USS New London (1859)
Encyclopedia
USS New London (1859) was a screw steamer
of the United States Navy
during the American Civil War
. She was outfitted with a Parrott rifle
and 32-pounders, and was assigned as a gunboat
in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America
.
in 1859, purchased by the Navy at New York City
on 26 August 1861; and commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 29 October 1861, Lt. Abner Read in command.
on 2 November, New London, aided by USS R. R. Cuyler
, captured the schooner
Olive laden with lumber shortly before midnight on 21 November. Early the next morning, she took the steamboat Anna carrying turpentine
and rosin
from Pascagoula, Mississippi
, to New Orleans, Louisiana
.
About dawn a week later, she took the steamboat Henry Lewis carrying sugar and molasses
; and that afternoon she captured a schooner trying to slip through the blockade with naval stores for Havana, Cuba. On 28 November 1861 she captured SS A. J. View
, which was later put into service in the U.S. Navy.
New London captured the steamer Advocate on 1 December; and the schooner Delight with sloops Empress and Osceola on December 9. On the 28th the schooner Gypsy became her prize.
Operations on shore
Not content just to capture ships, New London, with Water Witch
and Henry Lewis, rounded out her record on the last day of 1861 by sending a landing party ashore to capture Biloxi, Mississippi
, destroying a Confederate battery and taking possession of two guns and the schooner Captain Spedden.
On 20 February 1862 a boat expedition from New London landed on Cat Island, Mississippi and interned 12 small sloop
s and schooners suspected of being pilot boat
s for blockade runners.
On 4 April, with USS J. P. Jackson
and USS Hatteras
, New London engaged CSS Carondelet, CSS Pamlico, and CSS Oregon
while Henry Lewis landed 1,200 Union Army
troops at Pass Christian, Mississippi
and destroyed a Confederate camp there. Boats from New London captured the yachts Comet and Algerine near New Basin, Louisiana on 2 June. On 17 June she captured and destroyed batteries at North and South passes.
On July 18, accompanied by the Grey Cloud, the New London approached the large hotel at Pascagoula and announced its arrival by firing two shells over the hotel. Both steamers had been reinforced by men from the USS Potomac for this raid. The New London docked at the Hotel Wharf at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and deployed about 60 sailors and marines to the village to capture mails and confiscate the telegraph equipment. Sentries quickly spotted a Confederate cavalry patrol and the sailors and marines withdrew to their gunboats. The Grey Cloud moved about a half mile west and attempted to enter the Pascagoula River with the intent on capturing local schooners with turpentine and lumber. However, the mouth of the river was obstructed to prevent passage. At this point the gunboats stood off shore and put in three launches loaded with about 25 sailors and marines each and proceeded up the river. About a mile from the mouth where the river is not but 200 yards wide, the launches were ambushed by a platoon of 30 troopers of the Mobile Dragoons under Lieut Hallett, a cavalry unit armed with Sharps carbines. The launches returned fire, but where in the open and withdrew to the mouth of the river with eight or nine wounded. Once the launches were clear, the New London fired 25 shells into the village and the Grey Cloud fired seven shells; however, only one civilian was reported slightly wounded. After sitting off shore July 19, the ships withdrew from the shoreline. Ref: Charleston Daily Courier, July 29, 1862
coast. She and Cayuga
captured the British schooner Tampico off Sabine Pass, Texas
, attempting to run out laden with cotton on 3 April 1863. On the 10th, while reconnoitering near Sabine City, a boat crew from New London captured a small sloop. Among the prisoners was Capt. Charles Fowler, CSN, who had commanded CSS Josiah Bell when the Confederate warship took Morning Light
and Velocity
in January.
On April 18, another boat expedition was surprised and driven off by Confederate troops.
On 7 July, with USS Monongahela
, New London engaged batteries below Donaldsonville, Louisiana
. Three days later, while steaming to New Orleans, the ship engaged Confederate batteries at White Hall Point, Mississippi.
