So, Who Was This Caleb Cushing the Revenue Cutter Was Named After?-- Part 1

I'd heard of the revenue cutter before, but not the man it was named after.  He also played a role in the Civil War as it turns out.

From Wikipedia.

CALEB CUSHING  (January 17, 1800 to January 2, 1879)

Was an American Democratic politician and diplomat who served in Congress from Massachusetts and was attorney general under President Franklin Pierce.  He was an eager proponent of American territorial and commercial expansion, especially regarding the acquisition of Texas, Oregon and Cuba.

He believed that enlarging the American sphere of influence would would fulfill  "the great destiny reserved for this exemplar American Republic."

He also secured a treaty with China in 1844, which opened  five ports to American trade..  After the Civil War, he secured a treaty with Colombia to give the United States a right-of-way  for a transoceanic across the isthmus of Panama. 

In addition, he also helped obtain a favorable  settlement of the Alabama Claims, and as the ambassador to Spain in the 1870s, helped defuse  the troublesome Virginius Affair.

An Important Man in U.S. History Even If I Didn't Know About Him.  --Old B-Runner

Revenue Cutter Caleb Cushing-- Part 2

It was Charles Read's plan to capture the cutter and get it away from the Union shore batteries before daylight and then set fire to shipping in the Portland, Maine, harbor.  As it was dawn before he cleared the Union guns, he found it impossible to carry out his plan and instead he put out to sea.

Lt. "Savez" Read intended to send his prisoners back on the Archer after transferring his supplies to the Caleb Cushing.  However, when twenty miles out to sea, he was overtaken by two steamers.  he ran out of ammunition and was unable to put up further resistance.

Ordering his men and prisoners onto small boats, he set fire to the Caleb Cushing after setting a powder train to the ship's magazine.  Read, his men and prisoners were captured by the steamer Forest City.  The Archer was captured later and the Cushing soon exploded and was destroyed.

So Read would have had his fourth raider had he had enough time.

Essentially, He Was the Confederate Navy's Answer to William Barker Cushing.  --Old B-Runner

Revenue Cutter Caleb Cushing-- Part 1

 Naval History and Heritage Command.

CALEB CUSHING

Schooner

LENGTH:  100 feet 4 inches

BEAM:  23 feet

DRAFT:  9 feet 7 inches

ARMAMENT:

one 32-pounder

one 12-pdr. Dahlgren

**********************************

The Caleb Cushing was a  revenue cutter also known as the Morris, which was quietly boarded and seized early in the morning hours of 27 June 1863 while in then harbor at Portland, Maine, by Lt. Charles W. Read, CSN.

He and his men had quietly entered the harbor undetected on their  prize schooner Archer.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Archer-- Part 2

When the people of Portsmouth realized the Caleb Cushing was missing, ships were sent out in pursuit of Read.

Due to a falling wind (the Archer was a sailing ship), they were able to catch up to Charles W. Read, but not before Read was able to set fire to the magazine of the Cushing and cause her destruction.

Officers and Crew of the Archer

Lt. Charles W. Read, commander

Billups, Matthewson and pride:  master's mates

Brown, engineer

16 men

--Old B-Runner

 

CSS Archer: Read's Third Raider

From Wikipedia.

The CSS Archer was originally a fishing schooner captured by the Confederate cruiser Tacony commanded by Lt. Charles W. Read, who converted her into a raider.

The Tacony captured the Archer on June  25, 1863, off the coast of New England.  Knowing that the Union was on the hunt or his ship, the Tacony, Read transferred his men and armaments from the Tacony to the Archer.  (The same as he had done with the Clarence).

Read then decoded to try to capture the U.S. Revenue Cutter Caleb  Cushing on his way down the New England coast.  On June 27, 1863, the Archer sailed into Portland, Maine's harbor and docked, disguising itself as a fishing schooner.

That night, Read and his crew boarded the Caleb Cushing and took it over.  They confined the crew below deck.  The Archer and Cushing then sailed out of the harbor as day was dawning.  When the disappearance of the Cushing was noticed, ships went out in pursuit.

--Old B-Runner

Lt. Charles Read's Great Adventure from the Clarence to the Tacony to the Archer

 All this started when I wrote about the Edward H. Faucon was ordered to take his ship, the USS Montgomery, and search for the Confederate raider Tacony which was capturing Union ships off New England.

That had started when the CSS Florida, under John Newland Maffitt had captured the American ship Clarence and set  Charles W. Read up as a raider.  Read had captured several ships before he captured the Tacony and then decided that was a better ship for his purposes and transferred his men and armament to that vessel.

He had captured several more ships  when he captured the Archer and again decided that ship would be better suited and once again transferred his men and armament.

So, this was his third ship.

--Old B-Runner

The Blockade Runners Dare and Queen of the Wave Meet Their Demise

From Oceanfront  Vacation Rentals.

The Civil War blockade runner Dare was chased for miles by Federals before it ran aground at North Inlet near Georgetown.  The captain evacuated the passengers and crew and set fore to the ship to keep it out of enemy hands.

Days later, a federal party of 25 men boarded the ship to attempt to salvage what they could and were surprised by three Confederates who overwhelmed them and took them prisoner.

This was the blockade runner that the USS Montgomery, under Lt. Edward H. Faucon, and the USS Aries chased ashore and destroyed.

**********************

Another blockade runner, the Queen of the Waves, ran aground in the North Santee River and her captain set her afire.  Federal forces boarded her the next day and found seven Confederate soldiers of the Waccamaw Light Artillery hard at work salvaging the cargo.

This time, the Federals took the Confederates prisoner and destroyed the Queen of the Waves with explosives.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Clarence

In the last post I mentioned that Charles Read had captured the Tacony while in command of the CSS Clarence.  Deciding the Tacony to be a better ship than the Clarence, he transferred to that ship and continued.

From Wikipedia.

The CSS Clarence, also known as the Coquette , was originally a brig from  Baltimore that was captured by the CSS Florida which converted it into a raider.  It was transporting a cargo of coffee from Brazil when the Florida, under the command of John Newland Maffitt, captured it off the coast of Brazil.

Lt. Charles W. Read was placed in command of the Clarence and enough of the Florida's sailors were transferred to the new ship to man it.

Read suggested that with the ship's papers that he might be able to enter the Chesapeake Bay and sail into Hampton Roads, Virginia, and perhaps capture or destroy a Union gunboat.  Maffitt armed the Clarence with one cannon.

On its brief career as a Confederate raider, the Clarence captured a number of ships.  The Whistling Wind, Kate Stewart, Mary Alvina and Mary Schindler were burned.  The Alfred H. Partridge was bonded.

The Clarence's final capture was the bark Tacony on June 12, 1863, which being a better ship for commerce raiding, the crew and armament of the Clarence were transferred to the Tacony and the Clarence destroyed.

--Old B-Runner

Edward H. Faucon Ordered to Search for Confederate Raider Tacony in 1863

From Official records War of the Rebellion Navy Operations of the Cruisers Union, Page 286.

Boston Navy Yard Commandant ordered Edward H. Faucon to take  his USS Montgomery out to look for and capture the Confederate raider Tacony June 16, 1863.

He was to search for the bark Tacony and to cruise off the Nantucket  Shoals from Little Georges Shoals to Block Island.  he was to engage and capture the Tacony if found and bring it to a Union port.  While searching for the Tacony, he was to speak to all vessels he met and gather as much information as he could.

Faucon was to cruise as long as his coal held up. or 14 days.

******************************

From Wikipedia.

The CSS Tacony was a bark ship captured by the Confederate raider CSS Clarence, commanded by Lt. Charles W. Read on June 12, 1863.  Since it was a better ship for   commerce raiding, Read and crew transferred to the Tacony and destroyed the Clarence.

In its brief career as a raider, the Tacony captured 14 ships.  The final one was  the schooner Archer on June 25, 1863, and it was decided this was a better ship for commerce raiding and Read again transferred to another ship and the Tacony was burned.

Armament of the Tacony was one  6-pounder boat howitzer.  Read had 20 men with him.

Just Looking for That Really Good Commerce Raider.  --Old B-Runner

Edward H. Faucon and USS Montgomery Capture the Dare

From American Civil War High Command:  January 7, 1864

SOUTH CAROLINA:  

The USS Montgomery, Lt. Edward H. Faucon,  and the USS Aries, Lt. Edward F. Devins, chased the blockade runner Dare.  The steamer was beached at North Inlet (near Georgetown, S.C.) and  abandoned by her crew.

Boat crews from the USS Montgomery and USS Aries boarded  but failed to salvage the prize and it was burned.

--Old B-Runner

Lt-Cdr. Thomas C. Dunn (Is He the One-Time Commander of the USS Montgomery Buried Here?)

From Find-A-Grave.

I'm not sure if this is the Thomas C. Dunn who commanded the USS Montgomery during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, but he might be.

BIRTH:  1829

DEATH:  1910 (aged 80-81)

Appleton, Wisconsin

BURIAL:  Riverside Cemetery

Appleton, Wisconsin

Block F, Lot 18, Area N, Grave 3

It lists him as Lieut., Commander, US Navy1861-1865

The Parameters Fit.  --Old B-Runner

Thomas C. Dunn and Edward H. Faucon USN Both at Fort Fisher

In the last post, I mentioned that the USS Montgomery was commanded by Lt. Thomas C. Dunn in the Second Battle of Fort Fisher.

From Officers of the Continental and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps 1798 to 1900.

ACTING MASTER:  14 December 1861

ACTING VOLUNTEER LIEUTENANT:   11 August 1864, on recommendation of Commanding Officer

HONORABLY DISCHARGED:    26 October 1865

****************************

Edward Faucon commanded the USS Montgomery in the first attack on Fort Fisher.

EDWARD H. FAUCON

ACTING MASTER:    23 July 1861

ACTING VOLUNTEER LIEUTENANT:   4 October 1862

HONORABLY DISCHARGED:   4 September 1865

This is all the information I have found about these two men.

--Old B-Runner

USS Montgomery-- Part 4: Service in the Gulf, Chasing Cruisers and Fort Fisher

 Further prizes in 1862 were the Blanche which was chased a shore  at Havana on 7 October; Confederate steamer CSS Caroline, taken off Mobile, Alabama  28 October and the sloop William E. Chester, taken  20 November.

She continued to blockade off Mobile into 1863, then joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron searching for the Confederate cruiser Tacony off Nantucket Shoals in June and Confederate cruiser Florida in the same area in July.   In August, the Montgomery joined the blockaders off Wilmington, North Carolina where she remained for the remainder of the year.

