USS Montgomery (DD-121)-- Part 14: Named for War of 1812, Mexican War and Civil War Naval Officer

From Wikipedia, a RoadTrippin' Thru History's favorite source.

USS MONTGOMERY (DD-121)

A Wickes-class destroyer during WW I and later reclassified as DM-17 (Destroyer Minelayer) when it participated in WW II.  She was the fifth ship to bear the name Montgomery in the U.S. Navy and was named after Admiral John B. Montgomery, a Navy officer in the Mexican War and the Civil War.

It was built at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Virginia and was launched 23 March 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Andrew Jones, a descendant of Admiral Montgomery.  The destroyer was commissioned  on 26 July 1918.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Length:  314 feet 5 inches

Beam: 31.8 feet

Complement:  113 enlisted and officers

Speed:  35  knots

Armament:

Four 4-inch guns

Two 3-inch guns

Twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes

One depth charge protector

Two depth charge tracks

--Old B-Runner

Her Great-Great-Grandfather was USS Monitor Chief Engineer Alban Stimers-- Part 2

Carol Miller, of New Jersey,  moved with her parents to Morada after retirement.

"I remember playing at my grandparents' home when I was a kid and there was a pocket watch under a glass dome," Miller said.  "I never though much about it.  What kid cares about a pocket watch?  Later,  I learned that it was a gift given to my great-great grandfather by the president -- Grant, I think, because he helped win the Civil War."

The pocket watch went to an uncle's family because he was the oldest sibling.

At the event, Carol Miller had a photo of Alban Stimers, a booklet about the USS Monitor with a picture of  his name in a stone at the  Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, and a model of the ship as well as a picture  of the battle between the Monitor and Virginia.

"He went in to the battle as 'an observer' " Miller said.  "But it got messy real quick and when a gunner was killed, he had to take over.  He knew every bolt  on that ship."

Hopefully she will donate the watch to the Mariners' Museum.

--Old B-Runner

See the Remains of the USS Monitor-- Part 4: About the Museum

Her resting place is now at the  Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia.  This is located only a few miles from where the Monitor fought the CSS Virginia  in that legendary battle (The Battle of Hampton Roads).  The relics of the ship make up the heart of the museum's USS Monitor Center. The exhibit is dedicated to the USS Monitor and the strategies, people, technology and science behind its tale.

VISITING THE MARINER'S MUSEUM

The museum is open every day during normal business hours and admission is a token $1.  For another $6, visitors can upgrade their admission tickets to include a 3D documentary movie at the Explorers' Theater.  The documentaries that they show are not necessarily about the Monitor, but often about the batural world.

OPEN:   Daily

MUSEUM HOURS:   9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ADDRESS:  The Mariners' Museum and  Park, 100  Museum Dr., Newport News, Virginia.

PHONE:  (757) 596-2222.

--Old B-Monitor

See the Remains of the Monitor-- Part 3: The End

Continued from June 10, 2022.

The battle lasted four hours as the ships shot at each other but were unable to do serious damage.  The final outcome  of the battle was cannonballs bouncing off each other.  Both eventually retired from battle unable to beat the other.

As fate would have it, the Confederates  scuttled and destroyed their ironclad, while the USS Monitor eventually foundered while under tow in a storm.  Neither ship survived 1862.

DISCOVERY AND RECOVERY OF USS MONITOR

The USS Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in 1862.  She remained underwater for  over a hundred years until she was discovered in 1973 (the year I started teaching).  Since then, she has been partially salvaged and her relics are on display at the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

REDISCOVERED: 1973

SALVAGE:  It has been partially salvaged.  (The turret was salvaged completely.)

Today people can visit the relics and view a full-scale replica of the ship.  They can also see her two cannons, engine and other recovered objects.

--Old B-Runner

See the Remains of the Iconic USS Monitor at This Museum

From the June 8, 2022 The Travel.com. by Aaron Spray.

Especially of interest in that an official survey was made a short time ago of the wreck of this famous ship.  But artifacts from the Monitor can be seen at the Mariner's Museum.

