USS Wachusett (1862-1887)USS Wachusett , a 1032-ton Iroquois class screw sloop of war, was built at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts. Commissioned in March 1862, she saw her first service in the Hampton Roads and James River area of Virginia, where she participated in an attack on the Drewry's Bluff fortifications on 15 May. From September 1862 into 1863, Wachusett was flagship of a special "Flying Squadron" sent to search for Confederate Navy raiders in the Caribbean. Following six months of repairs, she went to the South Atlantic on a similar mission. On 7 October 1864, her commanding officer, Napoleon Collins , took Wachusett into the neutral port of Bahia, Brazil, where she captured the Southern cruiser Florida . Wachusett 's next duty station was in East Indies and Asiatic waters, where she operated from the Spring of 1865 until 1867. In 1871-74, she cruised in the Mediterranean, off the U.S. Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. After being laid up from 1874 to 1879, Wachusett returned to the Gulf for a brief time and then went to the South Atlantic. In May 1880, she transferred to the Pacific, where she remained active until decommissioning for the last time in September 1885. USS Wachusett was sold in July 1887.
Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, with the city of Vallejo in the distance, circa 1880-85. |
![]() War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor The experience of the men aboard the Monitor and their reactions to the thrills and dangers that accompanied the new machine. The invention surrounded men with iron and threatened their heroism, their self-image as warriors, even their lives Naval Strategies of the Civil War: Confederate Innovations and Federal Opportunism Compare and contrast the strategies of the Southern Secretary of the Navy, Mallory, against his rival in the North, Welles. Mallory used technological innovation and the skill of individuals to bolster the South's seapower against the Union Navy's superior numbers |
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![]() Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida'S Gulf Coast, 1861-1865 Coastal Florida had a refugee crisis as the war progressed. Escaped slaves ("contrabands") sought out the blockaders. Some joined the U.S. Navy. White men and their families sought to avoid conscription or vengeful neighbors/regulators and eventually sought refuge with the blockaders |
![]() Confederate Ironclad vs Union Ironclad: Hampton Roads 1862 The Ironclad was a revolutionary weapon of war. Although iron was used for protection in the Far East during the 16th century, it was the 19th century and the American Civil War that heralded the first modern armored self-propelled warships. Release date Nov. 2008 |
![]() Year on a Monitor and the Destruction of Fort Sumter Personal view of the Civil War Navy. The monitor saw action in several significant naval assaults by the Union's Squadron. It took part in the failed Federal attack on Sumter in April 1863. The "Nahant" also participated in the capture of the Confederate Ram "Atlanta," and in the assault on Fort Wagner |
![]() Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack The first ironclad ships to fight each other, the Monitor and the Virginia (Merrimack), were the unique products of American design genius |
![]() Halls of Honor The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War |
![]() Raise The Alabama She was 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 |
![]() The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one |
![]() Civil War Journal - The Conflict Begins These four programs from the History Channel series Civil War Journal cover critical aspects of the early days of the war. |
Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
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