Among her 1864 operations off Wilmington were the capture of the blockade runner Pet  on 11 February; destruction of the  steamer Dove on 7 June;  seizure of the Bat off the Western Bar 11 October.  Other ships in the blockading squadron also were involved in these actions.

In December 1864 and January she took part in both attacks on Fort Fisher under the command of Lieutenant Edward H. Faucon in the first and under Lt. Thomas C. Dunn in the second.

In February, the Montgomery  patrolled off the Cape Fear River, engaging the Half Moon Battery on the 11th, then was involved in a coastal  patrol from Wilmington to Georgetown, South Carolina, 24 February.

Decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard 20 June 1865, she was sold at public auction 10 August 1865, redocumented  1 April 1866, and was in merchant service into 1877.

--Old B-Runner

USS Montgomery-- Part 3: Service in the Gulf of Mexico

From June to November,, the Montgomery blockaded Apalachicola,Florida,  and captured the ship Finland on 29 August when found to be lacking proper papers.  In November, she began blockading the Atlantic coast from Maryland to the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.

THIS PART IS A BIT CONFUSING.  On the 8th, she had a running fight with the Tallahassee.  After temporary duty off Ship Island 2 December, she was attacked off Horn Island Pass two later by the Florida and Pamlico but was not damaged.  (The Tallahassee did not become a Confederate ship until 1864.  If the Florida mentioned here is the CSS Florida cruiser, this ship was not off the Alabama coast until August 1862.)

Joining the East Gulf Blockading Squadron 20 January 1862, the Montgomery reported to Ship Island  three days later. She took schooner Isabel off Atchafalaya Bay 1 February, then carried dispatches to Tampa, Florida, before joining the West Gulf Blockading Squadron to hunt for the schooner  Columbia off San Luis Pass, Texas, 5 April.

They found the schooner abandoned and burned her, then captured a large sloop.  Cruising the Mexican and Texas coasts, she helped free American citizens held in Mexico the latter part of April and took the British schooner Will o' the Wisp off the Rio Grande on 3 June.  (There was a later another Will-o-the-Wisp sidewheel steamer sunk off Galveston in 1865.  I'm not sure if they were one and the same.)

--Old B-Runner

USS Montgomery (1858)-- Part 2: General Characteristics

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

TYPE:  Steam gunboat

DISPLACEMENT:  787 long tons

LENGTH:  201 feet 6 inches

BEAM:   28 feet  7 inches

DRAFT:  15 feet 6 inches

PROPULSION:  steam engine

SPEED: 8 knots

ARMAMENT:

One 8-inch gun

Four 32-pounder guns

--Old B-Runner

USS Montgomery (1858)-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

I wrote about the current USS Montgomery (LCS-8) earlier this month in my Cooter's History Thing blog and was wondering if there had been any other ships by that name in the U.S. Navy.  Turns out, there had.

There were ones in the American Revolution, War of 1812, the Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War II.  So, all together, there have been six USS Montgomerys.  I wrote about the one in the American Revolution earlier today.

This is the third warship by the name and the one which fought in the Civil War (and as an added bonus for me, was at the Battles of Fort Fisher.  I didn't know that.)

*****************************************

It was a wooden screw steamer built in New York in 1858, chartered by the U.S. Navy in May 1861, purchased in New York 28 August 1861 and commissioned  27 May 1861 with Commander O.S. Glisson in command.  (Further bonus, he was at Fort Fisher.)

--Old B-Runner

101-Year-Old USS Oklahoma Pearl Harbor Survivor Returns: David Russell

Continued from my Saw the Elephant:  Civil War blog.

Today, I will be posting about Pearl Harbor in all but one of my blogs.

David Russell is traveling to Pearl Harbor with the Best Defense  Foundation, a nonprofit founded by former NFL  linebacker Donnie Edwards that helps World War II veterans visit  their old battlefields.

"Those darn torpedoes, they just kept hitting us and kept hitting us.  I thought they'd never stop.  That ship was dancing around."

He remembers clambering over and around toppled lockers while the battleship slowly rolled over. "You had to walk sort of sideways."

Once he got to the main deck, he crawled over the ship's side and eyed the battleship USS Maryland moored alongside his ship.  He didn't want to swim over to it because leaking oil had caught fire in the water.  Jumping, he was able to catch a rope hanging from the Maryland  and escaped to that battleship without injury.

He then helped pass ammunition to the Maryland's anti-aircraft guns for the rest of the attack.

--Old B-Runner

Union Occupation of Beaufort, S.C.

 From the Know It All Org.:  Federal Occupation of Beaufort.

Federal forces under General Isaac I. Stevens march triumphantly into Beaufort on December 5, 1861.  "Harper's Weekly" reported to its readers:

"The beautiful rural town of Beaufort came into possession of the Union authorities as a result of the Battle of Port Royal.  The place had been abandoned  by all the white inhabitants  save one man who sat in the post office when the Union troops appeared  on the scene.

"To him was delivered the message announcing that the life and liberty of the people will be respected."

--Old B-Runner

160 Years Ago: Union Occupation of Beaufort, S.C.-- Part 3:

The John Mark Verdier House on Bay Street in Beaufort, now a museum, served as the Union Army's headquarters during the occupation. Many Beaufort mansions standing today were used as  hospitals or offices.

About 15 to 20 re-enactors from New York will be coming to Beaufort this weekend to present live demonstrations of Civil War camp life, drills and marching.  It will be like 160 years ago.

There will be bagpipes, discussions and live demonstrations of the importance of music and bugle calls during the war, the use of weapons, including cannons, how medical  support was deployed on the field, the role of women, and camp dining and cooking.

The 79th New York Volunteer Infantry was originally organized in New York City in 1858.  It was comprised primarily  of emigrant Scots and Scots-Americans.

In December 1861, the Highlanders were sent to the city of Beaufort  to help occupy the town.  At one point, they set up camp near what is presently the National Cemetery on Boundary Street.

The 48th New York Infantry Regiment occupied Port Royal, Hilton Head Island and Bluffton after the Battle of Port Royal Sound.

--Old B-Runner

160 Years Ago, the Occupation of Beaufort, S.C.-- Part 2: Fort Beauregard

Beaufort was captured by the Union Army as a part of a larger strategy of blockading Southern ports to prevent  commerce with Europe.

At the time of the Battle of Port Royal Sound, the Beaufort  volunteer infantry was  stationed at Bay Point Island, where residents used to hunt, fish  and camp.  Right now, conservationists are battling them proposed construction of a 4,000 square-foot villa on the island which is one of the last undeveloped barrier islands in South Carolina.

When I typed in Bay Point Island, the search showed a Fort Beauregard with the island.  This is one of the two Confederate forts defending Hilton Head Sound.

The Confederate fortification on the island was named Fort Beauregard  and was named Fort Seward after the Union capture of it in November 1861.

When Union forces arrived, officers of the Beaufort volunteers were having lunch and they quickly departed.  The Federal soldiers found  those lunches still on the table, uneaten.

--Old B-Runner

160 Years Ago, Union Forces Occupied Beaufort, S.C. That History Will Be Relived Saturday.

From the November 30, 2021, Island Packet by Karl Puckett.

The 160th anniversary of Beaufort's capture by Union forces -- which changed the outcome of the Civil War-- will be relived this weekend, and you can watch.

Live re-enactments of troops with the   79th New York Highlander Regiment and the 48th New York Infantry, Company F, will be conducted at the Arsenal Courtyard, 713 Craven Street from 10 am to 4:30 pm Saturday, December 4.

Admission is free, although donations will gladly be accepted.

In early December 1861, the two Army units being re-enacted were part of the Union occupation  of Beaufort after  the Union Navy success at the Battle of  Port Royal on November  7.  Port Royal Sound is the deepest natural harbor south of New York City and it became one of  the several  ports in the deep South to serve as bases for the Union blockading fleets.

Without these ports, the blockade would have been very difficult to enforce.  Plus, at the time, the Union was having very little success in its efforts to bring the Confederate states back into the Union.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Caswell: Third System of Forts, Captured Twice Early in the War

From NCpedia.  By Paul Branch.

The fort was named after North Carolina's first governor and Revolutionary War hero Richard Caswell (1729-1789), and was a permanent masonry  garrison fort built by  the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the eastern end of Oak Island in Brunswick County between 1826 and 1838.

It guarded the mouth of the Cape Fear River as part of a national chain of forts for coastal defense of the United States known as the Third System.  The fort was designed by  Brigadier General  Simon Bernard as an irregular  pentagon with a completely encircling outer wall, or covered way, and an interior main work that was loopholed for defense.

The fort was never fully armed, and, until 1861,  it was usually occupied by  army caretakers, usually a single ordnance sergeant.

Following South Carolina's secession from the Union, fears that the Federal government  would send troops to occupy North Carolina's forts, prompted secessionists in the state to seize Fort Caswell on January 9, 1861.  But, North Carolina had not yet seceded and the fort was returned to the United States.

However, after war had begun, North Carolina troops again took over Fort Caswell on April 16, 1861.

--Old B-Runner

The Fort Caswell You've Never Seen-- Part 2

The fort was named after former North Carolina Governor Richard Caswell.  It was built of  stone and earthworks and completed in 1836.  Located on the eastern tip of Oak Island, it juts out into the confluence of the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean.  During the Civil War, it kept Union ships out and away and provided assistance to the famed blockade runners coming into and out of Wilmington.

When the state seceded from the Union, the Confederate Army occupied it as part of Wilmington's defense.

However, after the nearby Fort Fisher was captured after a massive Union assault on January 15, 1865, orders came to spike Fort Caswell's guns, burn the barracks and explode the magazines.

Jim McKee formerly worked for the National Park Service and the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Southport.  He is an author and contributor of articles  on archaeology,  artillery, the Civil War  and Colonial subjects.  He is nationally certified in 18th and 19th century artillery.

--Old B-Runner

The Fort Caswell You've Never Seen-- Part 1: What You See Is Not What It Was

From the November 27, 2021, Wilmington (NC) Star-News Join Brunswick Civil War Round Table, discuss the Fort Caswell You've Never Seen" by Cheryl M. Whitaker.

"The Fort Caswell You've Never Seen" will be the topic for the Tuesday, December 7 meeting of the Brunswick  Civil War Round Table.  Local historian and site manager at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, Jim McKee will speak at the program which begins at 7 pm at Hatch Auditorium on Caswell Beach on the grounds of the North Carolina Baptist Assembly.

Everyone is welcome to attend.  Registration begins at  6:15 pm.  The visitor fee is $10, which can include a spouse, and could be applied toward the $25  annual membership dues.

What exists at the fort today is very different from the 19th century Fort Caswell.  McKee's unique presentation will how it as it was  during and immediately after the Civil War through rare photographs and  archival drawings, things that you can't see today during the infrequent tours given at the site.