Despite having only a short naval career, the USS Monitor was one of the most consequential and revolutionary ships ever built by the Union and the US Navy.  She was completed in 1862 and famously took part in the Battle of Hampton Roads where she squared off against the ironclad CSS Virginia for the Confederacy.  The outcome of this battle changed naval warfare forever.

Today, parts of this revolutionary ship built to counter the South's own revolutionary ship have been discovered, recovered, and are on display in Newport News, Virginia.  Newport News is also by the U.S.  Norfolk Naval Base, the largest  naval base in the world.  (There are also  cruise tours of it.)

The USS Monitor was one of the most unusual ships ever built and was distinguished by its revolving turret.  She was built in only 101 days in Brooklyn, New York, and ushered in a new age of ironclad ships.  She was hurriedly built by the North when they got news that the Confederates were building an ironclad ship of their own.

--Old B-Runner

USS Louisiana-- Part 2: Action in Virginia and North Carolina

On 13 September 1861, the Louisiana and USS Savannah engaged the CSS Patrick Henry off Newport News, Virginia, but shot from both sides fell short.  Two of the Louisiana's boats destroyed a schooner fitting out as a privateer in the battle of Cockle Creek near Chincoteague Inlet 5 October and two days later she captured he schooner S.T. Carrison with a cargo of wood ear Wallops Island.

Chincoteague Island  was lost to the Confederacy as a base on 14 October when Lt. Arthur  Murray of the Louisiana witnessed the Oath of Allegiance to the United States to citizens of the island.  The Louisiana's boats later surprised and burned three Confederate boats at Chincoteague Inlet 28 and 29 October.

SERVICE IN NORTH CAROLINA

On 2 January 1862, the ship was ordered to Hatteras Inlet to participate in the attacks on the Carolina Sounds.  For the next three years, she patrolled, supported Army troops and made many raids along the sounds and rivers flowing into them.

--Old B-Runner

Mallory Reports the Squib Attack

Extract from Mallory's April 30, 1864, report regarding the attack in the Official Records Navy.

"On the night of the 9th instant, Lieutenant Commanding Hunter Davidson, in command of the torpedo boat Squib, with six officers and men, ran through the enemy's fleet off Newport News, attacked the flagship Minnesota, exploding a torpedo against her, and returned in safety under a heavy fire.

"The extent of the injury inflicted upon the ship has not yet been ascertained, but is believed to be serious.  The cool daring, professional skill, and judgement  exhibited by Lieutenant  Davidson in this  hazardous enterprise merit high commendation and confer honor upon the service of which he is a member."

Honors and Promotion to the Good Lieutenant.  --Old B-Runner

USS Monitor Still in the News

From the April 11, 2019, Hampton Roads (Va.) Daily Press  "Notes and Notables:  Area codes, local history and local shopping."

HISTORY AROUND US

When the gun turret from the ironclad ship USS Monitor was pulled up from the Atlantic on August 5, 2002, one historian compared its significance to that of the Apollo 11 module that delivered Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the lunar surface.

That's how much the rotating turret --  which sunk with the rest of the Monitor off the coast of North Carolina at the end of 1862 --  changed the rules and strategies of naval warfare.

That 120-ton turret now  sits at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, along with the ship's anchor, propeller and thousands of smaller artifacts that have been retrieved.  A painstakingly meticulous conservation effort continues on the turret --  this past week it was lifted about two inches so that the 17-year-old support apparatus could be replaced with a new one that will provide better access.

That Monitor.  What A Ship.  --Old Secesh

April 9, 1864, Confederate Torpedo Boat Squib Attacks USS Minnesota-- Part 2

Continued from April 9, 2019.

This happened off Newport News, Virginia.

The USS Minnesota (one of the most powerful ships in the Union Navy) attempted to open fire, but the distance between the two ships being so close, her guns could not be brought to bear.

The Squib rammed her powder charge of more than fifty pounds into the Minnesota's port quarter.

