- USS Carondelet (1861)
USS "Carondelet" (1861) was a
City class ironclad gunboat constructed for theUnion Navy byJames B. Eads during theAmerican Civil War .Because of her shallow draft and her combination of heavy guns and a
howitzer , she was suited for riverside bombardment and assigned to theMississippi River area where she operated against forces of theConfederate States of America .Built in Missouri in 1861
USS "Carondelet", an
ironclad rivergunboat , was built in1861 by James Eads and Co.,St. Louis, Missouri , under contract to theUnited States Department of War . "Carondelet" was commissionedJanuary 15 ,1862 , atCairo, Illinois , naval CaptainHenry A. Walke in command, and reported toWestern Flotilla (Army), commanded by naval Flag OfficerAndrew Hull Foote .Civil War service
Union Army service
Between January and October
1862 , "Carondelet" operated almost constantly on river patrol and in the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February; the passing of Island No. 10 and the attack on and spiking of the shore batteries belowNew Madrid, Missouri , in April; the lengthy series of operations against Plum Point Bend,Fort Pillow , andMemphis, Tennessee , from April through June, and the engagement with "CSS "Arkansas"" onJuly 15 , during which "Carondelet" was heavily damaged and suffered 35 casualties.Union Navy service
Transferred to
United States Department of the Navy control with the other ships of her flotilla onOctober 1 ,1862 , "Carondelet" continued the rapid pace of her operations, taking part in the unsuccessfulSteele's Bayou Expedition in March1863 .One of those to pass the Vicksburg and
Warrenton, Missouri batteries in April1863 , "Carondelet" took part onApril 29 in the five and one-half hour engagement with the batteries at Grand Gulf. She remained on duty off Vicksburg, hurling fire at the city in its long siege from May to July. Without her and her sisters and other naval forces, the great operations on the rivers would not have been possible and the United States victory might not have been won.From
March 7 toMay 15 ,1864 , she sailed with the Red River Expedition, and during operations in support ofUnion Army movements ashore, took part in theBell's Mill engagement (part of theFranklin-Nashville Campaign ) of December1864 . For the remainder of the war, "Carondelet" patrolled in theCumberland River .Post-war decommissioning and sale
She was decommissioned at Mound City on
June 20 ,1865 , and sold there onNovember 29 ,1865 .Subsequent career and sinking
In
1873 , shortly before she was to be scrapped, a flood swept the "Carondelet" from her moorings inGallipolis, Ohio . She then drifted approximately 130 miles down theOhio River , where she grounded nearManchester, Ohio . Her ultimate fate remained unknown until a May1982 search operation by theNational Underwater and Marine Agency pinpointed the location of the wreckage, two days after adredge passed directly over the wreckage, demolishing most of the wrecked vessel. [cite web
last = Cussler
first = Clive
authorlink = Clive Cussler
coauthors =
title = USS Carondelet: The hunt for the famous Union ironclad river gunboat, Carondelet in the Ohio River
work =
publisher =National Underwater and Marine Agency
month = May | year = 1982
url = http://www.numa.net/expeditions/carondelet.html
format =HTML
doi =
accessmonthday=10 October | accessyear=2006]DANFS [cite book
title =Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
publisher = Naval History Division
year = 1963
url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/]References
See also
*
Union Navy
*American Civil War
*Confederate States Navy External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/carndt.htm USS Carondelet (1862-1865)]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c4/carondelet-i.htm USS Carondelet]
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