--Old B-Runner

The Privateer Judah-- Part 3: A Firefight, Burning and Spiking

The four longboats commanded by Lt. John Henry Russell successfully floated past the first two lookout posts, but were spotted while passing the third one.  This was the one nearest to the harbor.

Raising the alarm, shots were fired between the guards and the Marines on the last Union boat.  Two, possibly three Marines were killed in the shooting and an equal number of Confederates  also died in the firefight.  But, in the poor light at the time, most of the fatalities were more by misfortune than accurately aimed shots.

Taking advantage of the melee behind them, Marines from the first two boats boarded the mostly deserted Judah and, under increasing danger from gunfire ashore, set her hull on fire.  Marines from the third boat meanwhile, landed  and spiked four 10-inch Columbiad cannons on the nearest shore battery manned by Confederate Marines of Company B commanded by Captain Alfred Van Benthuysen, before they too were forced back by Confederate gunfire.  (Alfred Van Benthuysen was later at Fort Fisher.)

--Old B-Runner

The Privateer Judah- Part 2: A Risky Plan Devised and Led By Lt. J.H. Russell

Aboard the USS Colorado was a man named  Ernest White, a specialist in ship construction and employed as a spy by the Federal government.  He devised a scheme by which the Colorado's longboats, under the cover of night, would slip past Confederate guards and destroy or severely damage the Judah where she was berthed.

After some delay, White's plan was approved and put into action. and in the early hours of September 14, 1861, a force of nearly 100 men made up of a mix of the Colorado's crew and shipboard Marines under the command of Lt. John Henry Russell cast off in four longboats.

Keeping in midwater and away from the shoreline, the force rowed quietly across the bay toward Pensacola Harbor.

The Confederate forces at Pensacola were commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg and numbered several thousand.  They were new troops and poorly trained manning a line of about four miles stretching from Fort McRee in the west eastward toward Fort Barrancas and the navy yard.

In addition, guards manned three  lookout points on the west side of the bay.

--Old B-Runner

The Privateer Judah-- Part 1

From the 290 Foundation "USS Colorado / Judah.

The William H. Judah was a 250-foot, two-masted schooner built c. 1859.  In early September 1861, Confederacy contacted with the Judah & LeBaron Co. for use  over an indefinite period of time to carry essential cargo.  The company evidently was sympathetic to the cause and  and didn't require guarantees as to its use.

Under command of Confederate officers, the Judah sailed from St. John, New Brunswick inn Canada, to Pensacola, Florida. with a mixed load of mercury, tin and lead ingots valued at some $40,000.  It ran the Union blockade and entered Pensacola Harbor with no problems.

Union spies reported the Judah's arrival and learned that the Confederates were intending to turn the ship into an armed privateer and urged the Union Navy to do something about it before that happened.

The 40-gun USS Colorado steam frigate got the call to do the job.

--Old B-Runner

John Henry Russell, USN: Sinking the Privateer Judah

From the Civil War Almanac.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1861

Lt. John H. Russell fights the first pitched naval engagement at Pensacola, Florida,  by sailing the USS Colorado past Confederate batteries at night and then leading  100 sailors and marines in a cutting-out expedition.  (The Colorado was under the command of Captain Theodorus Bailey.)

Russell's men storm and capture the privateer Judah after hand-to-hand fighting, burn it to the waterline, and withdraw unimpeded.

Several enemy artillery pieces are also taken and spiked while ashore.

Russell subsequently receives personal thanks from Abraham Lincoln and is feted by the War Department.

Confederate General Braxton Bragg, however, begins a planned Retaliation.

--Old B-Runner

The USS Russell (DD-414) Named for John Henry Russell, US Navy

Earlier this month I wrote about John Henry Russell, an officer in the U.S. Navy during the Mexican War and the Civil War.  He retired as a rear admiral.

This famous World War II destroyer, and one of the most decorated warships during that war, was named after this man, as is a current guided missile destroyer USS Russell.  (It is also named after his son, the 16th Commandant of the USMC, John Henry Russell, Jr.  I wrote about him in my Cooter's History Thing blog.)

I am writing about it in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II blog right now.

--Old B-Runner

David D. Wemple, USN-- Part 4: One of His Brothers Died in the War Also

From the US Naval Academy  Memorial Hall.

David Duane Wemple was admitted to the USNA from Wisconsin  from Wisconsin on September  24, 1858, at the age of  15 years, 3 months.

Three of his brothers served during the Civil War.; one was killed in action in March 1863.  (Actually died of a disease in Memphis, more on this in a later post in this blog.

David Wemple is listed as killed in action on the  panel in front of Memorial Hall (USNA) and is buried in Wisconsin.

--Old B-Runner

Re-Enactment at North Carolina's Fort Branch

From the November 5. 2021, Greenville (NC) Daily Reflector  "Fort Branch holds its annual re-enactment  this weekend."

The 35th Annual Fort Branch  Reenactment will be held this weekend at the fort's site on the Roanoke River near Hamilton in Martin County.

It starts at 9 am each day and has a battle at 1:30 pm.  The site features cannons that were actually mounted at the fort during the Civil War which were recovered from the river.

It was built by the Confederate Army as a defensive position overlooking a bend in the river to guard against Union warships coming up the river to attack a vital railroad bridge upriver at Weldon.

Each year, except, of course, for last year, hundreds of re-enactors come from across the eastern United States to give spectators an idea about what life was like back during the war.

There is a charge for parking and concessions to raise funds for upkeep and restoration efforts.

--Old B-Runner

David E. Wemple, USN-- Part 3: '...But Rejoice That I Died In a Glorious Cause'

From Find-A-Grave.

David was the son of  Peter Douw Wemple and Eliza (Davis) Wemple.  The Wemples had four sons who served during the Civil War.

David was killed aboard the USS Juanita when a 100 pound Parrott rifle he was standing behind burst at the breech, wounding him severely.  The gun was being fired against Fort Fisher.

The following is a portion of a letter he wrote to his parents on December 14, 1854:

"Dear  Father and Mother, We are on our way to Wilmington where we will most likely have a fight and perhaps a bad one. Of course, all of us must stand our chances in the fight, of being killed or wounded, and consequently I will.

"Should the fortunes of war deprive me of my life I would simply say that I will go willingly for the dear, dear old flag that protects me. I should prefer living to see this rebellion put down and our dear country once more enjoying peace and quiet, but if it is necessary I am willing to go now, and beg you all to give me up willing for our country and mourn not my loss, but rejoice that I died in a glorious cause-

"Our Country!  Let not my loss decrease your patriotism but let it increase it and willingly  sacrifice our all for our country and flag."

I'd say that Lt. Wemple had a premonition about his upcoming fight.

Lieut. Wemple is buried next to his brother, Capt. Adam Z. Wemple (who also died while serving the Union cause during the war).

--Old B-Runner

David E. Wemple, USN-- Part 2: Rising Through the Ranks

From Naval History and Heritage Command:  Navy Officers 1798 to 1900, W.

ACTING MIDSHIPMAN:   24 September 1858

ENSIGN:  25 November 1862

LIEUTENANT: 22 February 1864

KILLED:  24 December 1864  Fort Fisher

--Old B-Runner

This Veterans Day: In Honor of David D. Wemple, Lt. USN, Killed at Fort Fisher

I will be devoting seven of my blogs to Veterans Day 2021 today.

From the USNA Memorial Hall.

DAVID D. WEMPLE

BIRTH: June 21, 1843

DEATH:  December 24, 1864

AGE: 21

David Duane Wemple was admitted to the Naval Academy from Wisconsin on September 24, 1858, at the age of 15 years, 3 months.

From Find A Grave.

BIRTH:  21 June 1843  Steuben County, New York

DEATH:  24 December 1864  (aged 21)  Fort Fisher North Carolina

BURIAL:  Emerald Grove Cemetery   Emerald Grove, Wisconsin  (Lot 8, Grave 4)

--Old B-Runner

Happy Birthday CSMC!!!

From Wikipedia.

This little-known branch of the Confederate military was still a part of the original Continental Marines established 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia.

The Confederate States Marine Corps was  established by an act of the Confederate Congress on 16 March 1861.

Its original manpower was authorized at  45 officers and 944 enlisted men, but was increased on 24 September 1862 to 1,026 enlisted men.

The organization of the Corps began in Montgomery, Alabama, and was completed in Richmond, Virginia, when the capital moved to that city.

The CSMC headquarters and main training facilities in Richmond throughout the war at Camp Beall on Drewry's Bluff and at Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia until it was captured.

The last Confederate Marine group surrendered on April 9, 1865.

--Old B-Runner

John Henry Russell-- Part 2: Service in the Civil War and Afterwards

He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1848 and was briefly assigned to the Coast Survey and then made a cruise to Brazil in 1849 and served on the New York-West Indies mail line from 1853 to 1856 and then as navigator on the USS Vincennes during explorations of the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans.

Assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron at the end of the 1850s, he returned  to the United States for ordnance duty at the Washington Navy Yard just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.

In 1861, he participated in the effort to prevent Confederate troops from capturing the U.S. ships at Norfolk, Virginia.  In September, he led an expedition to Pensacola, Florida, to destroy the Confederate privateer Judah.

He next assumed command of the gunboat USS Kennebec and participated in operations on the Mississippi River as far north as Vicksburg and later in the blockade of Mobile.  In 1863 he was commanding the USS Pontiac and returned to ordnance duty in Washington in 1864 and then to the Pacific Squadron where he commanded the USS Cyane (the ship he began his naval career on) 1864 to 1865.

Various duties ashore and afloat, on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts followed and he completed his service as the Commandant of the Mare  Island Navy Yard in San Francisco in 1886.  Appointed to the rank of rear admiral on 4 March 1886, he retired  on 27 August and resided in Washington, D.C., until his death on 1 April 1897.

********************

In 1938, the destroyer USS Russell (DD-414) was named in his honor, while the USS Russell (DDG-59) is named in both his and his son's honor.

--Old B-Runner

John Henry Russell, USN: Mexican War and Civil War

From Wikipedia.

I have been writing about the guided missile destroyer USS Russell (DDG-59) in my Cooter's History Thing blog.  It is still an active duty warship and named after John Henry Russell Sr. and his son John Henry Russell, Jr.  

