USS Rodolph

Last updated
USS Rodolph 1864 rev.jpg
USS Rodolph strikes a mine
History
US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg US flag 34 stars.svgUnited States
Cost$34,900
Launched1863
Acquired31 December 1863
Commissioned28 May 1864
Out of service1 April 1865
Stricken1865 (est.)
FateSank, 1 April 1865
General characteristics
Displacement217 tons
Propulsion
Complement60
Armament
  • two 32-pounder guns
  • four 24-pounders howitzers
Armourtinclad

USS Rodolph was a steamer [lower-alpha 1] commissioned by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She served the Union Navy during its struggle against the Confederate States of America, both as a tugboat and a minesweeper, as well as a gunboat when the occasion demanded. Just as the war was ending, Rodolph struck a mine and sank, with four of her crew killed and a number of others wounded.

Contents

Service history

Rodolph (Gunboat No. 48), a steamer built in 1863 at Cincinnati, Ohio, was purchased by the Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter of the U.S. Navy on 31 December 1863 for service in the Mississippi Squadron. [1] However, the installation of her "tinclad" armor and fitting out were slow. When she was finally ready for active service, she was transferred to Admiral David Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron which was then preparing for the invasion of Mobile Bay.

Commissioned at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 28 May 1864, the stern-wheeler, commanded by Act. Vol. Lt. George D. Upham, operated on the lower Mississippi River until after the historic Union naval victory in Mobile Bay on 5 August. She joined Farragut's invasion force there on the 14th and participated in operations which culminated in the surrender of Fort Morgan on the 23d. Acting Master's Mate Nathaniel B. Hinckley, serving on board the "tinclad," carried the Confederate flag from the fort.

Rodolph's shallow draft enabled her to be especially useful during "mop up" operations while Union seapower projected General Edward Canby's army against the final defenses of the city of Mobile, Alabama. The high point of her service came, perhaps, on 8 September, when she entered the Bon Secours River with the side-wheeler Stockdale and demolished extensive salt works which had been producing, daily, some 2,000 bushels of badly needed salt for the Confederacy. [2]

On the 11th, the two ships escorted a Union Army transport, Planter, up the Fish River to seize a sawmill engine and some 60,000 board feet (140 m3) of lumber. That night, as the Union ships retired down the river from the wrecked mill, southern riflemen fired upon them from the riverbanks and felled trees in their path. While the gunboats fired back rapidly, Rodolph battered her way through the obstructions, enabling the expedition to reach safety.

Sinking

Diverse and dangerous duties in Mobile Bay and in nearby streams kept the "tinclad" busy until almost the end of the Civil War. The most difficult task facing her and her sister ships was clearing torpedoes (mines) from the captured Confederate waters. On 1 April 1865, as she was towing a barge to assist in salvaging the sunken monitor Milwaukee, Rodolph was herself sunk when she struck a mine in the Blakeley River. The explosion killed four men and wounded 11 others.

Note

  1. ↑ The "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships" describes Rodolph as a side-wheel steamer; however, the Naval Historical Center describes her as a stern-wheel steamer. The Naval Historical Center shows a line engraving of Rodolph, published in the Harper's Weekly 29 April 1865 issue, showing Rodolph as a stern wheeler.

Related Research Articles

The first USS Arizona was an iron-hulled, side-wheel merchant steamship. Seized by the Confederate States of America in 1862 during the American Civil War, she was captured later the same year by the United States Navy.

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>Miami</i> (1861) American side-wheel steamer gunboat

The first USS Miami was a side-wheel steamer, double-ender gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

CSS <i>Selma</i> (1856) Steamboat

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

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

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 Meteor was a gunboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She carried heavy artillery and became part of the sea blockade of waterways of the breakaway Confederate States of America.

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

USS Octorara 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 Confederates from trading with other countries.

USS <i>Fort Hindman</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

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.

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

The first USS Mist was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was planned by the Union Navy for use as a gunboat stationed off Confederate waterways to prevent their trading with foreign countries.

USS Springfield was a steamship purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways.

USS Brilliant was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways.

The first USS Silver Cloud was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Nymph</i> (1863) Union Navy steamer in the American Civil War

USS Nymph was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a dispatch boat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.

USS Pink was a steamer commissioned by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She served the Union Navy's struggle against the Confederate States of America in various ways: as a tugboat, a gunboat, and as a small transport.

USS Tritonia was a 202-ton steamer commissioned by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

USS Stockdale was a steamer commissioned by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

USS Siren was the 214-ton wooden-hulled, stern-wheel steamer White Rose launched in 1862 that the Union Navy purchased in 1864. The Navy outfitted Siren with two 24-pounder howitzers for use in bombardment and assigned her to operations on the Mississippi River where Union forces were attempting to maintain control of the river in order to split the Confederate States of America in two. The Navy sold her in 1865 and new owners returned her name to White Rose. They abandoned her in 1867.

References

  1. ↑ Marsh, C. C. (July 31, 1894). Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. The Hon. Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy. p. 194. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Vicinity of Salt Works and Camp Anderson: "Salt Is Eminently Contraband"". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 24 September 2015.

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

Coordinates: 30°42′N87°56′W / 30.70°N 87.93°W / 30.70; -87.93

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.