USS <i>Dahlia</i> American Civil War-era tugboat

USS Dahlia was a paddle-wheel tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War. Dahlia was assigned to the Mississippi River area to provide tug and other services to Union ships requiring assistance.

USS Yankee was a steam-powered side-wheel tugboat acquired by the Union Navy just prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War.

The USS T. D. Horner was a stern-wheel steamer built in 1859 at Brownsville, Pennsylvania and was part of Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr.'s United States Ram Fleet during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Daisy</i> (1850) Tugboat of the United States Navy

USS Daisy was a tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy and to assist Union Navy ships requiring her towing services.

USS <i>Calhoun</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Calhoun was a captured Confederate steamer and blockade runner acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War.

USS <i>General Lyon</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS General Lyon, originally the De Soto, was recaptured from the Confederate States of America and renamed USS De Soto, and then USS General Lyon, after Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon.

The first USS Thistle was a Union Army steamer acquired by the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

USS Patroon was a screw steamer acquired by the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The Union Navy used her to patrol off the coast of the Confederate States of America to enforce the Union blockade.

USS <i>O. M. Pettit</i> Tugboat of the United States Navy

USS O. M. Pettit was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy as a tugboat to service Union Navy ships blockading ports of the Confederate States of America.

USS Rose was a screw steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

USS Hyacinth was a steamer acquired by the Union during the American Civil War. She was placed into service as a tugboat, a dispatch boat, as well as a gunboat, by the Union Army and by the Union Navy.

USS Nettle was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy from the Union Army during the American Civil War.

USS Pansy was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy from the Union Army during the American Civil War. She served the Navy as a tugboat and as a dispatch boat.

USS <i>Sumter</i> (1862) 525-ton sidewheel paddle streamer

USS Sumter was a 525-ton sidewheel paddle steamer captured by the Union Navy during the Union blockade of the American Civil War.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

  1. 1 2 3 4 Gaines, W. Craig, Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks, Louisiana State University Press, 2008 Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine , ISBN   978-0-8071-3274-6, p. 99.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.