USS Jouett (DD-396), Named After James Edward Jouett, Union Navy Officer

This was the destroyer that assisted the cruiser USS Omaha in sinking the German blockade runner SS Rio Grande during World War II.  

Like the Omaha, she had a Civil War connection as its name came from James Edward Jouett, a Union officer during the Civil War (and Mexican War).  He also commanded the USS Montgomery which I have written extensively about.

He was at the Battle of Mobile Bay where his ship, the Metacomet, was lashed to Admiral Farragut's Hartford and he was part of the quote everyone knows Farragut supposedly said, "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!"

Actually the words were, "Damn the torpedoes.  Four bells, Captain Drayton, go ahead.  Jouett, full speed."

Afterwards, Jouett took his ship, the Metacomet and chased after two Confederate gunboats escorting the CSS Tennessee and riddled the CSS Gaines and captured the CSS Selma.

--Old B-Runner

J.R.M. Mullany at Battle of Mobile Bay-- Part 4: The End of the Battle

The fight for Mobile Bay was soon over at this point.  With the USS Oneida and USS Galena out of action,  the rest of Farragut's fleet took the CSS Gaines and CSS Salma out of action and then concentrated on the Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee.  

Ramming the ship failed to stop it, but the concentrated fore of the heavy guns of the three remaining monitors eventually put  the Tennessee out of action and a gravely wounded Buchanan was forced to surrender.

The USS Galena finished out her days quietly.  After three months of duty with the East Gulf Blockading Squadron and four months of repairs,  it returned to  river duty in the Eastern Theater, where its career had begun as an ironclad.

In 1872, a decade after her launch in Mystic, Connecticut, the ironclad-turned-gunboat  was broken up at Norfolk Navy Yard.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, October 19, 1861: CSS Florida Battles the USS Massachusetts

OCTOBER 19TH, 1861:  The USS Massachusetts, Commander M. Smith, engaged the CSS Florida, Lt. Charles W. Hays, in the Mississippi Sound.  Though the battle was inconclusive, Captain Levin M. Powell of the USS Potomac noted one result that could be bothersome to Union naval forces.

"The caliber and long range of the rifled cannon [of the Florida] ... established the ability of these fast steam gunboats to keep out of range of all broadside guns and enables them to disregard the armaments of magnitude of all ships thus armed, or indeed any number of them, when sheltered by shoal water."

This CSS Florida was renamed the CSS Selma when the famous cruiser CSS Florida came to be.

--Old B-R'er

Charles Carroll Simms, CSN-- Part 2: Mobile Bay

After the destruction of the CSS Virginia, he was on the CSS Nansemond on the James River and later on the CSS Selma at Mobile Bay in the last year of the war.  He then commanded the ironclads CSS Baltic and CSS Nashville.

He surrendered to Union forces in early May 1865 and was soon afterwards paroled.

Simms died in 1884 and is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C..  Assistant Navy Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War Gustavus Vasa Fox is also buried there.

Charles Simm's father, John Douglas Simms, was chief clerk of the U.S. Navy and Acting Secretary of the Navy in 1841.  His grandfather, Col. Charles Simms was an officer in the American Revolution and Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia.

--Old B-R'er

Battle of Mobile Bay-- Part 4 The CSS Tennessee

Hardly past one hazard, there came the CSS Tennessee.    Admiral Buchanan tried to ram the USS Hartford with his CSS Tennessee.  The Union ship easily avoided the attack, but was raked by the CSS Selma, commanded by Lt. Peter U. Murphey,  while doing so.

The USS Metacomet, commanded by Lt.Cmdr. Jouett, engaged the Selma and caused her to surrender.shortly after 9 a.m..

The Tennessee then tried to ram the Brooklyn, but failed as well.

The CSS Gaines advanced but had her steering hit and came under heavy fire.  It was run aground near Fort Morgan and settled in two fathoms.  The CSS Morgan tried to save the Selma, but when faced with the possibility of being cut off, ran under the cover of Fort Morgan's guns and later made a run to safety to Mobile.

The USS Philippi ran aground and came under fire of Fort Morhan and riddled the ship with shot and shell, forcing the crew to abandon ship.    A boat crew from the CSS Morgan boarded it and set her on fire.

