USS Roanoke-- Part 22: Sister Ship of USS Merrimak and At Battle of Hampton Roads

The USS Roanoke was named after the Roanoke River in Virginia and North Carolina.  She was laid down in Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia  in May 1854 and launched in December 1855.  It had an inauspicious start when it sank during the launching and had to be refloated.

She was commissioned  on 4 May 1857 with Captain John B. Montgomery in command.  One of her early duties was to transport  William Walker and his fillibuster men back from Central America.  After that, she returned to Central America to await  the arrival of the first Japanese embassy to the United States.

At the start of the Civil War, the Roanoke was assigned to the  North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and made some captures of blockade runners off Lockwood Folly Inlet, N.C. and off Charleston, S.C.

It was at the Battle of Hampton Roads where her former sister ship, the  USS Merrimack had been turned into the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia.  But her  deep draft prevented her from engaging.  After the battle, she ferried survivors of the USS Congress and USS Cumberland to New York City.

Upon arrival, she was decommissioned  and reconstruction began to convert her into a monitor.

--Old B-Runner

Another Oops for Thomas O. Selfridge, This Time Postwar

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

Henry Walton Grinnell, Even More-- Part 2: The Mikado's 'Yankee Admiral'

Catholic Builders of the Nation (1923)  says that he was a convert to the Catholic Church and that he was buried in the National Cemetery at Arlington.

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"Catalog of Alpha Delta Phi Society" says he was a member of that from Manhattan in 1863.

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In "Lincoln's Bold Lion:  The Life and Times of Martin Davis Hardin" (2015) says that among the general's social circle in St. Augustine, Florida, was Admiral Winfield Scott Schley, the hero of the naval battle of Santiago in the Spanish-American War and one Henry Walton Grinnell.

The book described Grinnell as "probably one of the most colorful of Hardin's military coterie in St. Augustine."  Furthermore Grinnell was "famed as the Mikado's 'Yankee Admiral' for his service aboard a Japanese battleship during the 1895 Battle of Yalu  in the Sino-Japanese War, which ended in the destruction of  the antiquated Chinese  armada.

"The scion of a wealthy family had also served with Admiral David Farragut during the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay.  In 1904, the old sailor married a young lady  less than half his age."

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The Official U.S. Navy Register for September 1867 shows Grinnell as serving on board the USS Oneida.

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Served as an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Chrysostom P. Donahue.  (I haven't been able to find out anything else about this man.)

--Old B-Runner

Henry Walton Grinnell: Even More-- Part 1: About That Wilmington Expedition

From the "Howland Heirs:  Being a Story of a Family and a Fortune"  Published 1919.

Some more on Mr. Grinnell.  Until this year, I had never heard of him, but, he definitely lived an interesting life.

This short account of his life includes him receiving "honorable mention from the Navy Department for carrying dispatches from his ship through the Confederate line, undercover of darkness."  This is the very first of my many posts about this man and what started this thread.  This is the first I've come across that story since then.

This is when he delivered dispatches from the Union forces in Wilmington, North Carolina to William T. Sherman's Army at Fayetteville, North Carolina, and it was through enemy lines.  A very daring attempt.

It also says he enlisted in the U.S. Navy on June 23, 1862, and became a mate and within the same year raised to the rank of acting ensign.  Two years later, he was master of his own ship.

As far as his service in the Japanese Navy, it says he "helped build up the Navy which subsequently riddle the Russian fleet.  This would be the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.  He also was a reason japan was able to so soundly defeat the Chinese fleet in the Sino-Japanese War.

When the book was written, Grinnell was residing in St,. Augustine, Florida.  He had two wives.  The first was Louisa I. Platt, whom he married in 1874.  The second was Florence G. Roche, who he married in 1910.  She was the daughter of poet James Jeffrey Roche.

--Old B-Runner

Some More on Henry Walton Grinnell-- Part 2: Service With Japan, Ecuador and Spanish-American War

Now in the service of Japan, Grinnell was almost immediately appointed inspector-general of the Navy and given the rank of rear-admiral where he served in that capacity from 1868-1870.

