Some More on the USS/CSS Arctic-- Part 4

Historical Notes on the ship.

1855  Named Arctic by the U.S. Navy to serve in the polar expedition of Dr. Elisha Ken Kane.  Returned and machinery taken off and sold to U.S. Lighthouse service.

1860  Arrived at Smithville, N.C. (now Southport) for use as a relief vessel.

1860  Seized by Confederates and sunk in the Cape Fear River.  (The date here should be 1861 for seizure.  Most likely it was sunk in the Cape Fear River in January 1865 after the fall of Fort Fisher.)

1866   Raised and repaired

1867   May 4 assigned to Hen and Chickens Shoal, Massachusetts

1875   Dragged off station by ice.

1876   April  Broke adrift in a heavy gale.

1877  Assigned as relief at Woods Hole, Mass.

--Old B-R'er

Hen and Chickens Shoal, Massachusetts

The Lightship LV-8 was posted for most of its active career as a lightship at Hen and Chickens Shoal in Massachusetts.

The shoal is located one mile south of Hen and Chickens Reef and two miles off Horseneck Beach about 3.7 miles from Cuttyhunk Lighthouse.

These are near Westport, Massachusetts in the southwest corner of the state's coastline.

Lightship service was discontinued in 1954 after having buoys placed.

--Old B-Runner

Some More on the USS/CSS Arctic-- Part 3: Service Assignments

Service Assignments

1860--  Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina.  Arrived at Smithville (at the mouth of the Cape Fear River leading to Wilmington) on May 14, 1860 for use as a relief vessel.  When the state seceded, it was seized by Confederates.  According to this source, it seems that the ship was sunk in the same year, but I think most likely it was sunk at some point during the attacks on Fort fisher in late 1864, early 1865.

It was later raised, repaired and towed north by the tender Iris in 1866.

From 1867 to 1877 it was lightship LV-8 at Hen and Chickens, Massachusetts.

From 1877 to 1879 it was a Relief in Massachusetts.  I'm thinking this to be use as a relief ship.

--Old B-Runner

Some More About the USS/CSS Arctic-- Part 2: LV-8

From the U.S. Coast Guard Lightship site.

The Arctic was built 1853-1855 for $10,000.  It was wood frame and planked and fitted to lightship use in 1859.

The ship was 98 feet long and had a beam of 23.6 feet.  Draft was 11.6 feet and 232 tons.  Propulsion was steam, but machinery removed by the U.S. Navy prior to sale to U.S. Light House Service.  It was converted to schooner rigging when modified.

Illumination apparatus consisted of a single lantern on the mainmast which had eight lard oil lamps with reflectors.

--Old B-R'er

Some More on the USS/CSS Arctic-- Part 1

From America's Lighthouses by Francis Ross Holland.

The Arctic was seized and sunk in the Cape Fear River where it remained until the end of the war.  After the war, it was raised, repaired and refitted for further lightship duty.

In 1867, it was stationed at Hen and Chicks Shoals off Massachusetts for nine years.  It was found to be "old and worn out" and not worth repair and removed from service in 1876.  It was sold at public auction three years later.

--Old B-Runner

USS Arctic-- Part 2: Service Before the Civil War

Continued from Jan. 8, 2016.  This is continuing with the story of the CSS Arctic, located at Wilmington, N.C., during the war.

In July 1856, the USS Arctic put to sea to make depth soundings in preparation for the laying of the first transatlantic cable.  Late in the month the Arctic was at St. John's, Newfoundland and 23 August 1856, was at Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland.

After completion of this, it was commissioned into the Coast Survey and in 1857 and early 1858 made further cable soundings in the Atlantic Ocean.

Recommissioned into the U.S. navy, from May to July 1858 was part of the American squadron off Cuba protecting American ships from British ships using their "right of search and seizure."

In early 1859, the Arctic's propulsion machinery was removed and the ship was turned over to the U.S. Lighthouse Board as a lightship.  It was placed off the coast of North Carolina where it was captured by Confederate forces and turned into a warship.

After the war, it was raised and repaired and served another career as a lightship before being sold at public auction 16 April 1879.

--Old B-R'er

USS Arctic-- Part 1: Looking for Kane

From Wikipedia.

Not much in Wiki about the CSS Arctic, but a lot about the USS Arctic.

Steamer 125 tons, 172 feet long, 24 foot beam and mounted one 12-pdr. cannon.In the U.S. Navy 1855-1856 and 1858-1859.  Also a U.S. Coast Survey ship and lightship for the U.S. Lighthouse Board from 1859-1879.

Constructed by the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1855 and commissioned for the purpose of rescuing the Arctic Expedition of Elisha K. Kane.  It put to sea with the USS Release on 4 June 1855 and found Kane and his men at Diska Island in Baffin Bay on the west coast of Greenland.  They had survived and 84-day journey across pack ice and open water in open boats.

The two ships returned to the U.S. in Autumn 1855.

--Old B-Runner

Numbering the Light Vessels

Vessels in the Lighthouse Service (LHS) were given letter designations to identify individual ships.  The first series went from the letters A-Z.  The second series went AA-ZZ.

