Tuesday, May 11, 2021

USCSS Robert J. Walker (1844)-- Part 1: Coast Survey Ship

From Wikipedia

John Julius Guthrie also served on this ship before the Civil War according to one source I found.  But, in addition, it was amazing how many naval officers who gained fame during the Civil War also were on this ship.

The USCS  Robert J. Walker was a survey ship that served  in the United States  Coast Survey, a predecessor of  the United States Coast and Geodetic  Survey, from  1848 until its sinking in 1860 after a collision at sea.  Her loss resulted in the loss of twenty men, the greatest loss of life in a single incident to ever befall the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or any of its ancestor agencies.

The Robert J. Walker was a sidewheel steamer built in 1844 by Joseph Tomlinson at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as one of the U.S. government's  first iron-hulled  steamers.  She was among   eight steamers originally intended for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, but the Revenue Service decided that steamers were too expensive to maintain and operate, and she instead entered Coast Survey service in 1848.

--Old B-Runner


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