The father served during both the Mexican and Civil Wars and retired as a rear admiral.  The son was a major general and 16th Commandant of the USMC.  I'll write about him in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

*******************************

JOHN HENRY RUSSELL   (4 July 1827 - 1 April 1897)

John Henry Russell was born in Frederick, Maryland and appointed midshipman 10 September 1841 and served on the sloop of war USS Cyane in the Pacific until 1843.  Next, he served on the USS St. Mary's in the Gulf of Mexico and participated  in operations at Galveston, Corpus Crispi, Brazos, Resaca, and Vera Cruz.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Zachary Taylor-- Part 5: It's Also About Key West's Best Beach

The Department of the Interior turned Fort Zachary Taylor over to the state of Florida in 1976 and in 1985 the Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park opened.  It is the southernmost state park in the continental United States.

Before visiting, you should go to this site:  floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/fort-zachary-taylor-historic-state-park for updates on operations and information about events, including weekly Civil War reenactments at the site.

And at fortzacharytaylor.com/beach, you'll discover that the 54-acre park also boasts "Key West's best beach" for  swimming, snorkeling, fishing, and picnicking.  Or, simply sit back and enjoy one of Key West's fabulous sunsets that it is so famous for.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Zachary Taylor-- Part 4: All Those Buried Cannons

Then, the former  marine and civil service engineer Howard England began to unearth  Civil War cannons  buried within the walls of Fort Taylor.  In 1899, when  Army engineers removed the top two levels of he fort in order to build the Osceola and Adair Batteries, they built the batteries over the casemates (gun emplacements).

Nearly 200 Rodman, Columbiad and Parrot cannons  were buried with in the battery walls.  Many were excavated and are on display today, but others are still buried, some of them are embedded and some are partially visible in the stone walls of the batteries.

Howard England is the man responsible for the preservation of Fort Zachary Taylor, for his continued work over a ten year period that uncovered the largest collection of Civil War armaments in the United States, including cannons, guns, a desalinization plat and thousands of cannonballs and projectiles.

This earned Fort Zachary Taylor the protection of the U.S. government as a National  Historic Landmark in 1973.

Thanks Mr. England.  --Old B-Runner

Fort Zachary Taylor-- Part 3: Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II

The East Gulf Blockading Squadron captured more than 300 Confederate blockade runners during the war and continually harassed salt-making facilities along the coast.  The cargoes were taken to key West and put up for auction.

The end of the Civil War did not end the fort's history.

In 1898, the USS Maine sailed from Key West to Havana Harbor, Cuba, where, on February 15, at 9:40 p.m., a mysterious explosion wrecked the vessel, killing three quarters of its crew, propelling the United States into Cuba's war with Spain for independence.

During World Wars I and II, Fort Taylor remained on active duty.  Radar and 5-inch anti-aircraft guns were added to the fort's defenses during World War II.  With the end of this war, Fort Taylor's use ended.  From 1947 and for almost a quarter century the fort was used as a naval savage yard.

--Old B-R'er

 

Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West-- Part 2: A New Fort Built and Civil War Service

When both Spain and England had Key West, they thought about building a fort there, but nothing happened until Florida was ceded to the United States in 1821.  

The new owners immediately recognized the importance of it and began to develop the island. In less than a decade, Key West had a lucrative  wrecking, fishing, turtle hunting, sponging and salt water  manufacturing enterprises which made the city  the richest per capita in the United States.

In 1822, a site for a fort was selected in Key West.  This new fort would command the Florida Straits, a major shipping lane between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.  Key West was  one of the most strategically advantageous ports in the world for  commercial and military purposes.

The fort would be named after President Zachary Taylor, a hero of the Mexican War, and, of course. president.

In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, the East and West Martello Towers were added to the fort to serve as batteries and armories and railway tracks were laid to move munitions quickly from the towers to the fort.

During the war, Union commanders of the fort were tasked with defending the U.S. Navy's  East Gulf Blockading Squadron which had its headquarters in Key West.  This group of ships were primarily involved with maintaining a blockade along Florida's Gulf Coast.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West-- Part 1: Three Tiers and Lots and Lots of Cannons

From the October 31, 2021, Fort Myers (Florida) News-Press  "Florida History:  Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West" by Cynthia Williams.

Usually when you think of Key West, you don't think of military history.  Probably Duvall Street and all that partying and those sunsets.

But, Key West has a lot of military history.  Right there on Thompson Island just off the southwest tip of Key West stands Fort Zachary Taylor.  Built between1845 and 1866 of solid New England granite and ancient, impenetrable limestone.

It originally was a three-tier structure with cannons arranged along its 495-foot long, five-foot thick seaward walls -- 42 cannons to be exact, on each of its three levels, for a total of 126 cannons, each with a range of three miles.

--Old B-Runner

Recovery of the Monitor's Turret-- Part 5: Today

Among some of the artifacts recovered from the ship was a red signal lantern, possibly the one used  to send a distress signal to the USS Rhode Island and the last thing seen of the Monitor before it sank.  It was the first object recovered from the wreck site in 1977.

A gold wedding band was also recovered from the hand of one of the skeletal remains on one of the Monitor's crew members found in the turret.

Northrup Grumman  Shipyard in Newport News constructed a full-scale, non seaworthy model of the Monitor.  The replica was laid down in February 2005 and completed just two months later on the grounds of the Mariners' Museum.

The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary conducts occasional dives on the wreck of the monitor and record any changes in its condition and environment.

--Old B-Runner

Recovery of Monitor's Turret-- Part 4: Conservation Continues

In 2003, NOAA divers and volunteers returned to the Monitor with the goal of obtaining overall video of  the site to create a permanent record of the current conditions of the wreck after the turret recovery.  

Jeff Johnston of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (MNMS) also wanted a definitive image of the vessel's pilot house. During the dives, the Monitor's iron pilothouse was located near the bow of the vessel and documented for the first time by videographer Rick Allen, of Nautilus Productions, in its inverted  position.

Conservation of the propeller was completed nearly three years after its recovery, and it is in display in the Monitor Center  at the Mariners' Museum.  As of 2013,  conservation of the engine, its components, the turret and the guns continues.

The two Dahlgren cannons were removed from the turret in September 2004 and placed in their own conservation tanks.

--Old B-Runner

Recovery of the Monitor's Turret-- Part 3: Who Were the Two Remains Found in the Turret?

As archaeologists examined the contents of the turret after it had been landed on the Wotan, they discovered a second skeleton, but removing it did not begin until the turret arrived at the Mariners' Museum for conservation.  The remains of the two sailors were transferred to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Agency (JPAA)  at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, in hopes that they could be identified.

Only sixteen members of the Monitor's crew that were not rescued by the USS Rhode Island and forensic anthropologists at the JPAA were able to rule out the three missing black crewmen based on the shape of the femurs and skulls.    Among the most promising of the remaining 13 were crew members Jacob Nicklis, Robert Williams and William Bryan.  

But, a decade passed and no definite confirmation could be made.  On March 8, 2013, their remains were buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

--Old B-Runner

Recovery of the Monitor's Turret-- Part 2: Forty-One Days of Real Hard Work

The divers prepared the turret roof (which was at the bottom now because it had overturned when the ship sank) by excavating under the turret and placed steel beams and angle irons to reinforce it for its move t a lifting platform for the second stage of recovery.

A large eight-legged lifting frame, nicknamed "The Spider," was carefully maneuvered over the turret to move it onto the platform and the entire contraption and turret would be lifted by a crane aboard the Wotan vessel.

The divers discovered one skeleton in the turret on 26 July before the lift and spent a week carefully chipping about half of it free of the concreted debris; the other half was inaccessible because it was underneath the rear of one of the cannons.

With Tropical Storm  Cristobal closing in on the recovery team and time and money running out, the team made the decision to raise the turret on 5 August 2002.  After 41 days of work, the turret  broke the surface of the Atlantic Ocean at 5:30 pm to the cheers of everyone  aboard the Wotan and other nearby recovery ships.

--Old B-MonitorTurret

Recovery of the USS Monitor's Turret-- Part 1

I wrote about the GE Monitor top refrigerator in the last post (so-named because of its resemblance to the turret of the USS Monitor) and the death of  Phillip Carson Lee, who participated in the raising of the real turret in the post before that.

From Wikipedia  "Recovery."

The 2002 dive season was dedicated to the difficult task of trying to raise the 120 long-ton turret of the USS Monitor since the recovery of the whole ship was impossible because of deterioration.    This was the part Phillip Carson Lee participated in.  

Around 160 divers were assembled to remove  parts of the hull, including the armor belt, that lay on top of the turret.  (The turret had fallen off upside down as the ship sank and the hull had landed on top of it.)  They used chisels, exothermic cutting torches and 20,000 psi hydroblasters.  They removed as much  of the debris from inside the turret as possible to reduce the weight to be lifted.

This debris was mostly in the form of concreted coal as one of the ship's coal bunkers had ruptured and dumped much of its contents into the turret.

--Old B-Runner

Some More Information on the GE Monitor Top Refrigerators

Since I have been writing about monitors a lot lately.

A couple posts ago, I wrote about the unique (well, to me) refrigerator dating to the 1920s and 1930s.  It received its name because of the unique compressor on top of it that resembles you-know-what.

Since this is a historical appliance, I am writing about it in my Cooter's History Thing blog.  You can get to it by going to the My Blogs List section to the right of this and clicking on it.

--Old B-Runner

Death of Phillip Carson Lee: Participated in the USS Monitor Expedition

From September Legacy.

Funeral services for  Phillip Carson Lee , who passed away September 22, 2021,  were held September 29 at First Baptist Church of Picayune, Mississippi.

As a child, he found a niche n the Mississippi tug boat industry and became a captain.  He was proud to be a part of such companies as Tidewater, Gulf  Fleet, Delta Towing and American Offshore.

The highlight of his career was working alongside NOAA, the Naval Systems Command and the Mobile  Diving and Salvage  Unit  Two and the Wotan barge as support for the Monitor Expedition 2002 in their effort to recover the gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.

A Life Well-Lived.  

Anybody Remember a Monitor Refrigerator?

From the Santa Barbara (California) Independent  " 'Museum' on West Valerio" by Betsy J. Green.

There is am old home at 230 W. Velerio  Street in Santa Barbara which is like a walk back into time.  It was built in 1912 for $1,500.

So, you might just be asking what exactly does this have to do with anything regarding the Civil War Navy?

Well, it is full of old stuff.

Owners Robert Sponsel and Patricia Chidlaw have it looking like a museum, but it isn't.

One of the most interesting objects in the house  is a 1930s GE refrigerator.  These were commonly nicknamed "Monitor" refrigerators because the round compressor located on top of it resembled the gun turret of the USS Monitor of Civil War fame.

I Don't Remember It.  

But, Sure Beat the Old Ice Box.  --Old B-Compressor

Cannonballs Found Along the Coast in Alabama-- Part 2: Perdido Key

Following Hurricane Ida, military munitions were found  on the beaches of Perdido Key.