Then the numbering system was changed and ships given the letter-number combination LV-1, LV-2.The Arctic was formerly the U.S. Navy Ship "D" when stationed off Frying Pan Shoals before the war.

After the war, it became LV-8 and was stationed off Hens and Chickens and then off Relief.

--Old B-R'er

Lightships Off the Southern Coast

From Civil War Talk by Bil R.

The Confederates seized Union light vessels to prevent the Federals from using them.

Before the war, there were 24 stations in Southern waters maintained by light stations.

Southern Station names were:  Willoughby's Spot, York Spit, Wolf Trap, Wind Mill Point, Bowler's Rock, Smith Point, Lower Cedar Point, Roanoke River, Roanoke Island, Long Shoal, Royal Shoal, Harbor island, Brant island Shoal, Neuse River, Frying Pan Shoal (by Wilmington, the Arctic's station), Horseshoe Shoal, Rattlesnake Shoal, Combahee Bank, Martin's Industry, Calibouge Sound, Tybee Island Knoll, Dames Point, Merrill's Shell Bank and Galveston.

Ship names included Spencer, Legare, McLane and Arctic.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Arctic-- Part 7: Scuttled, Raised, Becomes a Lightship Again

In early 1865, the CSS Arctic was scuttled, but not destroyed, to prevent capture by Union forces after the fall of Fort Fisher.

After the war, the wreck was raised and found to be structurally sound and again outfitted as a lightship and continued to serve for many years using its original name

Comments on Civil War Talk.

One person not sure where it was moored.  Perhaps near Fort Caswell.

Someone else had a picture of the USS Arctic from the Illustrated London News from the late 1850s with the caption "The American Steam ship 'Arctic' employed in sounding for the Atlantic Telegraph."

--Old B-R'er

CSS Arctic-- Part 6: USS Arctic to CSS Arctic

From 1858-1859, the USS Arctic was taken out of service and converted back into a lightship at Norfolk and turned over to Lightship Services.  Its engine and boiler were placed in storage.  After Norfolk was seized by Confederates it is possible that they were sent to Wilmington, N.C. for use on an ironclad.

Now as the Lightship Arctic, it was placed in service off Wilmington where it too was seized by Confederates in 1861 and converted into a floating battery/guard ship and became the CSS Arctic.  It is possible that the original sheet iron on its hull was still in place which might be why some classified it as an ironclad floating battery.  However, sheet iron wouldn't help much in stopping a shell.

It is also possible that more sheet iron was placed on the hull.

It likely also had three cannons arranged along center pivots in open mounts.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Arctic-- Part 5: Background on the Franklin Expedition

The USS Arctic was bought by the U.S. Navy specifically for use in the continuing search for the Sir John Franklin lost Arctic expedition.

From Wikipedia.

The Franklin expedition was a British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin in 1845.  Franklin had been on three previous Arctic explorations, looking for the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic.

His two ships became ice bound in Victoria Strait near King William Island.

Every member of the expedition, including Franklin perished (129 men).

There were many expeditions sent out to look for him back then and they have continued to this day.

A famous American, Elisha Kane, an explored and U.S. Navy medical officer,  led the second Grinnel Expedition in 1853, the one the Arctic accompanied.  They did not find Franklin.

Of interest, when Kane died in Cuba in 1857, his body was taken to New Orleans and placed on a funeral train that was met at nearly every platform on the way by a memorial delegations.  It was said to be the longest funeral train in the United States during the 19th-century except for that of Lincoln.

--Old B-R'er

CSS Arctic-- Part 4: Looking for Arctic Explorer John Franklin

Continued from December 24, 2015.

There is some confusion as to whether the CSS Arctic was the USS Arctic, a lightship.

In 1854, the U.S. Navy authorized a search mission for the Franklin.  A strong, stout ship was needed which could be modified for use in far north waters.  They found a lightship under construction in Philadelphia and believed it was just what they needed.  They named it the USS Arctic.

The engines were intended for a tugboat and sheet iron was placed on the hull for protection against ice.  (This could be a reason why some sources list the CSS Arctic as an ironclad.)

The Kane Mission returned without find the Franklin and the USS Arctic was laid up.  It was then fitted out for cable laying and coastal survey work.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Arctic-- Part 3: Did the USS Arctic Become the CSS Arctic?

I ended up doing a whole lot of research on this ship yesterday.  It's probable history started becoming apparent.

From the Civil War Talk site.

Another person found two references to Civil War ships named Arctic.  One was the CSS Arctic, a floating battery stationed at Wilmington, N.C.  It was destroyed in December 1864 or early 1865 depending upon the source.

The other was the USS Arctic, commissioned by the U.S. Navy and having service with the U.S. Coast Survey.  In 1859, it was transferred to the Lighthouse Board and saw duty as a lightship for twenty years.

Another person said the CSS Arctic was converted from a lightship and mounted three cannons.

It was possibly raised and put back into service again.

He believes the Confederate and Union Arctics were one and the same ship.

--Old B-Runner