CSS Owl, Blockade-Runner-- Part 2: Running the Blockade Into Wilmington

The Owl was built in Liverpool, England, (Home of the Beatles) by shipbuilder Jones Quiggen and launched n June 21, 1864.  She was built specifically to run the blockade.

The CSS Owl was more fortunate than her sister ship, the CSS Bat which followed her closely.  The Owl succeeded in running into Wilmington, N.C.,  sometime in September 1864, despite the Union Navy having information on her and its destination.  United States Consul Mortimer Melville Jackson described her as having "a large, valuable cargo."

The Owl then cleared port, supposedly going to Nassau in the Bahamas, but actually to Wilmington.  She ran through the blockade successfully.  After loading cotton, the Owl escaped Wilmington on October 3, 1864, despite her masts being visible before running out.  However, not without damage and injuries.  Her captain and several crew men were wounded when nine shots found their mark.

--Old B-Runner

Blockade Runner Owl-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Launched:  June 21, 1864

Commissioned:  1864

Decommissioned:   1865

Fate:  Delivered to British agents in Liverpool

Displacement:  771 tons

Length:  230 feet

Beam:  26 feet

Draft:  7.6 feet

Propulsion:  steam engine

Speed:  14-16 knots  (one very fast ship for its time)

--Old B-Runner

Blockade Runner Owl

From the May 26, 2020  Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Photos:  Past vessels along the Cape Fear River."

Picture 46 of 82

A painting of Captain John Newland Maffitt's  Owl running the blockade into Wilmington.

John Morris, head of the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch at Fort Fisher will be speaking  June 30, 2018, from 3 pm to 4 pm at the Wrightsville Beach (NC) Museum about American Civil War vessels lost in the area.

A collection of artifacts from the blockade runner Modern Greece will be available for guest inspection and handling.

North Carolina  is home to more Civil War shipwrecks than any other state.

Also, Photo 61 of 82 shows a map of the blockade runner Condor which is now a Heritage Dive Site.  Photo 62 is an underwater photo of the Condor.  Also photo 76 shows an oblique view of the Condor.

--Old B-Runner

June 1-4, 1865: Attacking Apalachicola

JUNE 1-4TH, 1865:  Lieutenant Commander Nathaniel Green, in the USS Itasca,  commanded the naval units in the combined Army-Navy movement to occupy Apalachicola, Florida.

Brigadier general Alexander Asboth, commanding the expedition, commended Green highly for his "nautical skill and efficiency, as well as his friendly willingness to aid" which the general reported, "materially contributed to the successful" execution of the mission.

--Old B-Runner

Confederate Fortifications at New Topsail Inlet

From Stopping Points

TOPSAIL BATTERY

U.S. 17, HAMPSTEAD, N.C.

I have passed the marker often I I drove from Wilmington to Topsail Island, North Carolina, where my mom had a townhouse at Topsail Beach.

Text from the marker:

Confederate breastworks were constructed in this vicinity in 1862 to protect Wilmington from an attack from the north  and for coastal defense.

The attack from the north would have been a Union attack from  occupied New Bern and coastal defense would have been a Union landing on the coast and attack on Wilmington from there.

The marker is on the east side of U.S. 17 as you enter Hampstead.  I imagine there is water nearby, but you can't see it for the overgrowth.

--Old B-Runner

Action at New Topsail Inlet on August 22, 1863-- Part 2: Cushing's At It Again

AUGUST 22ND, 1863:  Boat crew from the USS Shokokon, Lieutenant Cushing, destroyed schooner Alexander Cooper in New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina.

"This was,"  Rear Admiral S.P. Lee wrote, "a handsome affair, showing skill and gallantry."

Ten days earlier, Cushing had sighted the blockade runner while he was on a reconnaissance of the inlet.  "This schooner," he said, "I determined to destroy, and as it was so well guarded I concluded to use strategy."

The evening of the 22nd, he sent two boats' crews ashore under the command of Acting Ensign Joseph E. Cony.  The men landed, shouldered a dingy, and carried it across a neck of land to the inlet.