Back off the Texas coast, she captured the schooner Raton del Nilo on 3 December.
on 8 September 1865 to M. M. Comstock.
Redocumented as Acushnet on 27 December 1865, she operated in merchant service until 1910.
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. She was outfitted with a Parrott rifle
Parrott rifle
The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.-Parrott Rifle:The gun was invented by Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He resigned from the service in 1836 and became the superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold...
and 32-pounders, and was assigned as a gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
.
Built in Connecticut in 1859
New London was built at Mystic, ConnecticutMystic, Connecticut
Mystic is a village and census-designated place in New London County, Connecticut, in the United States. The population was 4,001 at the 2000 census. A historic locality, Mystic has no independent government because it is not a legally recognized municipality in the state of Connecticut...
in 1859, purchased by the Navy at New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 26 August 1861; and commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 29 October 1861, Lt. Abner Read in command.
Gulf of Mexico operations
Ordered to the Gulf of MexicoGulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
on 2 November, New London, aided by USS R. R. Cuyler
USS R. R. Cuyler (1860)
USS R. R. Cuyler was a steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted by the Union Navy as a gunboat and was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America....
, captured the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Olive laden with lumber shortly before midnight on 21 November. Early the next morning, she took the steamboat Anna carrying turpentine
Turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
and rosin
Rosin
.Rosin, also called colophony or Greek pitch , is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vaporize the volatile liquid terpene components. It is semi-transparent and varies in color from yellow to black...
from Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
, to New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
.
About dawn a week later, she took the steamboat Henry Lewis carrying sugar and molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
; and that afternoon she captured a schooner trying to slip through the blockade with naval stores for Havana, Cuba. On 28 November 1861 she captured SS A. J. View
USS A. J. View (1861)
USS A. J. View — a Confederate States of America schooner — was captured during the beginning of the American Civil War by the Union Navy.A. J. View was outfitted as a collier, supplying coal to Union ships with steam engines...
, which was later put into service in the U.S. Navy.
New London captured the steamer Advocate on 1 December; and the schooner Delight with sloops Empress and Osceola on December 9. On the 28th the schooner Gypsy became her prize.
Operations on shore
Not content just to capture ships, New London, with Water Witch
USS Water Witch (1851)
The third USS Water Witch was a wooden-hulled, sidewheel gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She is best known as the ship fired on by Paraguay in 1855...
and Henry Lewis, rounded out her record on the last day of 1861 by sending a landing party ashore to capture Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
, destroying a Confederate battery and taking possession of two guns and the schooner Captain Spedden.
On 20 February 1862 a boat expedition from New London landed on Cat Island, Mississippi and interned 12 small sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
s and schooners suspected of being pilot boat
Pilot boat
A Pilot Boat is a type of boat used to transport pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting.-History:The origins of the word pilot probably disseminates from the Latin word pilota, a variation of pedota, the plural of pēdón which translates as oar...
s for blockade runners.
On 4 April, with USS J. P. Jackson
USS John P. Jackson (1860)
USS John P. Jackson was a steamship acquired by the United States Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War. She was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America. as well as the bombardment of Mississippi River ports.-Commissioned at the New York Navy Yard:John P...
and USS Hatteras
USS Hatteras (1861)
The first USS Hatteras was a heavy 1,126-ton steamer purchased by the Union Navy at the beginning of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat and assigned to the Union blockade of the ports and waterways of the Confederate States of America...
, New London engaged CSS Carondelet, CSS Pamlico, and CSS Oregon
CSS Oregon
CSS Oregon, a wooden steam gunboat was the only ship of the Confederate States Navy to be named for the 33rd state. A wooden steamer similar to California, she was built at New York City in 1846 for the Mobile Mail Line, 60 percent owned at the end of April 1861 by the Geddes family of New...
while Henry Lewis landed 1,200 Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
troops at Pass Christian, Mississippi
Pass Christian, Mississippi
Pass Christian , nicknamed The Pass, is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States, along the Gulf of Mexico. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and destroyed a Confederate camp there. Boats from New London captured the yachts Comet and Algerine near New Basin, Louisiana on 2 June. On 17 June she captured and destroyed batteries at North and South passes.
