While On the Subject of Shipwrecks-- Part 1

From the October 28, 2022,  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) "Six surprising shipwreck facts."

Shipwrecks can have a big impact on ocean science.  Here are six ways:

1.  SHIPWRECKS CAN SERVE AS "UNDERWATER SKYSCRAPERS."

The area around them have much higher fish abundance.

2.  SHIPWRECKS OFTEN OCCUR IN LARGE LAKES

The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary on Lake Michigan protects 36 known shipwrecks and 59 suspected ones.  The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary on Lake Huron is home to 100 known shipwrecks.

3.  THERE MAY BE AS MANY AS 10,000 SHIPWRECKS IN NORTH AMERICA

The NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS) uses high-tech surveying methods to reveal shipwrecks.  There are now approximately 10,000 wrecked vessels  within our nation's waterways.

--Old B-Runner

The Exploits of Confederate John Yates Beall-- Part 1

From the Nov. 15, 2015, Examiner by Bob O'Connor.

John Brown is the most famous person hanged in Charlestown, Virginia.  But, another Charlestown native was hanged during the Civil War.

When the war began, he enlisted in Company G, Bott's Grays, of the 2nd Virginia Infantry which became part of the famed "Stonewall Brigade."  While fighting for them, Beall was wounded and declared unfit for duty.

But, he still wanted to do his part for the Confederacy so he joined the Confederate Navy and operated a privateer vessel on the Great Lakes.  He came up with a plan to free Confederate prisoners being held at Johnston Island Prison in Sandusky Bay in Ohio.  The prison held mostly Confederate officers including 26 generals who had been captured in battle.

--Old B-Runner

USS Saranac's Commander, Gustavus H. Scott-- Part 1: Second Seminole War

From Wikipedia.

I read that Gustavus H. Scott commanded the USS Saranac during its search for the CSS Shenandoah.  It turns out he led a long career in the Navy.

1812-1882.

US Navy.  Served in the Second Seminole War and the Civil War, eventually rising to the rank of rear admiral and was once the commander of the North Atlantic squadron.

Born in Virginia 13 June 1812.  Midshipman in 1828 and served on the USS Guerriere in the Pacific Squadron.  he was off Charleston, S.C. during the Nullification Crisis of 1832.  On the USS Vandalia 1835-1836.during the Second Seminole War.

First lieutenant on USS St. Lawrence of the Pacific Squadron 1852-1853.  On the USS Michigan in the Great Lakes 1855-1857 and Lighthouse Inspector 1858-1860.

--Old B-Runner

Confederate Plans to Attack the USS Michigan and the Great Lakes

NOVEMBER 5TH, 1864:  W.G. Fargo, Mayor of Buffalo, New York, telegraphed Secretary Welles that the ship Georgian had been purchased in Toronto by Southern sympathizer Dr. James Bates: "My information is that she will be armed on the Canada shore for the purpose of encountering the USS Michigan and for piratical and predatory purposes on the Lakes..."

Though Commander Carter of the USS Michigan discounted these rumors, the Georgian continued to rouse grave concern in the Great Lakes area.

To be commanded by Master John Y. Beall, CSN, she was in fact to be a part of the new plot on the part of Confederate agent Jacob Thompson to capture the Michigan and attack the cities on Lake Erie, but the suspicions of Union authorities and the strict surveillance under which the ship was placed by Union agents prevented the plot from being carried out.

Welles ordered the Carter to seize the Georgian if she ventured into American waters, but she was searched twice by Canadian and American authorities without any hint of her true character being detected.    The Georgian was eventually laid up at Collingwood, on the Canadian side, and later sold to private interests.

--Old B-Runner

Matters on the Great Lakes and Japan

MAY 26TH, 1864:  Most action involving the Union Navy during the Civil War took place along rivers and coasts of the Confederacy, but, there were other areas of concern.

This date, Commander Carter of the USS Michigan reported to Secretary Welles from Buffalo New York regarding his ship's cruise on Lake Erie: "relative to supposed armed vessel intended to raid on the lake cities...."  but, he could "find no foundation for the rumors relative thereto....matters quiet at present...."

There had been rumors that a ship was being armed to rescue the prisoners at Johnson's Island.

Also, this date:  U.S. Minister to Japan, Robert H. Pruyn, requested that the USS Jamestown come without delay to the port of Kanagawa, which the Japanese threatened to close to foreign commerce.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago-- March 28th-29th, 1864

MARCH 28TH, 1864: Secretary Welles ordered Commander John C. Carter to have the USS Michigan "prepared for active service as soon as the ice will permit." The Michigan was at Erie, Pennsylvania, and it was rumored that the Confederates were planning a naval raid from Canada against a city on the Great Lakes. //// MARCH 29TH, 1864: The CSS Florida, now commanded by Lt. Morris, captured the ship Avon with a cargo of 1600 tons of guano. After removing its crew, Morris used his prize for gunnery practice. I guess he was having problems finding a prize crew for a ship loaded with s___. //// --Old B-Runner

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: July 28th to July 29th, 1863

JULY 28TH

Union ships attack New Smyrna, Florida, and shell town.  They destroyed several ships, including ones loaded with cotton getting ready to run the blockade.  Also destroyed some buildings.

The Navy's ability to strike quickly and effectively at any point along the Southern coast  kept the Confederacy off balance.