The log of the Minnesota recorded:  "... a tremendous explosion followed."  John Curtis, second in command of the Squib,  wrote that he closed his eyes at the moment of impact,  "opening them in about a second, I think, I never beheld such a sight before nor since.  The air was filled with port shutters and water from the explosion, and the heavy ship was rolling to the starboard, and the officer of the deck was giving orders to save yourselves and cried out 'Torpedo, torpedo!' "

--Old B-Runner

April 9, 1864: Confederate Torpedo Boat Squib Attacks the USS Minnesota-- Part 1

APRIL 9TH, 1864:    Confederate torpedo boat Squib, Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, , successfully exploded a spar torpedo against large steam frigate USS Minnesota, Lieutenant Commander John H. Upshur, off Newport News, Virginia.

The Squib was described by Acting Master John A. Curtis, second in command of the torpedo boat, as being constructed of wood, "about thirty-five feet long, five feet wide, drew three feet of water, two feet freeboard; designed by Hunter Davidson....  The boiler and engine were encased with iron; forward of the boiler was the cockpit, where the crew stood and from where we steered her."

The attack, described by a Northern naval officer observer as "a deed as daring as it was vicious", took place about two o'clock in the morning.  The officer of the deck saw a small 150 to 200 yards off, just forward of the port beam.

To his hail, the Confederate answered "Roanoke."  Acting Ensign James  Birtswistle ordered her to stay clear.  Davidson answered "aye, aye!"    Although Birtswistle could discern no visible means of propulsion, the small Confederate boat continued to close the Minnesota rapidly.

And, Then....  --Old B-Runner

USS Emma-- Part 2: Sold To U.S. Navy At N.Y. Prize Court

The Emma was a single screw steamer built in Glasgow, Scotland, for Thomas S. Begbie.  The Emma and her sister ship, the Gertrude were named for his two daughters.

The ship was captured on 24 July 1864 by the Army transport SS Arago off the coast of Wilmington, North Carolina, on its third voyage.  It was purchased by the U.S. Navy at prize court in New York City on 30 September 1863 and fitted out at the New York Navy Yard and put to sea 4 November 1863 with Acting Master G.B. Livingston in command.

The Emma arrived at Newport News, Virginia 7 November 1863 and joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as a picket and patrol vessel.

--Old B-Runner

Bennett Green, CSN-- Part 1: Surgeon

Over the last month I have written a lot about Newport News, Mulberry Island and Fort Crafford, Virginia, in my Saw the Elephant Civil War blog.  I mentioned this man in connection with Mulberry Island (on the James River).

His family lived in one of the homes on the island and he went on to become a surgeon in the Confederate Navy.  When the Union forces took over the area in 1862, most homes on the island were abandoned and ransacked by Union soldiers.

One of these men found and took as a souvenir, Green's Confederate commission as a ship's surgeon.  Years later, this was returned to Greens's family.

--Old B-Runner

What's in a Newport News?

I often mention Newport News in this blog, especially in connection with the USS Monitor, CSS Virginia, USS Cumberland and USS Congress because of what took place off Newport News in 1862.

But, the name Newport News seems to be a strange one for a city or town.

I mean, I can get the Newport part of the name since it is on the water and a port.  But what about the News?

You can find out where the name comes from by going to my Saw the Blockade Civil War blog and clicking on it.  I wrote about it May 30 and May 32.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Action On the Sea

AUGUST 31ST, 1861:  CSS Teaser shelled Newport News.

**  USS George Peabody, Lt. Lowry, captured brig Henry C. Brooks in Hatteras Inlet.

**  USS Jamestown, Commander Green, captured British blockade running schooner Aigburth off Florida coast.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Confederate Tug Harmony Attacks USS Savannah

AUGUST 30TH, 1861:  Confederate tug Harmony attacked USS Savannah, Captain Joseph B. Hull, at Newport News, inflicting damage before withdrawing.

