USS Estrella
Civil War Union Naval Ship

USS Estrella (1862-1867)

USS Estrella , a 438-ton (burden) side-wheel steamship, was built in England in 1853. Reportedly captured as a blockade runner, she was obtained from the U.S. Army in the latter part of 1862 and placed in commission as a Navy gunboat. She was actively employed on the waters around the lower Mississippi River, taking part in several actions with the Confederates. In November 1862 and January 1863 she engaged CSS J.A. Cotton , which was destroyed following the latter battle. Estrella also participated in the destruction of CSS Queen of the West on 14 April 1863 and, during the next three months, was involved the capture of Butte à la Rose, Louisiana, an expedition up the Red River and the attacks that led to the fall of Port Hudson.

Following further activity in Louisiana's rivers, later in 1863 Estrella was moved to the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. She captured a schooner at Matagorda Bay, Texas, in early April 1864 and in August of that year was a participant in the operations that seized the entrances of Mobile Bay, Alabama. Remaining in the Gulf after the Civil War's end, Estrella was used as flagship of the Gulf Squadron. She was sent north at the end of June 1867 and decommissioned in mid-July of that year. Sold to private owners in October 1867, she was employed in commercial service until lost in 1870.

Painting depicting Estrella (at left) off the Pensacola Navy Yard, Florida, circa 1866-1867.
USS Yucca (1865-1868) is in the middle distance. The sailing frigate at right is not identified.

"The Fight at Corney's Bridge, Bayou Teche, Louisiana, and Destruction of the Rebel Gun-boat 'Cotton,', January 14, 1863."
Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, showing the Confederate gunboat J.A. Cotton engaging Federal gunboats, as Confederate troops fire from the shore. U.S. Navy ships in this engagement were Kinsman , Estrella , Diana and Calhoun .


Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting CSS Queen of the West being destroyed in Grand Lake, Louisiana, during an attack by USS Estrella (extreme left), Calhoun (extreme right) and Arizona (second from right), 14 April 1863.

Line engraving after a sketch by H. Holtz, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting the U.S. Navy gunboats Estrella , Calhoun , Arizona and Clifton (listed clockwise from lower right) engaging the Confederate gunboat J.A. Cotton off Butte a la Rose, Louisiana, on 20 April 1863. Confederate Fort Burton (shown at left) was captured on the same day.



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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.

 

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