CSS Teaser

CSS Teaser

CSS "Teaser" had been the aging Georgetown, D.C. tugboat "York River" until the beginning of the American Civil War, when she was taken into the Confederate States Navy. Later, she was captured by the United States Navy and became USS "Teaser".

CSS "Teaser"

"Teaser" was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Purchased at Richmond, Virginia by the State of Virginia in 1861, she was assigned to the naval forces in the James River with Lieutenant James Henry Rochelle, Virginia State Navy, in command. Upon the secession of Virginia, "Teaser" became a part of the Confederate States Navy and continued to operate in Virginia waters. With Lieutenant William A. Webb, CSN, in command, she took an active part in the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 8March 9, 1862, acting as tender to CSS "Virginia". She received the thanks of the Congress of the Confederate States for this action.

"Teaser" was a pioneer "aircraft carrier", serving as a base for an observation hot air balloon; she also became a pioneer minelayer when ordered on June 17, 1862, to assist General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Under Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, CSN, she was used by the Confederate Naval Submarine Battery Service to plant and service "torpedoes" (mines) in the James River. While engaging USS "Maratanza" at Haxall's on the James on July 4, 1862, a Union shell blew up "Teaser"'s boiler and forced her crew to abandon ship. When seized by "Maratanza", "Teaser" was carrying on board a balloon for aerial reconnaissance of Union positions at City Point and Harrison's Landing.

Commanders

The commanders of the CSS "Teaser" were:Coski (1996), John M. "Capital Navy: The Men, Ships and Operations of the James River Squadron", Campbell, CA: Savas Woodbury Publishers. ISBN 1-882810-03-1.]

* Lieutenant James H. Rochelle (May-June 1861)
* Lieutenant Robert Randolph Carter (June-July 1861)
* Boatswain Master William H. Face (June 1861-January 1862)
* Lieutenant William A. Webb (February 1862-)
* Lieutenant Hunter Davidson (June-July 1862)

USS "Teaser"

Later that summer, "Teaser" was taken into the United States Navy and was assigned to the Potomac Flotilla. With the exception of three brief deployments elsewhere, USS "Teaser" the waters of the Potomac River from Alexandria, Virginia, south to Point Lookout, Maryland to enforce the blockade by interdicting a thriving trade in contraband between the Maryland and Virginia shores.

On September 22, she captured schooner "Southerner" in the Coan River. On October 19, while operating in the vicinity of Piney Point in St. Mary's County, Maryland, she captured two smugglers and their boat as they were nearing the exit of Herring Creek and preparing to cross the river to Virginia. On November 2, near the mouth of the Rappahannock River, the tug surprised three men attempting to violate the blockade in a canoe. "Teaser" took them prisoner and turned their contraband over to pro-Union Virginians living on Gwynn's Island. Four days later in Chesapeake Bay, "Teaser" took the cargo-less sloop "Grapeshot" and captured her three-man crew.

By December 1862, she had moved to the Rappahannock River with other units of the Potomac Flotilla to support General Ambrose Burnside's thrust toward Richmond. On December 10, she exchanged shots with a Confederate battery located on the southern shore of the river about three miles below Port Royal, Virginia. After Burnside's bloody rebuff at Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13, "Teaser" and her colleagues returned to their anti-smuggling patrol along the Potomac.

"Teaser" joined USS|Primrose|1863|6 to make March 1863 an active month. On March 24, the two ships sent a boat expedition to reconnoiter Pope's Creek, Virginia. The landing party found two boats used for smuggling and collected information from Union sympathizers in the area. Almost a week later, on the night of March 30March 31, they dispatched a three-boat party to Monroe's Creek, Virginia. The previous day, a Federal cavalry detachment had surprised a smuggler in the area; and, though the troops captured his goods, the man himself escaped. Boats from "Teaser" and "Primrose" succeeded where the Union horsemen had failed, and they gathered some intelligence on other contrabanders as well.

In April 1863, "Teaser" left the Potomac for duty with Acting Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Hampton Roads. On April 17, she joined USS|Alert|1861|6 and USS|Coeur de Lion|1861|6 in an expedition up the Nansemond River west of Norfolk, Virginia. However, she ran aground, damaged her machinery, and had to retire from the venture.

By mid-summer, "Teaser" was back in action on the Potomac. On the night of July 27, she captured two smugglers with a boatload of tobacco in the mouth of the Mattawoman Creek just south of Indian Head, Maryland. She destroyed the boat and sent the prisoners and contraband north to the Washington Navy Yard. During the night of October 7, "Teaser" and another flotilla ship (extant records do not identify her companion) noticed signalling between Mathias Point, Virginia, and the Maryland shore. The two ships shelled the woods at Mathias Point, but took no action against the signallers on the Maryland shore other than to urge upon the United States Army's district provost marshal the necessity of constant vigilance.

On January 5, 1864, "Teaser" and USS|Yankee|1892|6 landed a force of men at Nomini, Virginia to investigate a rumor that the Southerners had hidden a large lighter and a skiff capable of boating 80 men there. The force, commanded by "Teaser's" commanding officer, Acting Ensign Sheridan, found both boats, destroyed the lighter, and captured the skiff. During the landing, Confederate soldiers appeared on the heights above Nomini, but the gunboats dampened their curiosity with some well-placed cannon shots.

