USS Columbine (1862)
| Career (US) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Columbine |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1850 |
| Acquired: | 12 December 1862 |
| Out of service: | 23 May 1864 |
| Fate: | sunk, 23 May 1864 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Tugboat |
| Displacement: | 133 long tons (135 t) |
| Length: | 117 ft (36 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Draft: | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Propulsion: |
Steam engine side wheel-propelled |
| Speed: | 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) |
| Complement: | 25 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 2 × 20-pounder Parrott rifles |
USS Columbine (1862) — a side-wheel tugboat — was built in New York City in 1850 as A. H. Schultz; purchased by the Navy on 12 December 1862; outfitted by Howe & Cope-land, New York City; and placed under the command of Acting Master J. S. Dennis.
Contents
Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockade
Columbine patrolled with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Port Royal, South Carolina, from 6 January 1863-14 February 1864, when she arrived at Jacksonville, Florida. From 9–12 March, she participated in an expedition up the St. Johns River and Ocklawaha Rivers during which she took one prize.
Battle of Horse Landing
On 23 May, while returning from a trip to Palatka, Florida, near Horse Landing, Columbine was attacked by Confederate forces of the 2nd Florida Cavalry under the command of Captain John J. Dickison, who were equipped with an artillery piece from the Milton Light Artillery.
Columbine captured by Confederate cavalry and burned
The Confederate troops engaged Columbine very close to the landing, and kept up such heavy gunfire that it soon became impossible to handle the ship. After the rudder was damaged and a steam pipe wrecked, Columbine could no longer be steered. She ran aground after 45 minutes of fighting, and Acting Ensign Frank Sandborn went ashore and surrendered the ship to Captain Dickison. One landsman on the Columbine and three Negro seamen jumped off the boat, swam ashore, and marched some five days finally arriving at St. Augustine, Florida. Columbine was subsequently burned so that she would not be re-captured by Ottawa, which was only about five miles upstream.
More than half of Columbine's crew were wounded in the fighting. Official records of Columbine indicate that only one seaman was killed. The remaining seamen were eventually transferred to Andersonville, Georgia Prison; the officers being sent to Macon, Georgia.
Aftermath
The destruction of Columbine was one of the few instances in which a Union warship was destroyed by land-based forces during the Civil War in Florida. During the spring of 1864, the Confederates managed to sink four other Union ships in the St. Johns River with the use of a new weapon: the underwater mine.
The wreck has only recently been discovered.
See also
References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