--Old B-Runner

The End of the CSS Florida-- Part 1

From the November 27, 2015, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) "Civil War raider sinks off Newport news" by Mark St. John Erickson.

The captured CSS Florida, Confederate commerce raider, steamed into Hampton Roads in November 1864.  For two years this ship had savaged the American merchant marine fleet, seizing and burning dozens of them.

The ship's very questionable capture by the Union Navy caused huge foreign diplomatic problems, especially with Brazil, where it was captured.    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, France and Britain denounced the capture in Brazilian waters.

Hampton Roads Naval museum curator Joe Judge said, "As far as the North was concerned, the CSS Florida had been built by a foreign country under the shadiest of circumstances-- skirting international law and a full diplomatic outcry-- then unchivalously preyed upon the weakest of vessels while never standing  up to a Union warship in a fair fight."

The CSS Florida was at sea even before the CSS Alabama.

--Old B-R'er

Confederate Torpedo Boat Squib Strikes USS Minnesota-- Part 2

He hailed the craft and the Confederates replied "Roanoke." Acting Ensign James Birtwistle ordered her to stay clear, to which Davidson replied "Aye, Aye." The Squib continued appraoching rapidly. The Minnesota attempted to open fire, but the distance between the two ships was so little her guns could not be brought to bear. //// The Squib rammed its charge of 50 pounds of gunpowder into the Minnesota's port quarter. //// The log of the Minnesota recorded that "a tremendous explosion followed." //// Aboard tne Squib, Curtis wrote that he had closed his eyes at the moment of impact, "opening them in about a second, I think, I never beheld such a sight before, nor since. The air was filled with port shutters and water from the explosion, and the heavy ship was rolling to starboard, and the officer of the deck giving orders to save yourselves and cried out 'Torpedo! Torpedo!'" //// Unfortunately for the Confederates, though, little damage resulted, though the "shock was quite severe." //// --Old B-R'er

Confederate Torpedo Boat Squib Strikes the USS Minnesota-- Part 1

APRIL 9TH, 1864.

The Confederate torpedo boat Squib, under Lt. Hunter Davidson, successfully exploded a spar torpedo against the steam frigate USS Minnesota off Newport News, Virginia.

Second in command of the Squib Acting Master John A. Curtis, described it as wooden, "about thirty-five feet long, , five feet wide, drew three feet of water, two feet freeboard, designed by Hunter Davidson....

The boiler and engine were encasedd with iron, forward of the boiler was the cockpit, where the crew stood and from where we steered her."

A Northern officer observed the attack as "a deed as daring as it was vicious", took place about 2 AM. The officer of the deck saw a small boat 150-200 yards off, just forward of the port beam.

--Old B-Runner

Crowds Expected for Ironclad Excitement

From the March 8th Newport News Daily Press "Ironclad excitement: Crowds expected for weekend marking the 150th anniversary of USS Monitor's famous battle" by Sam McDonald.

This battle affected naval architecture and technology for decades to come. Even some of today's warships still have turret guns. And ships are still built of steel. But, what occurred at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, is all over the news today.

It will be remembered this week at the center of all things Monitor, the Mariners' Museum at Hampton Roads, Virginia, just a few miles from where the fight took place.

The museum has over 1,100 Monitor artifacts from the wreck, including the steam engine, propeller and the famous turret. All this is housed in a $30 million, 65,000 square foot USS Monitor Center opened in 2007 and now featuring a full-size replica of the Monitor.

Lots of events are scheduled for their 10th Annual Battle of Hampton Roads Weekend. All weekend long there will be Civil War Living History featuring an encampment, recently conserved Monitor artifacts and era cooking. Also, a motor coach tour will be taken of Peninsula Civil War sites. I sure would like to attend the symposium on the event. Plus, there will be the Battle of Ironclad Chefs.

I Really Should Be There. Oh, Well. Tomorrow I Will Be in Milwaukee Celebrating Their St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festivities. Corned Beef and Cabbage and Green Beer Will Just Have to Do. --Old B-Runner