On July 18, accompanied by the Grey Cloud, the New London approached the large hotel at Pascagoula and announced its arrival by firing two shells over the hotel. Both steamers had been reinforced by men from the USS Potomac for this raid. The New London docked at the Hotel Wharf at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and deployed about 60 sailors and marines to the village to capture mails and confiscate the telegraph equipment. Sentries quickly spotted a Confederate cavalry patrol and the sailors and marines withdrew to their gunboats. The Grey Cloud moved about a half mile west and attempted to enter the Pascagoula River with the intent on capturing local schooners with turpentine and lumber. However, the mouth of the river was obstructed to prevent passage. At this point the gunboats stood off shore and put in three launches loaded with about 25 sailors and marines each and proceeded up the river. About a mile from the mouth where the river is not but 200 yards wide, the launches were ambushed by a platoon of 30 troopers of the Mobile Dragoons under Lieut Hallett, a cavalry unit armed with Sharps carbines. The launches returned fire, but where in the open and withdrew to the mouth of the river with eight or nine wounded. Once the launches were clear, the New London fired 25 shells into the village and the Grey Cloud fired seven shells; however, only one civilian was reported slightly wounded. After sitting off shore July 19, the ships withdrew from the shoreline. Ref: Charleston Daily Courier, July 29, 1862
Blockading the Texas coast
During the ensuing years New London served on blockade duty in the Gulf of Mexico, operating primarily off the TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
coast. She and Cayuga
USS Cayuga (1861)
The first USS Cayuga was a in the United States Navy.Cayuga was launched 21 October 1861 by Gildersleeve and Son, East Haddam, Connecticut; outfitted at New York Navy Yard; commissioned 21 February 1862, Lieutenant N. B...
captured the British schooner Tampico off Sabine Pass, Texas
Sabine Pass, Texas
Sabine Pass is a neighborhood of Port Arthur, Texas, United States. It lies on the west bank of Sabine Pass, near the Louisiana border.Originally known as Sabine City, the original date of settlement of Sabine Pass is unknown, but is estimated at 1836...
, attempting to run out laden with cotton on 3 April 1863. On the 10th, while reconnoitering near Sabine City, a boat crew from New London captured a small sloop. Among the prisoners was Capt. Charles Fowler, CSN, who had commanded CSS Josiah Bell when the Confederate warship took Morning Light
USS Morning Light (1853)
USS Morning Light was a sailing ship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries....
and Velocity
USS Velocity (1862)
USS Velocity was a captured British schooner acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War.She was put into service by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries...
in January.
On April 18, another boat expedition was surprised and driven off by Confederate troops.
On 7 July, with USS Monongahela
USS Monongahela (1862)
USS Monongahela was a barkentine–rigged screw sloop-of-war that served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Her task was to participate in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America...
, New London engaged batteries below Donaldsonville, Louisiana
Donaldsonville, Louisiana
Donaldsonville is a city in and the parish seat of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the west bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 7,605 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Acadians began to settle in the area in...
. Three days later, while steaming to New Orleans, the ship engaged Confederate batteries at White Hall Point, Mississippi.
Back off the Texas coast, she captured the schooner Raton del Nilo on 3 December.
Post-war decommissioning and subsequent career
New London continued to serve the West Gulf Blockading Squadron through the end of the Civil War. She sailed north on 12 July 1865 and decommissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, 3 August 1865. She was sold at public auctionPublic auction
A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....
on 8 September 1865 to M. M. Comstock.
Redocumented as Acushnet on 27 December 1865, she operated in merchant service until 1910.
See also
- American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
- Union NavyUnion NavyThe Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
- Confederate States NavyConfederate States NavyThe Confederate States Navy was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War...