As noted in the last post, I am writing about a German blockade runner during World War II that was sunk by the efforts of the light cruiser USS Omaha (CL-4) and the destroyer USS Jouett (DD-396) off Brazil in 1944. That blockade runner's name was the SS Rio Grande.
So, I looked up some more information on those two U.S. warships. Turns out, both had Civil War connections.
The USS Omaha was the second ship in the U.S. Navy by that name. The first one was the screw sloop USS Omaha, commissioned in 1872. It's first commander was a veteran of the Union Navy named John Carson Febiger.
Later on, her commander was Thomas O. Selfridge, whom I have written about before. He was essentially a bad-luck commander. While in command of the Omaha, in 1887, conducted target practice off the Japanese island of Ikeshima which resulted in the deaths of four Japanese and the wounding of seven others.
This created an international incident and Selfridge was acquitted at a court martial in 1888.
I Tell You, That Guy. Wow! --Old B-Runner
No comments:
Post a Comment