The USS Michigan cruising the Great Lakes to recruit men for the Navy.  In Detroit, it found people fearing a riot because of the draft, but its presence diminished the problem.  In August the ship went to Buffalo for a similar reason.


JULY 29th

Farragut recalls Commodore H.H. Bell from blockade duty off Texas coast to be commander of the West Coast Blockading Squadron during his absense.  Bell hoisted his flag aboard the USS Pensacola.

USS Niphon seized the British blockade-runner Banshee at New Inlet, NC, by Wilmington.

USS Shawsheen captured schooner Telegraph at Rose Bay, NC after a chase of 16 miles.

Old B-R'er

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: February 7th, 1863

FEBRUARY 7TH

Rear Admiral Porter says that due to the plunging fire from Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, and Union warship inability to elevate high enough to hit them, it would be impossible to take the city without the Army being in the rear of the city.


A daring plan was proposed to Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory for a raid on the Great Lakes.  Lt. William H. Murdaugh, CSN, proposed leading four naval officers to Canada, purchasing a small steamer, man her with Canadians and arm it with torpedoes, explosives and incendiary materials.

At Erie, Pennsylvania, he planned to board and capture the USS Michigan (the only US Navy ship on the Great Lakes).  After that, he would use that ship to destroy shipping and attack Chicago, then Milwaukee and points north.

The plan was approved by the Navy Department, but shot down by Jefferson Davis because it would violate neutrality and England might stop building ironclads for the Confederacy and take other measures.


Commander Ebenezer Farrand, CSN, reported to Alabama governor John G. Shorter of the successful launching of ironclads CSS Tuscaloosa and Huntsville at Selma.  Both warships were taken to Mobile.

Old B-Runner

The Union Navy's First Ironclad Wasn't the Monitor-- Part 3: The USS Michigan/Wolverine

The USS Michigan continued in Naval service after the Civil War. In 1866, the ship captured and interned the army of the Fenian Brotherhood while they were returning from their invasion of Canada.

In 1905, its name was changed to the Wolverine so the Navy could build the battleship USS Michigan. In 1913, towed the brig USS Niagara around the Great Lakes in commemoration of the centennial of the War of 1812's Battle of Lake Erie in 1813.

It served as a training ship for the Pennsylvania State Militia from 1913 to 1923 when the engine broke and ended her active career. In 1927, the hulk was pushed onto a sand bank in Misery Bay on Presque Isle State Park Peninsula and loaned to the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, as a relic.

In 1948 it was sold to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Original USS Michigan, Inc., but they were unable to raise funds for its preservation and restoration and later that year, the hulk was cut up and sold for salvage. The following year, the prow was erected as a monument in Wolverine Park in Erie.

It was getting into bad shape when, in 1988, it was moved to the Erie Maritime Museum, preserved and it is still there.

The History of a Ship. --B-R'er

The Union Navy's First Iron Ship Wasn't the Monitor-- Part 2

Confederate Operations in te Great Lakes.

There was a large prison camp for Confederate officers on Johnson's Island in Sanduskey Bay on Ohio's western Lake Erie coast. Confederate officials developed a conspiracy to break them out and form a Confederate Army and attack Ohio's North Coast.

One plan caled for the sieizure of the passenger steamers Philo Parsons and Island Queen to take over the camp. The other, more difficult one, was to seize the USS Michigan, which would, in effect, give the Confederacy control of the whole of the Great Lakes.

From mounting a single 18-pdr. cannon before the war, the Michigan's armament had been increased to one 30-pdr. Parrott rifle, five 20-pdr Parrott rifles, six 24-pdr. smoothbores and two 12-pdr. boat howitzers.

One of the USS Michigan's major jobs during the war was to protect that prison camp.

The plans, however, were discovered in advance and foiled.

During the course of the war, some 10,000 Confederate prisoners were held at Johnson's Island and relatively few escaped. After the war, the buildings and supplies either were salvaged or sold off and the island reverted to private ownership.

Around the turn of last century, there was an attempt to turn the island into a pleasure resort to compete with pre-amusement park Cedar Point, but that failed. The only evidence of the camp are several historical signs and a well-maintained Confederate cemetery where 200 are buried.

The rest of the island is in private hands, but you can access the cemetery via a causeway for $2.

That Would Have Been Interesting Had the Confederates Succeeded in Seizing the Michigan. --Old B-R'er

The Union Navy's First Iron Ship Wasn't the Monitor-- Part 1

From the Lakewood Observer by Gary Rice.

With all the talk of the fast-approaching 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Ironclads, the USS Monitor vs. CSS Virginia, the US Navy's first iron ship is often overlooked. It was the USS Michigan, launched in 1843.

Powered both by side wheel paddles and wind, it was sleek and beautiful compared to the squat Monitor and Virginia. It was also one of the first modular vessels, with its parts being made in Pittsburgh then down the Ohio River and then north on the Ohio and Erie Canal to Cleveland and then to Erie, Pennsylvania for final assembly. Remember, this was in the days before the St. Lawrence Seaway and a ship could not go from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes.


LAUNCHING AND GUN PROBLEMS

When the Michigan was launched, the ship got stuck part way down the ramp. No efforts would budge the ship. Everyone left for the night and were surprised the next day to find the ship floating in the bay. It had launched herself.

Then came the problem of cannons. The ship had been built to mount heavy cannons, but an existing agreement between Canada and the US limited guns that could be carried on the Great Lakes. The ship had to carry light armament until the Civil War.

Guarding the Confeds. --Old B-Runner