At this time, no more cannonballs have been found.  The GUIS stresses that the cannonballs are considered cultural artifacts and are protected by law (in case metal detector hunters  decide to come try to find some).  It is illegal to harm, deface, damage or remove these items.

Of course, if these cannonballs were detonated that means they were live and would definitely keep me from messing with them.

National Park Service archaeologists are preparing to travel to the site and conduct investigations.

The site will remain closed until it is deemed to be safe.

"Anywhere in the park you can come across munitions of some kind or another.  A flair, a mine.  Something that doesn't look quite right,"  Echolls said.  "We advise the public to leave them alone;  notify us or the area's emergency services personnel."

No Playing With Those Old Cannonballs!!   --Old B-Runner

Cannonballs Found Along Coast in Alabama-- Part 1

From the CBS 42 News: Alabama News:  "194 Civil War-era  cannonballs discovered, destroyed at Gulf Islands National Seashore" by Aspen Popowski.

The Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) closed on September 29 after cannonballs were found on Perdido Key.  Parts of Perdido Key also were closed and marked with signs.

"The park continues to monitor the area for newly discovered munitions and will secure the site(s) should any be found in the future," said Darrell Echols, GUIS Superintendent.  "Our goal is to ensure that the area is safe for visitors and staff, and that cultural resources are protected."

More than 190 cannonballs were detonated in September with aid from federal agencies.

"These are Civil War-era cannonballs, and what's unclear is whether they are Union or Confederate, whether they were  associated with Fort McRee or another type of facility," Echolls said.

--Old B-Runner

Naming Commission Still Undecided What to do With Confederate-Named Navy Ships-- Part 2

The two ships under consideration for renaming are the USNS Maury (T-AGS-66) and USS Chancellorsville (CG-62).

The Maury is an oceanographic survey ship named after Matthew  Fontaine Maury, who laid the foundation for modern oceanography and is considered o have written the first  oceanographic textbook.  He resigned form the U.S. Navy and joined the Confederate States Navy.  The Maury was delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2016.

The Chancellorsville is a guided missile cruiser named after the Battle of Chancellorsville which was a Confederate victory in 1863.  Confederate forces there were under the command of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

The Chancellorsville was commissioned in 1989, and contains minie balls and shell fragments from the battle in its hull.  A painting of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson hangs in the ship's wardroom as of 2016, and will also be considered for Confederadication.

While visiting the U.S. M.A. at West Point, the commission noted a painting of Lee there that showed him in a U.S. uniform while he was superintendent of that institution.  That picture an remain, but any of him in Confederate uniform will have to be removed.

--Old B-Runner

Naming Commission Still Undecided How to Handle Ships with Confederate Ties

From the September 30, 2021, USNI News by Heather Mongilio.

The full name of this commission to rename any and everything Confederate is a whopper.  It is:  

The Commission on Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States.

It goes by the shorthand name "The Naming Commission."

Right now, they are busy visiting the military bases named after Confederate leaders, but there is the possibility  that two ships will also fall under the axe as for their names.

They are:

USNS Maury  (T-AGS-66)

USS Chancellorsville  (CG-62)

--Old B-Runner

How Fort Fisher Came To Be on Pleasure Island-- Part 3

However, locals hated the name, finding it somewhat sleazy. The residents of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach especially were unwilling to give up their individual community names.

The town of Carolina Beach even went so far as to  put the name of "Pleasure Island" on a ballot and have a vote on it.  Carolina Beach voted overwhelmingly against it.

However, the Chamber and some others continue to use the name Pleasure Island for the area as being convenient to describe the resort area.

Our society, the federal Point Historical Society Association continues to use the historical name  for the area which includes everything north of Snow's Cut to Monkey Junction to Fort Fisher, including Myrtle Grove, Masonboro, The Cape, Seabreeze, Carolina Beach, (Wilmington Beach and Hanby Beach were incorporated into the towns of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach in the 1990s) Kure Beach and Fort Fisher.

--Old B-Runner

How Fort Fisher Came to Be on Pleasure Island-- Part 2

In the late 1800s communities were developed on the lower Federal Point peninsula (between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean).  They were the communities/beach resorts of Carolina Beach, Wilmington Beach, Hanby Beach, Kure Beach (first called Fort Fisher Sea Beach as it was right by Fort Fisher).

In 1930, Snow's cut was made across the Federal Point peninsula which, in effect, turned the peninsula south of the cut (which is by where the bridge is) into an island.  Snow's Cut was a part of the Intercoastal Waterway.  After that, the area began to grow and the communities began tom merge their identities.  

In particular, Wilmington Beach and Hanby Beach began losing their identity.

In the 1970s,  the local Chamber of Commerce, local realtors and some local businessmen decided they needed a single name for all the communities on the new "island" for promotional purposes.  They came up with "Pleasure Island."  The state of North Carolina even adopted it into the official state map for a year or two.

So, It Was a Promotional Thing.  --Old B-Runner

How Fort Fisher Came to Be in Pleasure Island (and Federal and Confederate Point)

From the October 3, 2021, Wilmington (North Carolina) Star-News "What's the story behind the 'Pleasure Island' name?"

Anyone visiting Fort Fisher might see it advertised as being on Pleasure Island or Federal Point.

QUESTION:  When and how did Pleasure Island get its name?  I assume it was just called Federal Point then.

ANSWER:   Rebecca Taylor, manager of the Federal Point History Center explains it this way.

 James Sprunt, long-time historian of the lower Cape Fear River area, says Federal Point was named  in honor of the new Federal Constitution adopted in 1788.  During the Civil War, the name obviously was changed to Confederate Point after North Carolina seceded from the United States.  The name was changed back to Federal Point after the war.

But, what does that have to do with Pleasure Island as a name for the area?

Continued.  --Old B-Runner

Confederate Shipbuilding in England

From the September 19, 2021, Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) ) "Confederate ships topic for BRCWRT" by George Morris.

Patrick Martin spoke  about Confederate ships made in England before the Baton Rouge Civil War Round Table on August 19.

Martin noted that at the beginning of the Civil War,  the Confederacy  did not have a Navy of facilities to construct and equip warships.  Confederate states did not have the industrial base of the North, so shipbuilding was undertaken on a much smaller scale.

Early in the war, Union General Winfield Scott drew up a strategy known as the Anaconda Plan to restrict  water access to Southern ports, which would  deny the Confederacy   of needed supplies.

This would be the blockade of the Southern coast.

Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory immediately embarked in a program that involved foreign shipyards to build ocean-going ships  to draw the Union Navy away from the South and disrupt international commerce going to the North.

Three commerce raiders were built for the Confederacy  in Liverpool, England.  The most famous of these was the CSS Alabama commanded by Captain, later Admiral, Raphael Semmes, which sank 64 Union vessels until it was sunk by the USS Kearsarge in the English Channel.

Semmes was rescued from the channel by a yacht and taken to England where he was received as a hero.

The other two ships were the CSS Florida and CSS Shenandoah.

After the war, England was made to pay damages by the ships built for the Confederacy.

--Old B-Runner

Talking About the Union Blockade-- Part 2: Has Written Three Books on Civil War Navy History

Robert M. Browning has published  "From Cape Charles to the Cape Fear" which chronicles the establishment of the crucial blockade from the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay to the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.   This stretch included the important sites of   the inland waters of the Chesapeake Bay, the James river (going to Richmond) and the North Carolina Sounds.

He has also published  "Success Was All That Was Expected,"  a history of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron that blockaded the coast of the Confederacy  from the Cape Fear River to Florida.  This story covers  the harrowing engagements between ships and forts, daring amphibious assaults and the evolution of submarine warfare in the form of the H.L. Hunley.

Yet another Browning book is "Lincoln's Trident" about the blockade in the Gulf of Mexico.

Obviously, Mr. Browning knows his naval history.

The meeting will be at 7 pm, Thursday, October 14 in Room 226 at the Harbor United Methodist Church at 4853 Masonboro Loop Road, Wilmington.

Another one I'd love to be at, but I'm over 1100 miles away and don't do Zoom.

Oh, Well.  --Old B-Runner

Talking About the Union Blockade-- Part 1: Cape Fear Civil War Round Table

From the October 3, 2021, Wilmington (North Carolina) Star-News "Wilmington's Cape Fear Civil War Round Table, discuss the Union blockade: by Cheryl M. Whitaker.

Robert M. Browning, Jr., will be the guest speaker at the Cape Fear Civil War Round Table Thursday, October 14 at the Harbor United  Methodist Church.  His topic will be the Union blockade during the Civil War.

He is the retired historian of the Coast Guard and an acknowledged expert on the blockade.  His topic will be "How Did Naval Power Contribute to the Winning of the War."

Abraham Lincoln  proclaimed a blockade on  the 3,500 miles of Confederate coastline on April 19, 1861, soon after the fall of Fort Sumter.

The role of the U.S. Navy in the war was crucial to Union victory.  When the blockade was declared, there were only three  warships ready for duty to maintain that blockade, but by the end of the war, the Navy had grown in size to671 ships of all sizes and types from the revolutionary new monitor ironclads to small shallow draft wooden gunboats.

--Old B-Runner

About the Confederate Navy

From the October 3, 2021, Advocate (Louisiana) "Mark  K. Vogl spoke about the Confederate Navy when the Baton Rouge Civil War Round Table met  Sept. 23."

At the beginning of the war, the South did not have a Navy.  In February 1861, the Confederacy had  only 14 ships that were seaworthy  while the North already had an organized Navy with 90 functional ships.

The overwhelming industrial capacity of the North made it clear that the South could not produce as many ships, so Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory relied on technological innovation and ship-building assistance from foreign countries to make the Confederacy competitive.

His strategy centered on commerce raiding with innovative ships like the CSS Alabama, which used both sail and steam; the use of powerful rifled  naval guns, which were devastating against wooden ships; development of ironclad  ships of war, like the CSS Virginia; and the use of innovative mines, torpedoes, submarines, like the H.L. Hunley.

Vogl said that against incredible odds, the commerce raiders damaged the Union economy and forced the North to reassign blockading ships to hunt down the elusive raiders.

However, their successes were short-lived because of the North's ability to out-produce similar ships.   Vogl said the small, but innovative Confederate Navy was a valuable resource for the South.  It helped protect Confederate harbors and keep them open as well as interrupting seagoing Northern commerce.  Those ports they helped keep open provided much-needed supplies coming in from abroad.

--Old B-Runner

Confederate Submarine Attraction in South Carolina Reopens-- Part 2

The Hunley sank a Union blockading ship, the USS Housatonic by ramming it with a torpedo attached to a spar at the front of the ship.  A half-century would pass before another submarine would sink and enemy warship during World War I.

