USS Lioness (1857)

Built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1857, the steam ram "Lioness" was taken over by the US Navy. Commissioned in 1862, Lieutenant Warren D. Crandall in command, she joined the Union flotilla on the western rivers.

ervice

After fitting out at Pittsburgh in April 1862, Lioness departed New Albany for Cairo, Illinois May 12. Scouting Fort Pillow with other rams on June 1, she participated on June 6 in the Battle of Memphis, a one-sided, Union victory. "Lioness" then joined other rams and three gunboats, convoying and covering Army troops under Colonel Woods in a joint expedition from Helena to the Yazoo River, capturing the USS "Fairplay," and destroying newly-constructed Confederate batteries 20 miles up the Yazoo. The expedition also dispersed Confederate troops at Greenville, Mississippi, before retiring August 27.

In December, "Lioness" was at Mound City, Illinois, preparing for further efforts against Vicksburg. On February 6, she formed part of the expedition to Yazoo Pass and Greenville, operating there until April 12. Then she and three other rams supported Colonel Charles R. Ellet’s marine brigade in the Tennessee.

After Southern naval power on the rivers had been wiped out, "Lioness" was laid up at Mound City until sold in 1865. She served American commerce until sold abroad in 1873.

ee also

*Mississippi Marine Brigade

References