USS Vermont (1848)

Last updated

USSVermontModel2.jpg
Model of Vermont as designed at the U.S. Navy Museum
History
US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg US flag 34 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Vermont
Ordered29 April 1816
Builder Boston Navy Yard
Laid downSeptember 1818
Launched15 September 1848
Commissioned30 January 1862
Stricken19 December 1901
FateSold 17 April 1902
General characteristics
Class and typeNorth Carolina-class ship of the line
Tons burthen2,633
Length197 ft 1.5 in (60.084 m)
Beam53 ft 6 in (16.31 m)
Depth of hold21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsionsail
Complement820
Armament
  • 20 × 8 in (203 mm) shell guns
  • 64 × 32-pounder guns

USS Vermont was originally intended to be a ship of the line for the U.S. Navy when laid down in 1818, but was not commissioned until 1862, when she was too outdated to be used as anything but a stores and receiving ship.

Service history

USS Vermont in 1898 USS Vermont LOC det.4a14798.jpg
USS Vermont in 1898

Vermont was one of nine 74-gun warships authorized by United States Congress on 29 April 1816. [1] She was laid down at the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, in September 1818, finished about 1825, and kept on the stocks until finally launched on 15 September 1848 in the interest of both space and fire safety considerations. However, Vermont was not commissioned at this time. Instead the already aged ship-of-the-line remained in ordinary at Boston until the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861.

By the time Civil War broke out, the cavernous hull of the vessel was badly needed as a store and receiving ship at Port Royal, South Carolina, and she was commissioned at Boston on 30 January 1862, Commander Augustus S. Baldwin in command. She received orders to sail for Port Royal for duty with Rear Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont's South Atlantic Blockading Squadron on 17 February 1862 and left Boston on 24 February 1862 under tow by the steamer Kensington .

That evening, a violent northwest gale accompanied by snow struck the vessels while they were off Cape Cod Light, Massachusetts. Kensington let go the tow lines, but Vermont refused to obey her helm, broached, and had all her sails and most of her boats blown and torn away. The gale raged for 50 hours; and, by the morning of 26 February 1862, Vermont was drifting eastward with no rudder, her berth deck flooded, and much of the interior of the vessel destroyed. Later on 26 February, Vermont sighted the schooner Flying Mist, hailed her, put a man on board, and persuaded her captain to return to the United States East Coast and report the helpless condition of the ship to naval authorities. Rescue vessels began to reach the stricken ship on 7 March 1862 and enabled Vermont to sail into Port Royal under her own power on 12 April 1862.

Vermont at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1898 USS Vermont hulk 1898.jpg
Vermont at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1898

Vermont remained anchored at Port Royal, where she served the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron as an ordnance, hospital, receiving, and store ship and drew praise from Rear Admiral Du Pont. On 12 December 1863, she rescued the crew of the American bark Alice Provost, which was wrecked while trying to enter port at Port Royal. [2] United States Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered Vermont to return to New York City for "public service" on 25 July 1864. She left Port Royal on 2 August 1864 and was replaced there by her sister ship-of-the-line USS New Hampshire.

Vermont remained at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, for the next 37 years, serving both as a store and receiving ship. She was condemned and struck from the Navy list on 19 December 1901 and was sold at New York on 17 April 1902.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>New Hampshire</i> (1864) New Hampshire named ship

USS New Hampshire was a 2,633-ton ship originally designed to be the 74-gun ship of the line Alabama, but after being laid down in June 1819, she remained on the stocks for nearly 40 years, well into the age of steam. Renamed as New Hampshire, she was launched as a storeship and depot ship for use during the American Civil War. She was later renamed as Granite State. The ship burned and sank in the Hudson River in May 1921, and after being refloated, again caught fire and sank under tow near Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, in July 1922.

USS <i>Ohio</i> (1820) 1820 ship of the line

The second USS Ohio was a ship of the line of the United States Navy, rated at 74 guns, although her total number of guns was 104. She was designed by Henry Eckford, laid down at Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1817, and launched on 30 May 1820. She went into ordinary and in the ensuing years decayed badly. Refitted for service in 1838, Ohio sailed on 16 October 1838 to join the Mediterranean Squadron under Commodore Isaac Hull. Acting as flagship for two years, she protected commerce and suppressed the slave trade off the African coast. Ohio proved to have excellent performance under sail, repeatedly making more than 12 kn. One of her officers stated, "I never supposed such a ship could be built—a ship possessing in so great a degree all the qualifications of a perfect vessel." In 1840, Ohio returned to Boston, where she again went into ordinary. From 1841 to 1846, Ohio served as receiving ship.

