USS Whitehead | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Whitehead |
Launched | 1861 |
Commissioned | 19 November 1861 |
Decommissioned | 29 June 1865 |
Fate |
|
General characteristics | |
Type | Steam gunboat |
Displacement | 136 long tons (138 t) |
Length | 93 ft 2 in (28.40 m) |
Beam | 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) |
Draft | 8 ft (2.4 m) |
Propulsion | Steam engine |
Speed | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
Armament | 1 × 30-pounder Parrott rifle |
USSWhitehead, a screw steamer built in 1861 at New Brunswick, New Jersey, served as a gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.
Whitehead was purchased by the Navy on 17 October 1861 at New York City from D. B. Martin, and commissioned on 19 November 1861, Acting Master Charles A. French in command.
The following day, Whitehead reached Hampton Roads and joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She sailed for the North Carolina coast on 28 December 1861 and arrived at Hatteras Inlet on 4 January 1862.
During the next few months, the steamer Whitehead carried out extensive operations against Confederate vessels and shore installations in the sounds and rivers of North Carolina. On 7–8 February, she helped to capture Roanoke Island. On 10 February, Whitehead took schooner M. C. Etheridge on the Pasquotank River. On 10 April, she made prizes of schooners Comet and J. J. Crittendon and of sloop America in Newbegun Creek. Together with the John L. Lockwood, General Putnam, and Shawsheen, Whitehead blocked the mouth of the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal with fill on 23–24 April. She captured schooner Eugenia in Bennett's Creek on 20 May and took Ella D off Keel's Creek two days later.
Late in September, Whitehead briefly left North Carolina waters to participate in a Federal assault upon Confederate forces gathered at Franklin, Virginia. On 3 October, Commodore Perry, Hunchback and Whitehead entered the Blackwater River and fired on Rebel troops for over six hours before a barricade placed across the channel necessitated retreat. One of Whitehead's sailors, Ordinary Seaman Edwin Smith, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during this engagement. [1]
Whitehead soon returned to Pamlico Sound but was ordered north on 16 November 1862 for repairs at the Washington Navy Yard. At this time, 3-inch iron plate was placed over her guns and around her pilot house. Back in fighting trim, Whitehead returned to North Carolina late in December 1862.
Her first noteworthy action came early in the spring of 1863 when she helped to lift the Confederate siege of Washington, North Carolina, which lasted from 31 March to 16 April. On 6–7 July, Whitehead, Commodore Perry, Southfield and Valley City bombarded and occupied Williamston, North Carolina. Whitehead captured several prisoners during an expedition up the Pasquotank River on 14 August 1863 and destroyed a Confederate corn mill on the Roanoke River on 22 February 1864. On 1–2 March 1864, Whitehead and Southfield sailed up the Chowan River and freed USS Bombshell from her encirclement by Confederate shore batteries.
Whitehead encountered the formidable Confederate ram CSS Albemarle on three occasions. In the early morning hours of 19 April 1864, Ceres, Miami, Southfield and Whitehead engaged the ram in the Roanoke River. All received damage, and Southfield was sunk. Darkness prevented Whitehead from returning Albemarle's fire. As a result of this costly Union naval defeat, Plymouth, North Carolina fell to Confederate troops the next day.
Union vessels, including Whitehead, again fought Albemarle on 5 May 1864. This three-hour Battle of Albemarle Sound was inconclusive, and the ram withdrew up the Roanoke. Whitehead battled Albemarle a third time on 24 May 1864. A shell from Whitehead exploded near the ram's stern and caused the dreaded Confederate warship to withdraw.
Whitehead resumed routine patrol and reconnaissance duty soon after this. On 12 July 1864, she ascended the Scuppernong River to Columbia, North Carolina, and burned a bridge used to transport supplies to Southern troops at Plymouth. Whitehead and steamers Thomas Colyer and Massasoit joined in an expedition up the Chowan River on 28 July 1864, capturing steamer Arrow and a large quantity of cotton and tobacco on 29 July at Gatesville, North Carolina. Whitehead proceeded to the Norfolk Navy Yard for repairs on 20 August 1864. She completed these in time for her to participate in the recapture of Plymouth on 31 October 1864.