Thus the assault took place from behind the Confederate works with marked success.  In addition to burning the Alexander Cooper, Cony destroyed extensive salt works in the vicinity and took three prisoners back to the Shokokon.

Very Sneaky Mr. Cushing.  --Old B-Runner

Action At New Topsail Inlet, N.C. (and a Medal of Honor)

From Into the Breach blog site  August 22:  Today in Military History.

I wrote about this in September 2013.

August 22, 1863:  The crew of the Union steamer USS Shokokon spots the Confederate schooner Alexander Cooper in New Topsail Inlet on the North Carolina Coast (near present-day Camp Lejeune).  A crew of sailors board a boat which they use to reach the rear of the Confederate camp guarding the ship, where the Master-at-arms, Robert T. Clifford, sneaks ashore and counts the enemy.

Although outnumbered three-to-one, Clifford leads a charge against the Rebels, who are routed and leave behind their ship and supplies.

For his actions, Clifford is awarded the Medal of Honor.

My mom used to own a condo near New Topsail Inlet, N.C.

--Old B-Runner

USS Peterhoff

From the May 24, 2020, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Photos:  Past vessels along the Cape Fear River."

The captions were what appeared in the newspaper at the time.

Picture 44 of 83

USS Peterhoff  (Underwater map of the ship's remains).

The USS PETERHOFF was a Union blockading ship and the most likely ship for the next Heritage Dive Site.

John Morris, head of the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch at Fort Fisher will be speaking June 30, 2018, from 3 pm to 4 pm at the Wrightsville Beach (N.C.) Museum.

Morris will be speaking about American Civil War  vessels lost in the area including a collection of artifacts from the blockade runner Modern Greece that participants can handle and inspect.

North Carolina is home to more Civil War shipwrecks than any other states.

--Old B-Runner

Edward Simpson's Career After the Civil War

In 1881, he took command of League Island Navy Yard and in 1884 was appointed President of the Gun Foundry Board.  After that, he left the States again and traveled to Europe for advisory services.

Upon his return, he was promoted to rear admiral and next became President of the Advisory Board, which position he gave up in 1885 for President of the Board of Inspection.  He was regarded as an authority on all matters of ordnance and was author of three books on the subject now used at the Naval Academy.

Throughout his long career he had acted in an advisory capacity on issues dealing with ordnance.  One of his last offices was that of advisory boards which designed the light cruisers USS Boston, Raleigh and Atlanta.  Two of these participated in the Spanish-American War and two of them were in World War I.

At the time of his retirement , he had served in the U.S. Navy for forty-six years.  In 1920, the Navy commissioned the USS Simpson (DD-221).

He died on December 1, 1888, in Washington, D.C., and is buried at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Quite the Career.  --Old B-Runner

Edward Simpson's Career in the Civil War and Afterwards

Now at the USNA, Simpson was an instructor of naval gunnery and infantry tactics.  Prior to the Civil War, he was promoted to master, then to lieutenant.  In 1862, he was promoted to lieutenant-commander and in 1863, commanded the ironclad monitor USS Passaic in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

As commander, he took part in the attacks on Fort Wagner in July and August 1863 and Fort Sumter in August and September 1863.

At some point, he was removed as the Passaic's commander and became the USS Isonomia's first commander.  Now, that ship was in no way the equal of the Passaic, so at some point I'd have to believe that something bad happened to Simpson's career.

Even so, he was promoted to commander in 1865 and captain in 1870.  The next two years were spent in Europe on special duty.  In 1877, he was detailed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard as captain, and in 1878, having been promoted to commodore he was commanding officer at the New London Naval Station.

--Old B-Runner

May 21, 1865: CSS Shenandoah in the Sea of Okhotsk

MAY 21ST, 1865:  The CSS Shenandoah entered the Sea of Okhotsk "and ran along the coast of Kamchatka under sail.  There is a strong current along the Pacific side of these islands, setting to the M.E. which clings to the eastern shore on the Arctic  Ocean, and how much further north man knoweth not."

--Old B-R'er

Edward Simpson's Ships-- Part 4: USS Vixen in the Mexican War

After the successful completion of the Yucatan Campaign, the Vixen returned to blockade duty and later participated in the capture of Laguna on 20 September.  She also took part in the capture of Tampico on 14 November then covered U.S. troop landings at Vera Cruz on 9 March 1847.