In April, "Teaser", "Yankee", USS|Anacostia|1856|6, USS|Fuchsia|1863|6, and USS|Resolute|1860|6 accompanied an Army expedition to Machodoc Creek, Virginia. At 5:00 A.M. on April 13, the five ships cleared the St. Mary's River in company with the Army's steamer USAT "Long Branch" with a battalion of soldiers under the command of General Edward W. Hinks. "Long Branch" landed her troops at about 8:00 A.M. while the five ships covered the operation. A contingent of Confederate cavalry appeared on the southern bank of the Machodoc, but retired when "Teaser" and "Anacostia" sent four armed boat crews ashore. The landing party netted a prisoner, probably a smuggler, and a large quantity of tobacco. By April 14, General Hinks' troops reembarked in "Long Branch" and headed for Point Lookout. "Anacostia" accompanied the Army steamer while the other four warships investigated Currioman Bay and Nomini. They returned to St. Mary's, Virginia that afternoon to resume patrols.

During the summer of 1864, "Teaser" was called upon to leave the Potomac once more. On this occasion, the Union forces needed her guns to help defend strategic bridges across the rivers at the head of Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore, Maryland, against Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early's raiders. On July 10, she departed the lower Potomac, rounded Point Lookout, and headed up the Chesapeake Bay. That night, she had to put into the Patuxent River because of heavy winds and leaks in her hull. Before dawn the following morning, she continued up the bay. During the forenoon, the leaks became progressively worse and, by the time she arrived off Annapolis, Maryland, she had to remove her exhaust pipe for temporary repairs. Early that evening, "Teaser" reached Baltimore where she put in for additional repairs.

The gunboat did not reach her destination, the bridge over the Gunpowder River, until late on July 12. She was too late; the bridge had already been burned. She returned to Baltimore immediately to report on the bridge and to pick up arms and provisions for the vessels stationed in the Gunpowder River. When she arrived back at the bridge, she found orders to return to the Potomac awaiting her. "Teaser" departed the northern reaches of the Chesapeake and reported back to the Potomac Flotilla at St. Inigoes, Virginia on the St. Mary's River in late afternoon on April 14.

For the remainder of the war, "Teaser" and her flotilla-mates plied the Potomac and contributed to the gradual economic strangulation which brought the South to its knees by April 1865. Less than two months after General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Virginia, "Teaser" was decommissioned at the Washington Navy Yard on June 2. Sold at public auction at Washington to Mr. J. Bigler on June 25, the tug was re-documented as "York River" on July 2, 1865, and she served commercially until 1878.

References

:DANFS


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • CSS Virginia — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda CSS Virginia CSS Virginia (ex USS Merrimac) Historial …   Wikipedia Español

  • CSS Virginia — was an ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War (built using the remains of the scuttled USS Merrimack ).She was one of the participants in the Battle of Hampton Roads in March, 1862 opposite the USS Monitor …   Wikipedia

  • USS Teaser — Two ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Teaser :*The first USS Teaser was formerly the Confederate gunboat CSS Teaser until being captured and taken into the U.S. Navy, serving until the end of the U.S. Civil War. *The second USS… …   Wikipedia

  • William A. Webb — Infobox Military Person name= William A. Webb lived= placeofbirth= Virginia placeofdeath= caption=William A. Webb nickname= allegiance= United States until 1861 Confederate States of America 1861 1865 serviceyears=USN 1838 1861 CSN 1861 1865 rank …   Wikipedia

  • James River Squadron — Infobox Military Unit unit name=James River Squadron caption= dates= 1861 1865 country= Confederate States of America allegiance= branch=Navy type= role= size= command structure= current commander= garrison= ceremonial chief= colonel of the… …   Wikipedia

  • List of ships of the Confederate States Navy — This is a list of ships of the Confederate States Navy including a section for civilian blockade runners. Ironclads *CSS Albemarle *CSS Atlanta *CSS Arkansas *CSS Baltic *CSS Chicora *CSS Charleston *CSS Columbia *CSS Fredericksburg *CSS Georgia… …   Wikipedia

  • Batalla de Hampton Roads — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Batalla de Hampton Roads Parte de Guerra de Secesión …   Wikipedia Español

  • William H. Face — William Haley Face (1827 08 02 1894 08 16) served as Acting Master of CSS Teaser during the Battle of Hampton Roads (March 8 9, 1862).Battle of Hampton RoadsFace was recognized in the official report of the battle by Franklin Buchanan, Flag… …   Wikipedia

  • Schlacht bei Hampton Roads — Halbinsel Feldzug Hampton Roads – Yorktown – Williamsburg – Elthams Landing – Drewrys Bluff – Hanover Courthouse – Seven Pines – Oak Grove – Beaver Dam Creek – Gaines Mill – Garnetts Goldings Farm – Savage Station – White Oak Swamp – Glendale –… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Schlacht von Monitor und Merrimac — Halbinsel Feldzug Hampton Roads – Yorktown – Williamsburg – Elthams Landing – Drewrys Bluff – Hanover Courthouse – Seven Pines – Oak Grove – Beaver Dam Creek – Gaines Mill – Garnetts Goldings Farm – Savage Station – White Oak Swamp – Glendale –… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”