USS R. R. Cuyler | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Cost | $142,000 [1] |
Laid down | date unknown |
Launched | 1860, in New York |
Acquired | May 1861 |
Commissioned | circa June 1861 |
Decommissioned | 1 July 1865 |
Stricken | est. 1865 |
Fate |
|
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 1,200 tons |
Length | 237 ft (72 m) |
Beam | 33 ft 3 in (10.13 m) |
Draught | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 14 knots |
Complement | not known |
Armament |
|
USS R. R. Cuyler was a steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted by the Union Navy as a gunboat and was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.
She was named for the president of the Central Georgia Railroad.
R. R. Cuyler was built in 1860 by Samuel Sneeden of New York for H. B. Cromwell & Company, served on that company's New York, Havana, and New Orleans line until laid up in March 1861 at the start of the American Civil War.
Then chartered by the War Department, she transported New York State militiamen to Washington, D.C., and returned to New York where she was acquired by the navy in May 1861, although not formally purchased until August.
In early June, R. R. Cuyler departed New York City under the command of Captain Francis B. Ellison. On the 9th, she arrived at Key West, Florida, whence she proceeded north for blockade duty off Tampa, Florida. Although plagued by the presence of smallpox among her crew, R. R. Cuyler participated in the capture and burning of Finland in Apalachicola Bay on 26 August. On 22 November, while operating near and in the Mississippi River, she intercepted and assisted in the capture of the steamers A. J. View and Henry Lewis. In December, the sloops Advocate, Express, and Osceola and the schooners Delight and Olive met a similar fate. On 20 January 1863, off Mobile Bar, R. R. Cuyler seized the schooner J. W. Wilder. Two months later, she captured the schooner Grace E. Baker off Cuba, and on 3 May, the schooner Jane at sea.
Stationed off Mobile Bay during May, R. R. Cuyler captured the steamer Eugenie and the schooners Hunter and Isabel. On 14 July, the steamer Kate Dale joined her list of prizes. After that capture, the gunboat was ordered to join in the search for the Confederate raider Tallahassee. While proceeding on that mission on 4 December, she stopped and captured the steamer Armstrong and after a search revealed contraband cargo, seized the vessel.
R. R. Cuyler joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Wilmington, North Carolina, for duty through the close of the Civil War. She joined in attacks on Fort Fisher in the Cape Fear River 24 and 25 December 1864, and participated in the capture of Fort Anderson nearby 18 and 19 February 1865.
Following the end of the Civil War, R. R. Cuyler returned to New York City, where she was decommissioned on 1 July 1865 and sold at auction on 15 August to Russel Sturgis of New York.
In December 1866, she was purchased by the Republic of Colombia and, after arrival at Cartagena, renamed El Rayo. She remained in Cartagena Harbor, the subject of a diplomatic dispute following a change of government, from February to September 1867. In mid-September, she was blown from her moorings during a storm and grounded on a coral reef, where she was abandoned.
One of the 30-pound cannon that was part of the armament of R. R. Cuyler was presented to the town of Oyster Bay, New York, by the United States Department of the Navy and unveiled by President Theodore Roosevelt in June 1903. The cannon can be seen today in Townsend Park in Oyster Bay.
USS New London was a screw steamer of the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted with a Parrott rifle and 32-pounders, and was assigned as a gunboat in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.
CSS Oregon was a wooden sidewheel steamer that served as a gunboat in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Built in 1846 for the Mobile Mail Line, she transported mail between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, before the war. In 1861, she was seized by the Governor of Louisiana, Thomas Overton Moore, and served as a blockade runner before being selected for use by the Confederate Army. After transferring men and supplies to Ship Island, she was formally converted into a gunboat and armed with four cannon. Remaining behind on Lake Pontchartrain when many Confederate warships were transferred up the Mississippi River, Oregon served in the Mississippi Sound and Pass Christian areas. She took part in several minor actions involving USS New London, two of which resulted in the Confederates moving into shallow water to avoid close-range action, and the third ending when the Confederate ships abandoned the Pass Christian area. In April 1862, Union pressure confined her and other Confederate ships to Lake Pontchartrain. Later that month, with Union forces closing in on New Orleans, Oregon was sank as a blockship. Her wreck was removed and destroyed in the early 1870s.
CSSSelma was a steamship in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. She served in the Confederate Navy first as Florida, and later as Selma. She was captured by the Union Navy steamer USS Metacomet during the Battle of Mobile Bay. She served as USS Selma until the end of the war, when she was decommissioned and sold for use as a merchant ship.
USS Sciota was a Unadilla-class gunboat built on behalf of the United States Navy for service during the Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat, with both a 20-pounder rifle for horizontal firing, and two howitzers for shore bombardment, and assigned to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
The third USS Montgomery was a wooden screw steamer in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS South Carolina was a steamer used by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Stars and Stripes was a 407-ton steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy and put to use by the Union during the American Civil War.
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 Albatross was a screw steamer rigged as a three-masted schooner acquired by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat with heavy guns and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
USS Kennebec was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the U.S. Navy following the outbreak of the American Civil War. She was named for the Kennebec River.
USS Rachel Seaman was a wooden schooner purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Winona was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for service with the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Winona was heavily armed, with large guns for duels at sea, and 24-pounder howitzers for shore bombardment. Winona saw significant action in the Gulf of Mexico and in the waterways of the Mississippi River and was fortunate to return home safely after the war for decommissioning.
USS Bienville was a 1,558 long tons (1,583 t) (burden) wooden side-wheel paddle steamer acquired by the Union Navy early in the American Civil War. She was armed with heavy guns and assigned to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
USS Huntsville was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
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 De Soto was a fast wooden-hulled sidewheel steamship that saw service as a U.S. Navy gunboat during the American Civil War.
USS Tahoma was a Unadilla-class gunboat built by order of the United States Navy for service during the American Civil War.
USS State of Georgia was a large steamer with powerful guns acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. State of Georgia, with her crew of 113 sailors and officers, was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in its blockade of Confederate waterways.
The third USS Union was a heavy (1,114-ton) steamer with a powerful 12-inch rifled gun purchased by the United States Navy during the American Civil War.
The third USS Virginia was a 581-ton blockade-running steamer captured by the United States Navy and put to use during the American Civil War. Virginia served the U.S. Navy primarily as a mortar gunboat. Her ordnance included six 24-pounder howitzers and a 12-pounder rifled gun.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.