After Mexican envoys rejected peace offers, the American squadron attacked the city on the 23rd.  Two days later, the USS Spitfire and Vixen made a daring  and visually spectacular close range attack on Vera Cruz's shore defenses.

Vera Cruz finally surrendered unconditionally on the 28th.

This stunning victory enabled General Winfield Scott's army to march overland by the shortest distance and capture Mexico City which was the decisive event in the war.

HOME SQUADRON (1848-1854)

The Vixen then conducted cleanup operations for the remainder of the war.

After the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on 30 May 1848, she joined the Home Squadron and underwent repairs at the Washington Navy Yard in 1850.  Temporarily decommissioned at Pensacola, Florida, in 1853 by several outbreaks of yellow fever and she underwent further repairs at Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1854.

The Vixen was sold in 1855.

--Old B-Runner

Edward Simpson's Ships, USS Vixen-- Part 3: Capture of Tabasco

In the Gulf of Mexico, the Vixen performed many patrol and reconnaissance assignments and helped secure the Mexican coasts for the landing and move inland of the United States Army.

Under the command of Joshua R. Sands, the Vixen first saw action on 16 October 1846 when she assisted in an unsuccessful attempt to take Alvarado, Mexico, the most important Mexican city east of Vera Cruz.  During the attack, the Vixen towed the schooners Bonita and reefer, but  together with the rest of the fleet, was unable to cross the bar and the attack was called off.

Next, the squadron moved south and attempted to cut the Yucatan Peninsula off from the rest of Mexico.  Success hinged on the capture of  of the coastal port of Frontera at the mouth of the Tabasco River which would cause the surrender of the city of Tabasco upriver.

The Vixen and the rest of the squadron maneuvered into position off Frontera on 23 October.  Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the Vixen and with the schooners Bonita and USRC Forward in tow, dashed across the bar and captured the Mexican ships protecting the port.  (The USRC Forward also took a part in the Civil war.)

Then, the Vixen and Perry ascended the river on the 24th and 25th with the other vessels of the squadron and forced the surrender of Tabasco after a three shot bombardment by the Vixen.

--Old B-Runner

Edward Simpson's Ships-- Part 2: The USS Vixen During the Mexican War

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, Edward Simpson served on the USS Vixen during the Mexican War.

From Wikipedia.

This was the third ship in the U.S. Navy by this name.  The first two were in the War of 1812 so I will write about them in my Not So Forgotten:  War of 1812 blog.

Of interest, the Vixen was originally built for the Mexican government by the firm of Brown & Bell of New York City before the U.S. Navy purchased it in 1846 and it was then used against the country it was originally built to protect.

It was 118 feet long, 22.6 foot beam paddle wheel steam ship mounting one 8-inch shell gun and two 32-pdr. carronades with a crew of 55.

Immediately after purchase, the Vixen deployed in the Gulf of Mexico, joining Commodore David Conner's blockade squadron.

--Old B-Runner

Simpson's Ships-- Part 1: USS Decatur and Congress

In the last post I  wrote about  Simpson's service aboard these ships up to the Mexican War.

The first two were involved with the Civil War.

The USS Decatur was a wooden sloop of war sailing ship launched in 1839 at the New York Navy Yard.  It was 117 feet long, had a 32 foot beam and crew of 150 officers and men.  It participated in the Mexican War.

Afterwards it was in the African Squadron, Home Squadron and the Pacific Squadron.

The ship was decommissioned at Mare Island in San Francisco Bay in 1859 and then remained in ordinary until March 1863, when she was fitted as a defensive floating battery and stationed off San Francisco to guard against Confederate raiders.  Plus, there was talk of a clandestine expedition of Confederates and their sympathizers from Canada.

*******************************

The second ship, the frigate USS Congress commissioned in 1842 and was 179 feet long with a 48-foot beam and mounted 53 cannons.  It took part in the Mexican War, but saw short service in the Civil War as it was sunk in 1862 by the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia.

--Old B-R'er