The Union fleet was now in Mobile Bay and anchored for a short time.  Farragut saw that Buchanan had intentions of destroying the Hartford and ordered the monitors and wooden vessels he considered best to engage the Tennessee to attack the ram with both guns and ram it when possible.

Phase Two Over.  --Old B-Runner

More on Confederate Activity At Mobile Bay

DECEMBER 2ND, 1863:

Furthermore, in Mobile Bay, the Confederates had two floating batteries mounting three guns each and ten transport steamers. Bell's report also noted: "At Selma there is a large vessel building, to be launched in January. There are three large rams building on the Tombigbee River, to be launched during the winter."

Rear Admiral Farragut would face just four of these ships (Tennessee, Selma, Gaines and Morgan) in his attack on Mobile in August 1864. Lack of machinery, iron and skilled worers prevented the others from being in the battle.

--Old B-Runner

Lt. Peter Murphey's Obituary-- Part 2

In Mobile, Murphey was 1st lieutenant on the CSS Morgan before taking command of the CSS Selma from Captain Chas. Hays.  In command of that ship, he was at the Battle of Mobile Bay where his 1st Lt. Comstock was killed.

He moved to Philadelphia for a few years after the war then returned to Mobile where he spent the rest of his life.  The last three years of his life were spent with Mr. A.O. Murphy and was the guest of Captain Carter for a year.

He has a son in Philadelphia, a daughter in Warrenton, Virginia, (the one who requested his sword be returned) and Mrs. Chesney in Macon.  Pat was a nickname.

Most of this information is from Lee Dunn.

Old B-Runner

Lt. Murphey's Sword

Lt. Murphey's sword was surrendered to Captain James E. Jouett when the CSS Selma surrendered to the USS Metacomet.

Years later, Murphey's daughter, Katie Piercy Murphey, wrote Jouett requesting the return of her father;s sword.  She eventually donated it to the Cannonball House in Georgia.  It was since lost from there.  That story can be found in my Saw the Elephant Civil War Blog.  Use the Cannonball House label.

Old B-Runner

Lt. Peter U. Murphey, CSN-- Part 2

From Wikipedia.

Confederate naval officer Peter Murphey was born in Caswell County, N.C., on July 10, 1810, and was the son of Archibald Debow Murphey, considered the father of North Carolina public education.

He served in North Carolina and Virginia waters in 1861-1862 and then was assigned to the Mobile Squadron and commaded the CSS Morgan in 1862 and the CSS Selma 1862-1864.  He was wounded and captured at the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864 and a prisoner of war until October.  In May 1865, he surrendered and was paroled.

Murphey died in Mobile, Alabama in 1876 and his burial site is thought to be somewhere along Big Shell Road in the city.  However, his body may have been washed away in one of the storms.

Pride of North Carolina, Son of Alabama.  --Old B-Runner

CSS Selma

The CSS Selma was originally named CSS Florida, but the name was changed when the cruiser entered service and took the name.  The Selma was commanded by Lt. Peter U. Murphey (Murphy).

On February 5, 1863, the Selma was steaming down Mobile Bay with 100 extra men, looking to board a blockader and capture it.  It hit a snag and sank in 8-foot deep water.  It was pumped out and repaired and back in service by February 13th.

The CSS Selma was plagued with desertion problems and at one point, its crew was reported to be down to just 15.

The following year, it was one of just four Confederate ships defending Mobile Bay during Farragut's attack: CSS Morgan, CSS Gaines and the ironclad CSS Tennessee.  The Selma was raked by the USS Hartford in the battle and then Farragut ordered the USS Metacomet cut loose (it had been lashed alongside the Hartford for the passage by Fort Morgan) and it chased the Selma into shallow water after an hour-long running fight.

The Confederate ship surrendered with the loss of seven men killed and eight wounded, including Murphey.  The CSS Selma then became the USS Selma for a year' service.

This is a follow up entry to a story from May 20, 2013, in this blog and October 12, 2011, in my Saw the Elephant Blog.  It all started with a lawsuit for Lt. Murphey's sword at Macon, Georgia's Cannonball House.



Don't Get Snagged.  --Old B-R'er