USS Champion (1859)
From SpottingWorld, the Hub for the SpottingWorld network...
For other ships of the same name, see USS Champion.
USS Champion (1863-1865, "Tinclad" # 24) Lithograph by Middleton, Strobridge & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1864, after a drawing by Chas. A. Fisher. Inscription below the image reads: "United States Steamer Champion. Mississippi Squadron. Acting Ensign Thomas Divins, Commanding Nov. 1864". Thomas "Divins" is a misprint for Thomas Divine. USS Champion (1863-1865, "Tinclad" # 24) Lithograph by Middleton, Strobridge & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1864, after a drawing by Chas. A. Fisher. Inscription below the image reads: "United States Steamer Champion. Mississippi Squadron. Acting Ensign Thomas Divins, Commanding Nov. 1864". Thomas "Divins" is a misprint for Thomas Divine. | |
Career (US) | 100x35px |
---|---|
Name: | USS Champion |
Ordered: | as Champion No. 4 |
Laid down: | date unknown |
Launched: | 1859 |
Acquired: | 14 March 1863 |
Commissioned: | 26 April 1863 |
Decommissioned: | 1 July 1865 |
Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
Fate: | sold, 29 November 1865 |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Gunboat |
Displacement: | 115 long tons (117 t) |
Length: | 145 ft 8 in (44.40 m) |
Beam: | 26 ft 5 in (8.05 m) |
Draft: | 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) |
Propulsion: |
Steam engine side wheel-propelled |
Speed: | 4 kn (4.6 mph; 7.4 km/h) |
Complement: | Unknown |
Armament: | 2 × 30-pounder rifled gun, 1 × 24-pounder smoothbore gun, 1 × 12-pounder smoothbore gun |
USS Champion (1859), an armed river steamer, was built in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1859 as Champion No. 4; purchased there on 14 March 1863; fitted out at Cairo, Illinois; and commissioned on 26 April 1863, Acting Master Alfred Phelps, Jr., in command.
Civil War operations
Operating almost continuously from 27 April 1863-9 June 1865, Champion patrolled the Mississippi River, Tennessee River, and the Red River. She transported troops, prisoners, supplies, and cotton; towed and convoyed ships; and delivered dispatches.
Decommissioning
Her yeoman service ended at Mound City, Illinois, where she was decommissioned on 1 July. Champion was sold 29 November 1865.
See also
References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.