Unfortunately for the Hunley, it sank to the bottom itself while returning from the attack on the Housatonic.  All eight men aboard died.

Many theories have been advance over the years as to what happened to cause the Hunley to sink.  Some think perhaps it was too close to the explosion and that they were knocked unconscious or perhaps miscalculated how long their oxygen will hold while submerged.

Scientists hope to determine the cause of the ship's sinking when the entire vessel's exterior and interior is cleaned of the sea buildup in the next several years.

The Hunley was raised from the sea floor in 2000.  Scientists have spent seventeen years collecting human remains (all aboard were found) and restoring the vessel.

--Old B-R'er

Confederate Submarine Attraction in SC Reopens

From the June 19, 2021, U.S. News & World Report  from AP.

The doors to a Confederate submarine on display in North Charleston, South Carolina, fully opened yesterday after being shut down by the you-know-what.

The grand opening of the Hunley, the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship, will be marked with the launch Saturday of a new visitor experience that uses "cutting edge digital animation, live footage and a light show to tell the submarine's story according to officials at the site.

"We were  able to greatly enhance our  visitor experience while we had to keep our doors closed," said Friends of the Hunley Executive Director Kellen Butler.

The Hunley and her 7,500 square feet of associated exhibits are in a conservation laboratory.  The operating hours are  Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm.  Preplanned school and group tours are  available during the week.

--Old B-Runner

Death of Col. Charles Fisher and First Battle of Manassas-- Part 4

Fort Fisher was named for this man.

From the July 24, 1861, Wilmington (NC) Daily Journal.

"We are pained  to see the death of Col. Fisher confirmed by the Raleigh Register."

"The Register says that it learns the 11th  Regiment, commanded by  Col. Kirkwood, the 13th by Col. Hoke, the 6th by Col. Fisher and the 5th by  Col. McRae, were engaged in the battle.

"We  have made enquiry at Richmond, relative to our friends now in Virginia, but the wires are so much engaged that we will not  be able to receive an answer before late this afternoon -- if before  to-morrow morning."

--Old B-Runner

Death of Col. Charles F. Fisher-- Part 3

Fort Fisher was named for this man who was killed at the Battle of First Bull Run/Battle of Manassas.

From the July 24, 1861, Wilmington Daily Journal.

News from July 23, 1861, Richmond Dispatch.

"The body of Col. Fisher, of the North Carolina Sixth Regiment,  who passed through here a few days ago at the head of a splendid command, was brought down by train last night; also, three others,  whose names we did not learn."

--Old Secesh

Death of Col. Charles F. Fisher at Manassas-- Part 2

Continued from June 6, 2021.

Fort Fisher, North Carolina, was named after Col. Charles F. Fisher who was killed at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas).

"We fear that the reported death of Col. Fisher, of the Sixth North Carolina State Troops, is only too true.   A better or braver man was not on the field.

"If Mr. Fisher had had the choice of his own death, it seems to us , knowing the man as we do, that he  would have asked  for no more glorious end than that which he has met.

"He now rests well and quietly.    He occupies the grave of a Christian, a gentleman, a soldier and a patriot.  It is all that he asked for."

--Old B-Runner

Cmdr. Mullany Turns Temporary Command of USS Bienville Over to Lt. Howison

I wrote about J.R.M. Mullany in connection to commanding the USS Oneida at the battle of Mobile Bay  several months ago.  He had been in command of the USS Bienville, but had requested that Farragut assign him to the command of a ship that was to take part in the battle.

From Digital Alabama.

ORDER OF COMMANDER MULLANY TO LIEUTENANT  HOWISON, U.S. NAVY TO ASSUME TEMPORARY COMMAND OF THE U.S.S. BIENVILLE.

U.S.S.Bienville

Off Mobile Bar, Ala., August 3, 1864,

SIR:

Agreeably to  instructions received by me from the admiral.

commanding, you will assume command of this ship, for the present, in my temporary absence.

I am, respectively, your obedient servant,

J.R.M. Mullany,

Commander

Lieutenant H.L. Howison, Executive Officer, U.S.S. Bienville, off Mobile Bar.

--Old B-Runner

Some More Eastern North Carolina Civil War Sites

The last three posts were restricted to just ten sites and did an excellent job of featuring them, but there are more sites, including:

Port O' Plymouth in Plymouth.

Fort Branch  on the Roanoke River near Hamilton.

The CSS Neuse Center and CSS Neuse II in Kinston.

The Battle of Goldsboro Bridge in Goldsboro.

The Battle of White Hall (Seven Springs) in Wayne County.

--Old B-Runner

Top 10 Civil War Sites in Eastern N.C.-- Part 3: Fort Raleigh, Fort Macon, Bentonville, Averasboro

7.  FORT RALEIGH  NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE in Manteo.

Contains the remains of Roanoke Colony (The Lost Colony) the first English settlement in the New World (before Jamestown).  Visitors center and museum about the colony as well as the Freedman's Colony established there during the war for former slaves liberated by Union Gen. John G. Foster.

8.  FORT MACON STATE PARK in Atlantic Beach.

Site of the April 1862 Battle of Fort Macon.    In tact fortifications and masonry.

9.  BENTONVILLE BATTLEFIELD in Four Oaks (near Goldsboro).

The Battle of Bentonville fought March  19-21 was the largest fought in the state.  This was a final attempt by Confederates to stop Union Gen. Sherman's onslaught across the Carolinas.

10.  AVERASBORO BATTLEFIELD MUSEUM in Dunn.

The Battle of Averasboro was fought in 1865 to slow the Union advance of Fayetteville during Sherman's Carolinas Campaign.

--Old B-R'er

Top 10 Civil War Sites in Eastern N.C.-- Part 2: Fort Anderson, Battle of Kinston and Roanoke Island

4.  BRUNSWICK TOWN / FORT ANDERSON in Winnabow (near Wilmington).

Brunswick Town was a Colonial era town.  Fort Anderson was built across its remains to protect Wilmington along the Cape Fear River.  Visitor center, walking trails and preserved earthen fortifications.

5.  FIRST BATTLE OF KINSTON CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD PARK in Kinston.

The park was the site of the First Battle of Kinston fought in late 1862 pitting some 2,400 Confederates against 12,000 Union soldiers.

6.  ROANOKE ISLAND in Outer Banks, Dare County.

The Battle of Roanoke Island took place early in 1862.  More than 20,000 soldiers and close to 60 vessels took part on the two sides.

--Old B-Runner

Top 10 Civil War Sites in Eastern North Carolina-- Part 1: New Bern, and Fort Fisher

From the September 8, 2021, New Bern (NC) Sun-Journal by  Todd Wetherington.

1.  NEW BERN BATLEFIELD PARK in New Bern.    

Includes more than 30 acres of the battlefield which took place March 14, 1862.  There is a history walk now which includes 35 interpretive panels of the battle and impact on New Bern.

2.  NEW BERN ACADEMY in New Bern.

Located four blocks from the Tryon Palace, built in 1809 as a school for boys and girls.   Used as a hospital during the war and recruitment place for the 35th USCT.   Today it is a museum.

3.  FORT FISHER in Kure Beach.

You might say I've written a little bit about this place.

--Old B-Runner

The Fates of the Uragan-Class Russian Monitors-- Part3

**  PERUN (Perun)--  Laid up and decommissioned in 1900 after which, she served as a pilot ship, being renamed Lotsiia (Pilot) in 1915.  She was badly damaged during the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921.  She was later flooded and deliberately run aground in 1924 and broken up by the end of 1925.

**  VESCHUN (Soothsayer)--    Laid up and decommissioned in 1900.  She was then converted into a  coal barge and renamed Barzha No. 44 and then Barzha No. 327.  She was abandoned by the Russians when they withdrew from Helsinki in April 1918 and broken up by the Finns in the 1920s.

**  KOLDUN (Sorcerer)--  Laid up and decommissioned in 1900.  She was then converted into a coal barge and renamed Barzha No. 31, then Barzha No. 50 and finally Barzha No. 323.  She was abandoned by the Russians in April 1918 and broken up by the Finns in the 1920s.

--Old B-R'er

The Fates of the Uragan-Class Russian Monitors-- Part 2

**  BRONENOSETS (Armadillo)--    Laid up and decommissioned in 1900.  She was then converted into a coal barge and renamed Barzha No. 34, the Barzha No.  51 and finally Barzha No. 3234.  She sank in the Gulf of Finland during a storm in World War I.

**  LATNIK (Cuirassier)-- Laid up and decommissioned in 1900.  She was then converted into a coal barge and renamed Barzha No. 38 and then Barzha No. 326.  She was abandoned by the Russians when they withdrew from Helsinki in 1918, and she was broken up by the Finns in the 1920s.

**  LAVA (Avalanche)--  Laid up and decommissioned in 1900. She was hulked and renamed  Blokshiv No. 1, and served as a mine depot until 1916, when she was converted into a hospital barge.  She was abandoned by the Russians when they withdrew from Helsinki in April 1918, but later returned to Russia by the Finns.  Probably broken up in the 1920s, but her hull might even have survived until World War II.

--Old B-Runner

The Fates of the Uragan-Class Monitors-- Part 1

From the 6 September 2019 Wargaming  Miscellany site "The Russian Monitor Strelets."

URAGAN (HURRICANE)

Laid up and decommissioned in 1900.

TIFON  (TYPHOON)

Decommissioned in 1900.  Hulked and served as a mine depot from 1909 and broken up in the 1920s.

STRELETS  (MUSKETEER)

Laid up in 1900.    Hulked and renamed the Plavmasterskaia No. 1, and served as a floating workshop until 1955.  Her hull still remains afloat in Kronstadt.

EDINOROG (UNICORN)

Laid up 1900.  She was hulked , renamed Blokshiv No. 4, and served as a mine depot from 1912.  She was abandoned by the Russians when they withdrew from Helsinki in April 1918, but she was later returned by the Finns.

The ship was renamed  as Blokshiv No. 2 in 1932 and survived World War II.  She was renamed again in 1949 and became the BSh-2, an abbreviated form of Blokshiv No. 2.  She was stricken in 1957 and thought to have been handed over to the Kronstadt Yacht Club for use as a storage barge.  Her ultimate fate is unknown.

--Old B-RussMonitor

Russian Monitor Strelets-- Part 4

From the Abandoned Warships site.  "Russian Monitor Strelets"  Video.  (Definitely something to check out.)

When the Strelets was converted into a floating workshop in 1901, construction workers added an additional hull over the monitor hull.  Only the lower part of the hull showing is the actual hull.  The current photographs show mostly the added hull on the ship.  Remember that monitors rode low in the water.