In 1872-1873, he was naval advisor to the South American Republic of Ecuador.  He was still serving Japan as well, but also made various trips back to the United States.  His efforts resulted in well-trained Japanese sailors who defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War where he saw active service at the Battle of Yalu, the decisive naval battle of the conflict.

After the war, he was honorably discharged as a vice-admiral and received a substantial gratuity.

Returning to his homeland, he found the United States at war with Spain and reentered the U.S. Navy as a volunteer lieutenant. and served on the USS Iowa until peace was declared.

Thereafter, he lived in retirement in Puntarassa, Florida, (by Fort Myers) and Boston.

He died in St. Augustine, Florida, and is buried at Arlington.  (I don't know if this is Arlington National Cemetery or some other cemetery named Arlington.)

--Old B-Runner

Some More on Henry Walton Grinnell-- Part 1: Distinguished Service in U.S. Navy During the War, Then, On to the Japanese Navy

From prabook.

Was born in New York on November 19, 1943.  He spent three years (1858-1861) at the New York Free Academy (later the College of the City of New York) and then entered the U.S. Navy where he was appointed a mate in June 1862.  Then acting ensign in November 1862 and acting master 1864 and acting volunteer lieutenant in 1865.

While on board the USS Monongahela in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, he took part in the Battles of New Orleans and Mobile.  On November 18,1863, he distinguished himself while commanding a landing party that helped army units ashore.

After the war, while serving on the USS Susquehanna of the Asiatic Squadron, he declined appointment as an ensign in the regular navy and was honorably discharged July 25, 1868.

He accepted instead, a commission as a captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy and began training seamen at the Heigo Naval School.

--Old B-Runner

Henry Walton Grinnell-- Part 5: Imperial Japanese Navy and Spanish-American War

In the China-Japanese War he saw active service in the Battle of Yalu River, the decisive naval engagement of that war.  When he was honorably discharged at the end of the war, as vice admiral, he received a substantial gratuity.

He was married  in 1874, in Sydney, Australia, to  Louise I.S. Pratt.  He married his second wife in June 1910, Florence G. Roche, of Boston, Massachusetts.

Returning to the United States he found his country at war with Spain and re-entered the Navy as a volunteer lieutenant and served on the USS Iowa until peace was declared.

Thereafter, he lived in retirement in Puntarassa, Florida, and Boston.

He died in St. Augustine, Florida, and is buried at Arlington.

--Old B-Runner

Henry Walton Grinnell-- Part 4: In the Japanese Imperial Navy and Adviser to Ecuador's Navy

After the war, he served on the USS Susquehanna of the Asiatic Squadron, where he declined appointment as an ensign in the regular U.S. Navy and was honorably discharged July 25, 1868.

He accepted instead, a commission as a captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy and began to train seamen at the Heigo Naval School.  Almost immediately, he was appointed Inspector General with the rank of rear admiral and served in that capacity from 1868-1870.

In 1872-1873, he was naval adviser to the Republic of Ecuador.  During the following years, although he did not devote his entire attention to the Japanese Navy as his many trips to the United States show,  he retained his commission and helped to develop the seamanship that defeated China in  the war.

--Old B-Runner

Henry Walton Grinnell-- Part 2: Veteran of Civil War, Spanish-American War and the Japanese Navy

From Wikipedia.

November 19, 1843-September 2, 1920.    Known as Walton Grinnell.  Naval veteran of Civil War and Spanish-American War.

He became a rear admiral  and Inspector-General of the Imperial Japanese Navy and served at the Battle of Yalu River in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.

Walter Grinnell's older sister,  Sylvia, born in 181830, married William Fitzherbert Ruxton, who became an admiral in the British Navy.

Their father, Henry Grinnell, was partner in Grinnell, Minturn & Co.  owners of the Swallowtail  shipping line which included  the Flying Cloud in 1851, the fastest clipper ship in the world.  He financed an expedition to discover the fate of Sir John Franklin who was lost searching for the Northwest Passage and Grinnell Peninsula on Devon Island is named after him.

