USS Suwanee (1864)
| Career (US) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Suwanee |
| Namesake: | An alternative spelling for the Suwannee River in Georgia and Florida |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: |
on 13 March 1864 at Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Acquired: | date unknown |
| Commissioned: | 23 January 1865 |
| Out of service: | 9 July 1868 |
| Struck: | 1868 (est.) |
| Fate: |
sunk, 9 July 1868 near British Columbia |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,030 tons |
| Length: | 255 ft 0 in (77.72 m) |
| Beam: | 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m) |
| Draught: |
depth of hold 12' 0" draft 9' 0" |
| Propulsion: |
steam engine side wheel-propelled double ended |
| Speed: | 15 knots |
| Complement: | 159 |
| Armament: |
two 100-pounder Parrott rifles four 9” Dahlgren smoothbores two 24-pounder howitzers two 20-pounder Dahlgren rifles |
The first USS Suwanee (1864) was a large (1,030-ton) steamer commissioned by the Union Navy in its struggle against the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War.
With her large crew of 159 sailors and officers and powerful guns, Suwanee served the Union Navy as a heavy gunboat on the high seas, searching for merchant raiders and blockade runners.
Contents
Built in Pennsylvania in 1864
Suwanee -- a double-ended, iron-hulled, side-wheel gunboat built at Chester, Pennsylvania -- was launched on 13 March 1864, and was commissioned on 23 January 1865, Comdr. Paul Shirley in command.
Civil War operations
Ordered to the Pacific Ocean, the new double-ender departed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at dawn on 17 February 1865 and proceeded via New York City down the Atlantic coast of the Americas looking for Confederate commerce raiders, especially for CSS Shenandoah, which had been plaguing Northern shipping.
She then steamed up the Pacific coast and arrived at Acapulco, Mexico, where she joined the Pacific Squadron on 30 July. The side-wheeler was promptly ordered to sea in quest of Shenandoah.
After the Southern cruiser Shenandoah surrendered at Liverpool, England, late in the year, Suwanee cruised along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Canada.
Sunk, near British Columbia
On 9 July 1868, she was wrecked in Shadwell Passage, Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia.
References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
See also
External links
- Ship infoboxes without an image
- Pages with broken file links
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
- Ships of the Union Navy
- Ships built in Pennsylvania
- United States Navy steamships
- Gunboats of the United States Navy
- American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States
- United States Navy Florida-related ships
- United States Navy Georgia-related ships
- 1864 ships