The narrator isn't sure if the original turret is preserved within the hull, but doesn't think it is.  I'm fairly sure it was removed, but wouldn't that be something if it was still there.  The guns, of course, would have been removed.

**************************************

There is also an extended discussion on the Civil War Talk site about the Strelets from May 17, 2017, "Russian Monitor To Be Restored."

--Old B-Runner

Russian Monitor Strelets-- Part 3: This Ship Has Seen a Lot of History

While serving as a permanent workshop at Kronstadt Navy Base, she saw a lot of history go by.    She witnessed the Russian Baltic fleet sail away to its destruction during the Russo-Japanese  War in 1904-1905, supported operations against the Germans (1914-1917) in the Great War, witnessed the  Red Fleet arise during the Revolution, withstood the British during  the Russian Civil War, survived the storming of Kronstadt  by the Reds in 1921, lent her shops to the Red Banner Fleet against the Finns (1939-40)  then the Germans again (1941-45).

In all, she spent 90 years on Russian rolls in one form or another.

After leaving navy service,  she was in a variety of roles in and around Leningrad/St. Petersburg and in 2015, was found in floating condition, her internals still showing  off those classic  Civil War lines.

She has since been  recovered by a group  terming itself "The Foundation for Historic Boats", who , together with  the Russian Central Military History Museum, are attempting to restore her to a more monitor-like condition.

She could very-well be the oldest monitor remaining afloat.

(From the looks of the recent picture of the ship I'd say they have a REALLY long way to go, but wish them a whole lot of luck.

--Old B-Runner

Russian Monitor Strelets-- Part 2

From the June 21, 2017,laststandonzombie island  "Warship Wednesday:  The Tsar's Everlasting Musketeer.

The article also has an in depth look at U.S.-Russian relations during the Civil War.

Strelets means Sagittarius of the Zodiac. but also was the name of an early corps on musketeers established in  the 16th century and retained until Peter the Great decided to get rid of them.

She was laid down at the Galernyi Island Shipyard, Saint Petersburg  on 1 December  1863, just weeks after her plans had been obtained from the United States and commissioned  15 June 1865 and built at a cost of 1.1 million rubles alongside her sister Edinorog.  These two monitors were the last of ten completed.

Rapidly obsolete by  the end of the 19th century, on February 1, 1892, the Strelets and her nine sisters  were reclassified as  coastal defense ships (which is essentially all they had done in the intervening years.

By 1900 all ten were withdrawn from service and disarmed.

While many were  soon scrapped, the Strelets was reclassified as a floating workshop at Kronstadt on 22 February 1901 and was retained in service until 1955.

--Old B-Runner

Russian Monitor Strelets May Become a Museum Ship

From the October 18, 2018, Mechtraveller by Alastair.

And, remember, the Strelets was a Uragan-class Russian monitor built to the specs of a American Passaic-class monitor from the Civil War.  So, in effect, it would be a Union Civil War monitor.

The TASS news agency today is reporting comments made by  Russia's Deputy Defense  Minister Colonel-General  Andrei Kartapolov about the 19th century armored gunboat, the Strelets.

The Strelets was a 200 ft Uragan class, armored monitor.  She joined the Baltic Fleet in 1865 and was taken out of service in  1900 to be used until 1955 by the Russian Navy as a floating workshop at the Kronstadt Navy base outside St. Petersburg, where she was rediscovered in 2015.

Speaking at a press conference in St. Petersburg earlier today, Colonel-General Kartopolov said, "I discussed  this theme with the Navy's commander-in-chief earlier today.  In Kronstadt there is a unique  ship called the Strelets.  It is older than the Aurora.  We plan to turn it into a museum."

He said that the restoration work on the ship will begin soon with a view to having it  ready for public display by the 75th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. - 9 May 2020.

Looking Forward to It.  --Old B-Runner

USS New York (LPD-21)-- Part 5

The commissioning ceremony for the USS New York took place on November 7, 2009, in New YorkCity.    Speakers included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Governor  David Paterson, Mayor Michael Blomberg, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead and Commandant of the Marine Corps General James T. Conway.

Approximately one in seven plank owners are from New York  state, a larger number than usual.  A plank owner is a member of a ship's company when it is commissioned.

The commissioning took place at the Intrepid Museum, Pier 88 South, Pier 86 North, NYC, NY.

USS New York (LPD-21)-- Part 4: Christening and a Salute to the WTC

Dotty England, the ship's sponsor and wife of Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England,  smashed the traditional champagne bottle on the ship's bow and christened the ship New York.    Gordon R. England had been Secretary of the Navy when the request for the ship's name had come to him and approved it.

Gordon R. England was also there for the christening along with other dignitaries including Louisiana  Congressman William J. Jefferson, members of the New York City Police Department, members of the New York City Fire department,  and family members of victims of the 9/11 attacks.

The champagne bottle did not break the first time it was struck against the hull of the New York, but the second attempt was successful.

The ship was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 21 August 2009 at New Orleans.  She set sail for Norfolk, Virginia, on 13 October 2009.  On 2 November 2009 the ship passed the World Trade Center site for the first time and gave the site a 21-gun salute.

USS New York (LPD-21)-- Part 3: Part of WTC in the Ship's Bow

Seven and a half short tons of steel used in the construction of the New York came from the rubble of the World Trade Center;  this represents less than one thousandth of the total weight of the ship.  The steel was melted down at Amite  Foundry and Machine in Amite, Louisiana, to cast the ship's bow section.  

It was poured into molds on 9 September 2003, with 7 short tons cast to form the ship's "stem bar" -- part of the ship's bow.  The foundry workers reportedly  treated the metal with "reverence usually accorded to religious artifacts," gently touching  it as they walked by.  One worker  delayed his retirement after 40 years of working to be part of the project.

The New York was christened on 1 March 2008, in a ceremony at  at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans.

USS New York (LPD-21)-- Part 2: Her Sister Ships Also Named for 9/11 Sites

On 9 September 2004, Gordon R. England, then Secretary of Defense,  announced that two of the USS New York's sister ships would be named Arlington and Somerset in commemoration of the places where two other planes used in the attacks came down:  Arlington County, Virginia, and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

A symbolic amount of steel from the World Trade Center after it was destroyed during the 9/11 attacks, was used in the construction of the New York.

The ship is the first built designed fully from the CAD-screen up to support both  of the Marine primary capabilities, LCAC  landing craft and MV-22B Osprey aircraft.

The contract to build the ship was awarded to Northrop  Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2003 and was under construction when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

USS New York (LPD-21),The World Trade Center Rises Again-- Part 1

From Wikipedia. 

A San Antonio -class amphibious  transport dock, and the fifth ship in the U.S. Navy to be named after the state of New York.

I have been writing about her sister ship, the USS Green Bay (LPD-20) in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

Shortly after September 11, 2001, New York governor George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of Navy Gordon R. England requesting that the Navy bestow the name  "New York" to a surface ship involved in the Global War on Terror to honor the victims of the September 11 terror attacks.  

In his letter, the governor said he understood state names were now reserved for submarines but asked for special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship.  The request was approved on 28 August 2002.

Russian Monitor Strelets

STRELETS

(1865-1900)  Like the Uragan and Tifon, not much is known about her career.  She was present when the American warships Miantonomah (double-turreted monitor) and Augusta visited Kronstadt in July-August  1866.  

On 21 July 1875, the Russian two-turret monitor Admiral Chichagov ran aground and the Strelets was sent to help her the following day.  While assisting with the rigging of a hawser between the Admiral Chichagov and the armored frigate Sevastopal, the hawser unexpectedly slid across the Strelet's deck, injuring the ship's executive officer and a bosun, who later died of his injuries.

Coal and equipment were removed from the grounded Admiral Chichagov, but it was not enough to refloat her.  Finally, several barges and a floating crane came out from Kronstadt and the Chichagov was pulled free on July 25.

The Strelets was reclassified as a coast-defense ironclad on 13 February 1892 and turned over to the port of Kronstadt for disposal  6 July 1900, although she was not stricken from the navy list until August 17.  It was converted into a floating workshop the next year and renamed the Plavmasterskaia No. 1.

She remained in service until the end of 1955.

The Strelets was discovered intact at St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2015.

Now, this last bit of information has piqued my interest a great deal.

--Old RussianMonitor

I Was Just Looking at the Photos of the Nantucket and the Uragan-Class Monitors and It Struck Me; They Were Sister Ships, Different Navies

Just to the right of these posts at this time is a picture of the American monitor USS Nantucket (which took that beating at the Battle of Fort Sumter in 1863) and the Russian Uragan-class monitor above it.

I started writing about the USS Nantucket on August 12 and continued until August 18 after seeing that our newest U.S. Navy ship named the Nantucket had just been launched.  It is the USS Nantucket (LCS-27), a Littoral Combat Ship.

That led to the Civil War USS Nantucket.

Then, the next article I came across was about the Russian monitor Novgorod.  To say he least, it was quite a peculiar-looking ship (the picture is also to the right of this at this time).  From there, I found there was a whole class of Russian monitors that even more closely resembled American monitors than did the Novgorod.

The Uragan-class of Russian monitors was built to the specs of the U.S. Passaic-class monitors and the USS Nantucket was a Passaic-class monitor.

So a Russian sailor from a Uragan monitor would definitely feel right at home on the USS Nantucket.

A Sister From Another Mother As It Were.  --Old B-Runner

Russian Monitor Uragan-- Part 2

The lead ship of her class and based on the designs of the Union's Passaic-Class monitors.

She entered Russian service in 1865 and cost nearly double what was proposed.  She was assigned to the Baltic Fleet.  All of her sister ships except the Latnik, made a port visit to Stockholm, Sweden July-August 1865.

Sometime after she was completed, an armored ring was fitted around the base of the turret to prevent splinters from jamming it.  Later an armored bulwark  was fitted to the top of the turret to provide protection for crewmen up there.

Three sponsons were added, probably during the 1870s,  to the upper portion of each turret to mount a light gun, probably a 1,75-inch Engstrem gun.

Little is known about the ship's naval career except that she was laid up each winter when the Gulf of Finland froze.  She was reclassified as a coast defense  ironclad on February 13, 1892.  It was stricken in August 1900 and in 1903, was converted into a coal barge with the removal of its turret, her side armor and wooden backing.

It served in that capacity until it was abandoned by the Soviets when they were forced to withdraw from Finland according to the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and was later scrapped by the Fins.

--Old B-Runner

The Russian Monitor Uragan-- Part 1

From Wikipedia,

Not much is known of the career of the Russian monitor Uragan.

It cost 1,105,800 rubles and was launched 27 May 1864, out of service 6 July 1900.

