USS Dawn
Civil War Union Naval Ship

USS Dawn (1861-1865).
Originally the civilian steamship Dawn

USS Dawn , a 399-ton screw steam gunboat, was built in 1856-57 at New York City for commercial use. She was chartered by the Navy in April 1861 and commissioned for Civil War duty early in the following month as USS Dawn . During her initial service, with the Potomac Flotilla from then until early 1862, Dawn captured three vessels carrying contraband. In October 1861, with the war clearly not going to be short, the Navy purchased her outright.

After repairs at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., Dawn was sent to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in late April 1862. While on that station, she operated along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. In November 1862 and again in January-March 1863, she took part in operations against Fort McAllister, Georgia, and assisted in the destruction of the Confederate privateer Rattlesnake .

Dawn was reassigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in December 1863, following five months under repair at New York. She served in the James River area of Virginia in 1864 and into 1865. Decommissioned in July, USS Dawn was sold in November 1865. Renamed Eutaw , she operated as a merchant vessel until wrecked in December 1869.

Watercolor by Erik Heyl, for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume III.
This vessel served as USS Dawn in 1861-1865 and was later the civilian steamer Eutaw .




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DVD DVD Book Book

Quest for the Monitor
The first group of non-governmental divers to dive the Monitor. All diving operations were conducted under the close supervision of NOAA.This was beautifully photographed by veteran lensman Ric O'Donnell and narrated and written by Jackie Stone. The video shows a lot of action both on the deck of the dive boat as well as wonderfully clear underwater views of the Monitor
Raise the Alabama
Known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France, where the Alabama had gone for repairs.RAISE THE ALABAMA! descends into the murky depths of the English Channel with the marine archeology team led by the renowned Gordon Watts. 200 feet beneath these foreign waters, the legendary Confederate ship is surrendering her secrets, despite weather conditions that make it safe to dive only a few days a year. The program also documents the Alabama's extraordinary career, from her construction in Liverpool to the surprise attacks that made her the scourge of Union shipping and the valiant, 90-minute battle with the Kearsarge
War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor
David Mindell has combined a sensitive and incisive reading of the documentary evidence with insightful historical analysis to illuminate not only his central theme, the experience of battle in an emerging machine age, but also the process of invention, negotiation, and politics that brought the Monitor into existence and the quite different process of narration, memory, and imagination that invested the ship and its exploits so heavily with symbolic meaning.
Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy
Ringle is among the first to examine the many aspects of sailors' lives during the American Civil War. He examines topics such as the recruiting efforts of the U.S. Navy, compensation and promotion, training, entertainment, and disease to name but a few. The extensive research and sheer fact that this is one of the first books to examine this aspect of CW naval history makes it a must for any American naval library



American Military Gear Recruiter and History
United States Marines gear history and support of Semper Fi Fund

 

The Complete DVD History of U.S. Wars (1700-2004)
War has always been part of the American experience. From the time the first colonists set foot upon North America's shores, they were in conflict with the Native inhabitants. One hundred years later the colonies suddenly found themselves an extension of the conflicts in Europe. Less than a century later, the Revolutionary War freed the fledgling United States from its British overlords and European entanglements. Born and nurtured in war, America grew in strength and power until at the beginning of the 21st century it was the foremost military power in the world.

 

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress
US Naval Archives