For the closing months of the Civil War, Whitehead, but for occasional runs to Norfolk, Virginia for supplies, patrolled the inland waters of North Carolina. She was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 29 June 1865 and was sold at public auction there on 10 August 1865. Re-documented as Nevada on 7 October 1865, the steamer remained in mercantile service until she was destroyed by fire on 1 September 1872 at New London, Connecticut.
CSS Albemarle was a steam-powered casemate ironclad ram of the Confederate Navy, named for an estuary in North Carolina which was named for General George Monck, the first Duke of Albemarle and one of the original Carolina Lords Proprietor.
The first USS Miami was a side-wheel steamer, double-ender gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.
CSSCotton Plant, sometimes referred to as Cotton Planter, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1860 and reportedly carried troops in the Pamlico River as early as September 1861. She sailed with CSS Albemarle when that ironclad ram attacked Union forces at Plymouth, North Carolina, sank USS Southfield and drove off USS Miami, USS Ceres and USS Whitehead on April 18–19, 1864. On May 5, 1864 she steamed as convoy to Albemarle from the Roanoke River en route to the Alligator River. The convoy was engaged by ships of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in the Battle of Albemarle Sound, but both the ram and Cotton Plant with several launches in tow escaped into the Roanoke River.
USS Southfield was a double-ended, sidewheel steam gunboat of the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was sunk in action against the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Albemarle during the Battle of Plymouth (1864).
USS Ceres was a small 150-long-ton (152 t) steamboat acquired by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
CSS Raleigh was originally a small, iron-hulled, propeller-driven towing steamer operating on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal. She was taken over by the State of North Carolina in May 1861, and transferred to the Confederate States the following July. Her commanding officer during 1861–1862 was Lieutenant Joseph W. Alexander. Her entire service was in coastal waters of North Carolina and Virginia and in the James River as part of the James River Squadron.
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.
USS Wyalusing was a double-ended, side-wheel gunboat that served in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the borough of Wyalusing in Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
USS Commodore Perry was a 512-long-ton (520-tonne) steamer acquired by the Union Navy in 1861, the first year of the American Civil War. She was named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819), a naval officer who had commanded American forces on Lake Erie in the War of 1812. In January–February 1862, Commodore Perry was part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, taking part in the attack, in cooperation with the Union Army, which resulted in the surrender of Roanoke Island by the Confederate States of America. She participated in several other campaigns through 1862, including the capture of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and army–navy expeditions against Franklin, Virginia, and Hertford, North Carolina. From 1863 until the end of the war, she was engaged in patrols, both inland and in Virginia coastal waters.
Alexander S. Crawford was a sailor in the United States Navy who served in the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the war.
The Battle of Elizabeth City of the American Civil War was fought in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Roanoke Island. It took place on 10 February 1862, on the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The participants were vessels of the U.S. Navy's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, opposed by vessels of the Confederate Navy's Mosquito Fleet; the latter were supported by a shore-based battery of four guns at Cobb's Point, near the southeastern border of the town. The battle was a part of the campaign in North Carolina that was led by Major General Ambrose E. Burnside and known as the Burnside Expedition. The result was a Union victory, with Elizabeth City and its nearby waters in their possession, and the Confederate fleet captured, sunk, or dispersed.
The Battle of Albemarle Sound was an inconclusive naval battle fought in May 1864 along the coast of North Carolina during the American Civil War. Three Confederate warships, including an ironclad, engaged eight Union gunboats. The action ended indecisively due to the sunset.
USS Delaware was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy for use during the American Civil War. She had a very active naval career as a gunboat for over three years, and after the war served as a revenue cutter for over 37 years. The steamer was sold to the private sector in 1903, and disappeared from shipping registers in 1919.
USS Valley City was a 190-ton steamer acquired by the Union Navy for service in the American Civil War.
USS Young America was a Confederate steamer captured by the Union Navy’s blockade vessels, and subsequently placed in-service in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS General Putnam – also known as the USS William G. Putnam – was acquired by the Union Navy during the first year of the American Civil War and outfitted as a gunboat and assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America. She also served as a tugboat and as a ship's tender when so required.
USS Underwriter was a 341-ton sidewheel steamer that was purchased for military use by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Hetzel 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 Shamrock was a large seaworthy steamer with powerful guns, acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
USS Henry Brinker was a small steamship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was placed into service as a gunboat and assigned to the blockade of ports of the Confederate States of America.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.