USS <i>Sabine</i> (1855) American Civil War naval vessel

The first USS Sabine was a sailing frigate built by the United States Navy in 1855. The ship was among the first ships to see action in the American Civil War. In 1862, a large portion of the USS Monitor crew were volunteers from the Sabine.

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

USS Santee was a wooden-hulled, three-masted sailing frigate of the United States Navy. She was the first U.S. Navy ship to be so named and was one of its last sailing frigates in service. She was acquired by the Union Navy at the start of the American Civil War, outfitted with heavy guns and a crew of 480, and was assigned as a gunboat in the Union blockade of the Confederate States. She later became a training ship then a barracks ship for the U.S. Naval Academy.

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

The first USS Pawnee was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the Pawnee Indian tribe.

USS <i>Keystone State</i> (1853) American sidewheel steamer

USSKeystone State was a wooden sidewheel steamer that served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was a fast ship for her day and was used effectively to blockade Confederate ports on the Atlantic coast. She participated in the capture or destruction of 17 blockade runners. In addition to her military service, Keystone State had a lengthy commercial career before the war. Renamed San Francisco, she also sailed commercially after the war. The ship was built in 1853 and scrapped in 1874.

USS <i>St. Lawrence</i> Frigate of the United States Navy, launched 1848

USS St. Lawrence was a frigate in the United States Navy that saw service during the mid-19th century, including the American Civil War. She was based on the same plans as USS Brandywine.

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>Passaic</i> (1862) 1862 Passaic-class ironclad monitor

The first Passaic was a single turreted, coastal monitor purchased by the United States Navy for service during the American Civil War.

The first USS Mohican was a steam sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the Mohican tribe and was the first ship of her class.

USS <i>Tuscarora</i> Sloop-of-war of the United States Navy

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

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

The first USS Seminole was a steam sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Pocahontas</i> (1852) Gunboat of the United States Navy

The first USS Pocahontas, a screw steamer built at Medford, Massachusetts in 1852 as City of Boston, and purchased by the Navy at Boston, Massachusetts on 20 March 1855, was the first United States Navy ship to be named for Pocahontas, the Algonquian wife of Virginia colonist John Rolfe. She was originally commissioned as USS Despatch – the second U.S. Navy ship of that name – on 17 January 1856, with Lieutenant T. M. Crossan in command, and was recommissioned and renamed in 1860, seeing action in the American Civil War. As Pocahontas, one of her junior officers was Alfred Thayer Mahan, who would later achieve international fame as a military writer and theorist of naval power.

USS <i>James Adger</i>

USS James Adger was a sidewheel steamer in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She retained her former name.

USS <i>Kensington</i> (1862) Gunboat of the United States Navy

The second USS Kensington was a steamship in the United States Navy.

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

USS Vanderbilt was a heavy (3,360-ton) passenger steamship obtained by the Union Navy during the second year of the American Civil War and utilized as a cruiser.

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

USS Connecticut was a large steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Her primary task was to prevent ships from penetrating the Union blockade of Southern ports.

USS <i>Isaac Smith</i>

USS Isaac Smith was a screw steamer acquired by the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederate States of America to prevent the Confederacy from trading with other countries. In 1863, she became the only warship in the American Civil War to be captured by enemy land forces. She then served in the Confederate States Navy as CSS Stono until she was wrecked.

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

USS Lodona was a British steamship of the same name captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She had been built in England for shipowner Zachariah Pearson and attempted to break the United States' blockade of Confederate ports. USS Lodona was used by the Navy to patrol waters off those ports. After the war she returned to commercial ownership.

USS Gemsbok was a bark acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy as a gunboat, but, later in the war, she was also used as a collier and as a storeship.

References

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

  1. Gordon, John Steele (February 1993). "USS Boondoggle: The Business of America". American Heritage . 44 (1). Retrieved 1 August 2022. Consider the Navy's ship-of-the-line program that followed the War of 1812… Congress, on April 29, 1816, 'authorized to cause to be built, nine ships to rate not less than 74 guns each'. All nine were eventually laid down, in shipyards from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Norfolk, Virginia, and four of them were completed in a timely manner by the end of 1820. None of these ships ever saw action, of course, for the world had entered an extended era of peace.
  2. Gaines, W. Craig, Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks Archived 29 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine , Louisiana State University Press, 2008, ISBN   978-0-8071-3274-6, p. 141.