--Old B-Runner

Arthur Sinclair, CSN-- Part 2: Former Officer in U.S. Navy

Arthur Sinclair, CSN, lost his life when the blockade runner Lelia sank off Liverpool on her maiden voyage to Nassau and before running the blockade into Wilmington, North Carolina.  I have been writing about the unfortunate sinking of this ship in this blog.

From Find a Grave.

Arthur Sinclair was an officer in the U.S. Navy before resigning to join the Confederate Navy.  He joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 13 on 4 March 1823 as a midshipman.  His commission as a lieutenant came on  3 March 1835 and commander on 14 September 1855.

He was involved in the expedition of Japan (under Commodore Matthew Perry) which tried to open the country;s ports to American commerce.  He commanded the USS Supply which carried gifts to the Japanese in friendship and to show what American industry could produce.

--Old B-Runner

USS Fulton (1837)-- Part 1: The Second USS Fulton

From Wikipedia.

I have been writing about the first USS Fulton (1815), formerly named Demologos, in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog, and saw that there was also a USS Fulton that had a role in the Civil War.  I had never heard of it, so thought I'd write about it here.

Evidently, I had written about another USS Fulton, but in regards to a USS Dick Fulton that served on the Mississippi River.  This USS Fulton is an entirely different ship.

The USS Fulton (1837) was a sidewheel steamer that was captured by Confederates in 1861 and destroyed by them  when they evacuated Pensacola, Florida, in 1862.  It was the second ship in the U.S. Navy to bear the name.  Laid down in 1835, launched in 1837, commissioned  13 December 1837, with Captain Matthew C. Perry in command (the brother of Oliver Hazard Perry and the man responsible to opening Japan).

She was often called the USS Fulton II as it was the second ship of that name.

Captured by Confederates  12 January 1861.  Destroyed by them 10 May 1862 on the evacuation of Pensacola.

--Old B-Runner

George Henry Preble-- Part 2: Life Leading Up to the Civil War

He was in the Seminole War in Florida in 1841, as well as on the USS St. Louis when it circumnavigated the world 1843-1845,  It landed the first American force ashore in China.  In the Mexican war, he participated in the capture of Alvarado, Veracruz and Tuxpan.

Preble became master in 1847 and lieutenant in 1847.  While serving on the USS St. Lawrence, he went with Commodore Matthew C. Perry to Japan in 1853 where he surveyed various Far Wast harbors.

After that he spent a period as a lighthouse inspector and at Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston and then was on the USS Narragansett from 1859-1861.

--Old B-Runner

The Fourth of July Celebration in Japan

JULY 6, 1864:  Captain Cicero Price of the USS Jamestown, wrote Secretary Welles from Yokohama, Japan, regarding the celebration of Independence Day in that far-off port: "The Fourth was very handsomely celebrated here, all the foreign ships of war participating by dressing their ships, as well as saluting.  It was very marked on the part of the British."

With the tide of war ashore as well as afloat swinging to the Union, British intervention of the side of the South was no longer much of a possibility.

--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

William Lewis Maury, CSN-- Part 1: Was He Related to the Confederacy's Matthew Fontaine Mayry?

From Wikipedia.

Monday I wrote about the cruiser CSS Georgia's arrival in France to conclude its voyage to destroy Union commerce. It was commanded by Lt. William Lewis Maury. The last name got me to wondering. Could he be the son or related to the Confederacy's Matthew Fontaine Maury?

William Lewis Maury was born in 1813 and died Nov. 27, 1878. He was an American explorer and naval officer in both the United States (a 20-year career) and Confederate navies.

He assisted in the Charles Wilkes Expedition to explore the Pacific Ocean and Matthew C. Perry's 1856 naval expedition to Japan. Maury Island in Puget Sound in Washington state and the ice-filled Maury Bay east of Cape Lewis in Antarctica are named after him.

Well, Was He Related? Next Post. --Old B-Runner