Length:  201 feet

Beam:  46 feet

Crew:  96-110

Armament:

1865:  Two nine-inch smoothbores

1868:  Two 15-inch Rodman guns

1873:  Two 9-inch rifled guns

--Old B-Runner

Monitors of Russian Uragan-Class

They were constructed two each at five different shipyards.

NEW ADMIRALITY YARD

Uragan--  Laid up and decommissioned  1900

Tifon--  Laid up 1900.  Hulked as mine depot 1909.  Broken up in the 1920s.

GALERNIY ISLAND YARD

Strelets--  Laid up 1900.    Hulked as floating workshop late 1910s.    Hull remains to present day.

Edinorog--  Laid up 1900.  Hulked as a mine depot 1909.  Broken up in the 1950s.  Served in Vladivostock.

CARR AND MACPHERSON

Bronenosets--    Hulked as coal barge and decommissioned in 1900.

Latnik--  Hulked as coal barge and decommissioned 1900.

NEVSKY FACTORY

Lava--    Laid up 1900.  Hulked as hospital barge 1911.  Broken up in the 1920s.

Perun--  Laid up 1900.  Sank 1921.    Broken up 1925.

COCKERILL & CO.

Veschun--  Hulked as a coal barge and decommissioned 1900.  Involved in accident with Russian monitor Admiral Chichagov.

Koldun--    Hulked as a coal barge and decommissioned 1900.

--Old B-Runner

The Russian Uragan Monitor Class-- Part 2

Russian Naval Architect N. Artseulov was sent to the U.S. to join Russian Naval Attachee Captain  Stepan Stepanovich Lessovsky to help assess first-hand the advantages and disadvantages of American monitors.

On 11 March 1863, the Russian Admiralty approved a program to build ten monitors  to the American monitor Passaic-class plans.  The decision to use the American plans was based on lack of time, money and inexperience in building ironclads.

A larger monitor with two turrets, the Smerch, was also approved and launched in 1864.

In their first eight years of operation, three different kinds of artillery pieces were used.  An order was placed with the Krupp ordnance factories in Germany for nine inch smoothbores which was used in the monitors at first.  In 1864, artillery specialist  Filemon  N. Pestich returned from America with technology  for the production of  15-inch Dahlgren guns of the type used on the American Passaic monitors and a factory was established to make them.

The first 15-inch Dahlgrens became available for the Uragan monitors in 1869.  Unlike the American ships, the Uragan ones did not use a mixed armament of 15-inch and a smaller one.  New 9-inch breech-loading rifled guns were placed on the ships beginning in 1973.

As the monitors were hulked in 1900, these guns were removed and later served in Peter the Great's Naval Fortress.

--Old B-Runner

'Heirlooms, Antiques, and Militaria' program at CSS Neuse

From the Neuse News, Kinston, North Carolina.

Well, its too late now, but glad to see the CSS Neuse doing things to keep in the public eye and increase attendance.

This past Saturday, August 28, from 10 am to 4 pm you can learn about those old things grandpa and grandma left you at the CSS Neuse Interpretive Center in Kinston.

This will be handled by the site's  staff members and friends who have a variety of historical interests.  they are well-versed in firearms from the 18thcenturythrough World War II.

They even say that is they don't know what it is, they will check their reference works and online resources.  They can also give you tips on how to best restore and preserve the items.  In addition, they are always looking for items from Eastern North Carolina during the war.

The CSS Neuse is the only remaining  commissioned Confederate ironclad above water.  It was part of a new technology that the Confederacy used to combat the superior manpower and firepower of the Union Navy.

The shop's hull remains.

The CSS Neuse Center is a part of the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

--Old B-Runner

The Russian Monitor Uragan-Class-- Part 1

It is interesting that Russia is the only other major naval power to have monitors along the design of the Union Navy.

From Wikipedia.

The Uragan-class was a class on monitors built for the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy.  The ships were built to the plans of the American Passaic-Class of monitors.  A total of ten different ships were constructed  at five different shipyards in Saint Petersburg, all entering Russian service in 1865.  They were among the first Russian ironclads.

These ships were built in response to fears of a standoff with Britain and a repeat of the Crimean War.  Only this time with Britain's intentions on the Russian capital at Saint Petersburg.

Americans mistook Russian defensive moves as an indicator of support for the Union cause in the Civil War.

A Russian monitor program was started as soon as news of the  Battle of Hampton Roads reached Europe.

The Novgorod, which I wrote about last week was another effort of the Russian Navy to build a monitor.

--Old B-Russian

There Were Other Russian Monitors as Well, and These Looked More Loke Union Monitors Than the Novgorod

From Wikipedia.

List of Russian and Soviet Monitors

Uragan Class   10 ships

Smerch

Charodeika Class   2 ships

Admiral Lazarev Class   2 ships

Admiral Spiridov Class  2 ships

Petr  Veliky

Novgorod  2 ships

Taifun Class

These ships much more closely resembled the monitors we know from the Union Navy.

--Old B-Runner

Russian Monitor Novgorod's Career-- Part 5

The Treaty of Paris ended the Crimean War (1853-1856).  It was fought between Russia and an alliance of Britain and France.  (Fort Fisher has been called the Malakoff Tower of the South, named after an impressive Russian fortification in this war.)

As part of the agreement, Russia was allowed just six small corvettes on the Black Sea.  But, they had to be built elsewhere in St. Petersburg, disassembled and then shipped to the Black Sea for reassembly.  This is how the Novgorod was built.

It was laid down in 1871 and wasn't completed and commissioned on the Black Sea until 1874.  Modifications were made before the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) where the Novgorod was assigned the defense of Odessa.  She did not see action.

After the war, the Novgorod made a cruise to the Romanian town of Sulina on the Danube River and then stationed in Sevastopol throughout the 1880s and made  short cruises every summer.  In 1892, it was reclassified as a coast defense monitor.  By the following year, her  hull and machinery were in extremely bad condition.

She was stricken from the Navy List in 1903 and used as a store ship.  In 1908, it was offered for sale to Bulgaria, but the offer was not taken.  Finally, the Novgorod was sold for scrap in 1911.

The main armament of the Novrogord was not in a turret, but out in the open.

She had a sister ship, the Vitse-admiral Popov which was a little bigger and not as round with heavier cannons.  Like the Novgorod, it didn't have much success as a warship.  Length 126 feet 10 inches, beam 117 feet 8 inches, mounting 12-inch rifle  muzzle-loading guns.

--Old B-Runner

The Monitor Novgorod's Career-- Part 4: The Frisbee Monitor

From Wikipedia.

STATISTICS

Laid Down:  29 December 1871

Launched:  2 June 1873

Completed:  1874

Decommissioned:  1 May 1903

Length:  101 feet  (Notice the length and beam were the same.)

Beam:  101 feet

Draught:  13 feet 6 inches

Armament:  two 11-inch rifled muzzle loaders

--Old B-Runner

Russian Monitors, the Novgorod-- Part 3: Worst Warship Ever Built?

With its low 18-inch freeboard to the waterline (height above the water) iron-armored hull and central rotating  barbette mounted pair of 11-inch rifled cannons, the Novgorod was essentially like a traditional monitor, but with its overall circular shape, there was nothing else like it anywhere.

Traditional American monitors had their guns mounted in a protective turret, while the Novgorod's were out in the open, en barbette so to speak.

To move this "colossal frying pan" it had six engines mounted at the stern, each connected to its own propeller.  Even with these huge engines the Novgorod could only travel at top speed of 7.5 mph. And steering it was another thing altogether.

And, then there was bad weather to worry about.

Eventually, the Novgorod found its niche as a coastal defense ship, essentially a floating battery.

Some still say the Novgorod and its sister ship, the Vitse-Adniral Popov were two of the worst warships ever built.  But they could be used as coast defense.

--Old Novgorod

Russian Monitors, the Novgorod-- Part 2

Monitors were generally low -draught ships which made them excellent for rivers and inland waters.  However, this worked against them on the high seas.  Russia, in the late 1860s became very  concerned with protecting their river systems and monitors seemed to fit the bill.

But, all that armor  and cannons meant the ship would draw more draught, which would be a problem in the shallower rivers.

But Scottish shipbuilder John Elder  figured that if you increase the beam of a ship you could carry more of everything with little or no increase in the draught.

Imperial Russian Navy Rear Admiral Andrei Alexandrovich Popov took this idea and really ran with it.  He took the concept of widening all the way up to where the ship's shape actually became a circle.

After testing  the concept with models and a small 24-foot diameter ship and then a full-sized ship was authorized and construction on the Novgorod started in late 1871, with the ship having a 100-foot diameter., displacing  2,531 tons and having a draft of only  13 and a half feet.

--Old B-Runner

Russian Monitors, Yes, There Were Russian Monitors and One Really Weird One

Well, since I have been writing about the USS Nantucket and monitors, I saw this article today and found it of great interest.

From the August 18, 2021, Jalopnik  "Russia once built a very weird circular warship" by Jason Torchinsky.

The Union Navy was not the only world navy with monitors.  It turns out that Russia even experimented with monitors, at least some that looked like  U.S. monitors and, then, there was this one named the Novgorod.  This ship could well be described as a floating frisbee.  Very, but some, looking ship.

I was completely unaware of these Russian monitors until now.

The Novgorod was essentially an ironclad monitor based on the USS Monitor.  Loosely, very loosely.

According to Torchinsky, the Monitor was a revolution in naval design.  It was a solely steam-driven warship,  nearly completely made of iron with a powered, revolving turret.  Most of the ship was under the waterline and, it is worth noting,  the first ship to have real flushing toilets.  (I also did not know that.)

The Monitor was actually the first of all modern warships.  The basic design was copied all over the world, including Russia which had the Uragan-class monitors.

--Old B-Runner

The Second Battle of Fort Sumter-- Part 2: The Monitors Took a Beating To Say the Least

The USS Weehawken sustained  fifty-three hits during 40 minutes of action, the Passaic had thirty-five hits and had her  11-inch gun knocked out.  The USS Patapsco lost headway and became a sitting duck, receiving forty-seven hits.

After heavy fighting over the whole afternoon, with all the federal monitors receiving a severe beating,  the Keokuk ran ahead of the  crippled Nahant and was blasted by more than ninety hits from a range of  less than 600 yards from Fort Sumter.

Anchored overnight, it filled with water and sank the next morning.  The Keokuk's guns were salvaged by the  Rebels, who mounted them in what is now Battery Park in Charleston and used them during future operations.

"The monitors are not intended to lose life except by sinking as a general rule," Du Pont lamented to his wife.  "  They are iron coffins; once perforated they go down."

The quest to capture Charleston  would be delayed indefinitely as it now turned out.

--Old B-Runner