USS Delaware (1861)

USS "Delaware" (1861) was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy for use during the American Civil War.

teamboat Origins

The "Delaware", a side wheel steamer, was the fourth ship to be named "Delaware" by the Navy. She was built in 1861 at the Harlan & Hollingsworth Iron Shipbuilding Company of Wilmington, Delaware. The steamboat, initially called the" Virginia Dare", was ordered in 1860 by the Albemarle Steam Packet Company. This company was made up of 24 businessmen from northeastern North Carolina who wanted to operate a steamboat in the Albemarle Sound area of North Carolina. Their president, Edward Wood of Edenton, grew concerned over the deteriorating situation between the North and the South. Wood ultimately stopped payments over fear that that the steamboat would be detained. (Hayes Collection, SHC) Later the "Virginia Dare" was purchased by the Union Navy on 14 October 1861, and renamed the "Delaware". Lieutenant S. P. Quackenbush was placed in command.

Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockade

Her task, during the course of her patrols, was to sink or capture Confederate ships, and to bombard forts and other military installations. Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, "Delaware" sailed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 12 December 1861 and stood up the James River 26 December on patrol. On 12 January 1862 she sailed for Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina as part of General Burnside's expedition against Confederate forces in the North Carolina sounds. The "Delaware" took part in the capture of Roanoke Island on 7 and 8 February, and on 10 February she took part in the attack on Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where the "Delaware" shared in the capture or destruction of five Confederate gunboats and two schooners.

On February 19 the "Delaware" and seven other gunboats made a reconnaissance up the Chowan River. The purpose of this voyage was to destroy two railroad bridges above the town of Winton. It was during this foray that she was nearly ambushed at the town wharf by a force of Confederate soldiers and artillery hiding among the brush near the dock. Union commander Rush Hawkins, who was in the crosstrees of the foremast, spotted the Confederates and warned the helmsman in time to sheer off. The "Delaware's" superstructure was severely shot up by rifle fire, but fortunately the artillery overshot its mark. After pulling away from the dock the "Delaware" returned fire and dispersed the Confederate militia. The next day the "Delaware" and the other gunboats returned to Winton. Finding it deserted, the town was burned, partly in retaliation for the ambush. (Barrett 1963)

On 13 and 14 March the "Delaware" participated in the capture of New Bern, and captured four vessels.(DANSF)

Virginia river operations

"Delaware" arrived in Hampton Roads 2 June 1862 for service in Virginia waters until 30 October. She had several encounters with enemy batteries and captured a number of small craft which she sent in as prizes. She returned to operations in the rivers and sounds of North Carolina from October 1862 to February 1863 when she sailed with USS|Valley City|1859 in tow, arriving at Hampton Roads on the 11th. Until 5 April 1863 "Delaware" cruised in the James and York Rivers and Chesapeake Bay, then on the North Carolina coast until 27 November when she sailed to Baltimore, Maryland, for repairs. On 27 March 1864 she returned to the waters of Virginia, to patrol and perform picket duty, transport men and ordnance stores, and clear the rivers of torpedoes (mines) until the end of the war.

End-of-war decommissioning

Arriving at Washington Navy Yard 27 July 1865, "Delaware" was decommissioned there 5 August 1865 and sold on 12 September to the Treasury Department. Commissioned as the US Revenue cutter "Delaware", she started operations in the Gulf of Mexico in 1865. The "Delaware" was renamed the "Louis McLane" in 1873, and sold to the private sector in 1903. Renamed the "Louis Dolive", she operated until 1919, when she was removed from shipping registers.(Lytle-Holdcamper, 1975)

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/d3/delaware-iv.htm
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org11-2.htm Naval Historical Center Online Library-US Navy ship listings] retrieved on 10-11-07
*Wood Family Papers in Hayes Collection, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
*John G. Barrett," The Civil War in North Carolina," UNC Press, North Carolina,1963.
*William Lytle & Forrest Holdcamper, "Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States, 1790-1868", Steamship Historical Society, New York, 1975.

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c12/commodore_read.htm USS Commodore Read]
* [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/h/Hayes_Collection.html Inventory of the Hayes Collection] , in the Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill.