- USS Shenandoah (1862)
The first USS "Shenandoah" was a wooden
screw sloop of theUnited States Navy ."Shenandoah" was built by the Philadelphia Navy Yard and launched on
December 8 1862 . She was sponsored by Miss Selina Pascoe; and was commissioned onJune 20 1863 , CaptainDaniel B. Ridgeley in command.Civil War duty 1863 – 1865
"Shenandoah" departed Philadelphia on the 25th, keeping a sharp lookout for Confederate raider, "Tacony", as she made her trial run to Boston to fill out her complement. On
July 11 , she sailed in search of Confederate raider, "Florida", cruised off George's and Nantucket shoals, thence preceded toward Block Island and Cape Sable. She returned to Boston on27 July and spent from4 August to8 September in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. On12 September , she arrived offNew Inlet, North Carolina , to join theNorth Atlantic Blockading Squadron ."Shenandoah" spent the greater part of the next fifteen months patrolling off
Wilmington, North Carolina and searching on the blockade runner routes between Nassau and Wilmington. This cruising took her as far asKey West ,Florida , and to theBahamas andBermuda . During a four-hour chase on30 July 1864 , she fired heavily into Confederate blockade runner, "Lilian", which escaped in the darkness to the safety of Cape Lookout shoals. At daylight of August 71 864, blockade runner, "Falcon", narrowly escaped "Shenandoah" and Santiago De Cuba by throwing cotton overboard to lighten load and then outsailing her pursuers in the direction ofCuba .The Battle of Fort Fisher
"Shenandoah" reached Green Bay in the Bahamas on
December 13 1864 to investigate reports that Confederate privateers were being fitted out there to prey on Union commerce. Finding no trace of such activity, she hurried north to join the greatFederal Fleet poised on the coast ofNorth Carolina for the attack on Fort Fisher which protected Wilmington, North Carolina. On Christmas Eve, she closed to within 1,500 yards of the shore to bombard the works of Fort Fisher with all guns that could be brought to bear. In little more than an hour, the Confederate fort had been silenced, two of its magazines had been blown up, and the fort set afire in several places. The bombardment was kept up with good effect until after nightfall.One shot from the Confederates carried away "Shenandoah's" stern ladder. She renewed the action with other ships of the fleet on Christmas morning to cover the landing of about 3,000 Army troops. Her deliberate and well directed fire silenced a four-gun battery to the west of Fort Fisher. She then turned her attention to a two-gun casemated battery. One shell from this battery fell a few yards short, and another passed over "Shenandoah" which retaliated by exploding a 150-pounder rifle shell near the top of the mound.
Nevertheless, the amphibious assault failed to capture the fort and the Union troops re-embarked during the night, save for about 1,000 soldiers who found themselves stranded on the beach by heavy surf. These were safely returned to their transports during the following two days as "Shenandoah" patrolled off New Inlet.
The amphibious assault on Fort Fisher was renewed on
13 January 1865 . "Shenandoah's" boats assisted in the landing of about 8,000 Army troops under cover of a severe bombardment. The next day, she joined the fleet in a quick fire on the face of the works which lasted from 1300 till well after dark. That day, 1,600 sailors and 400 marines were detached from various shins to join the Army troops in the assault. Fifty-four sailors and fourteen marines under LieutenantSmith W. Nichols , armed with cutlasses and revolvers, were landed from "Shenandoah". The furious bombardment support continued until 1500 on15 January 1865 . By this time, the sailors and marines were entrenched within 200 yards of the fort and ready for the final assault. The ships now shifted their fire to the upper batteries as troops and sailors dashed toward the top of the parapet.The advancing sailors and marines were swept by concentrated Confederate gunfire; but Army troops, who had gained the highest parapet to the rear, opened with a volley of musketry to save them. Now the fighting progressed through seventeen immense bomb-proof traverses until the Confederates were finally forced to the end of Federal Point. Finding themselves hopelessly surrounded, the Confederate remnants surrendered, and Fort Fisher fell to the largest amphibious operation in American history prior to World War II.
"Shenandoah's" landing force returned with six wounded and five missing in action. Lt. Nichols reported: "Each and all deserve the highest commendation for their coolness and courage under the most trying circumstances, and fully sustained the hard earned reputation of the American sailor . . ."
After Fort Fisher was captured, "Shenandoah" spent a few days carrying wounded men from transports to shore hospitals. She then joined in the final days of the Union siege of Charleston which fell on
17 February . She returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on15 March and was decommissioned there on15 April .ervice in South America and Asia 1865 – 1869
"Shenandoah" recommissioned at Philadelphia on
20 November 1865 , CaptainJohn R. Goldsborough in command. She put to sea on8 December for theAzores . Thence, she sailed to Bahia andRio de Janeiro ,Brazil , for service with the South American Squadron. On28 April 1866 , she departed Rio de Janeiro to join theAsiatic Squadron . After rounding theCape of Good Hope , she visitedBombay andCalcutta ; then touched atPenang before arriving atSingapore on31 December 1866 . She next proceeded toBangkok where she received a friendly greeting from theKing of Siam and his ministers before sailing via Saigon for Japan. She arrived atYokohama on5 April 1867 .There, on the 27th, "Shenandoah" embarked General
Robert B. Van Valkenburgh , U.S. Minister toJapan , for transport toOsaka where he landed on1 May for an interview with the Tycoon. There he learned that the Japanese government proposed to open additional ports to foreign trade. His mission was completed by20 May when he returned on board "Shenandoah" to return to Yokohama. The ship was then placed at General Van Valkenburgh's disposal, to assist him in examining the different ports most suitable for commercial purposes. She left Yokohama on25 June and reached Hakodate on the 28th. The first salute that was ever fired there in honor of a foreign minister marked the occasion. The minister and officers of "Shenandoah" were received by the governor with cordial politeness.On
12 July , "Shenandoah" entered the port of Niigata where similar courtesies were extended. Nahon was reached the following day. No American ship had ever before entered that harbor. On the 17th, "Shenandoah" visited Mikuni and also Tsurunga, where no foreign warship had ever previously anchored. On20 July , she arrived at Miyadsu, the most beautiful of the bays visited. Commodore Goldsborough and officers under his command made surveys of most of these new harbors, and prepared sailing directions for their entrance."Shenandoah" was part of the naval force before the ports of Osaka and Hyōgo which were quietly opened to foreigners on
1 January 1868 . The event was celebrated by American and British ships, their mastheads being dressed with the respective national flags and the Tycoon's flag at the main. Each ship simultaneously fired a salute of twenty one guns, which the Japanese promptly returned.On the morning of
11 January , "Shenandoah" sent her boats to assist in the search for Rear Admiral Henry H. Bell, Commander-in-Chief of the Asiatic Squadron, whose boat had capsized while attempting to cross the bar on the way into Osaka from flagship "Hartford". The admiral was drowned along with his flag-lieutenant and ten of the boat's thirteen crewmen. Command of the Asiatic Squadron now devolved upon Commodore John R. Goldsborough, as senior officer, until the arrival of Rear AdmiralS. C. Rowan . Commodore Goldsborough transferred his pennant from "Shenandoah" to "Hartford" on31 January 1868 .Korea
Lieutenant Commander
Chester Hartford took temporary command of "Shenandoah" until22 February 1868 when Cdr.John C. Febinger assumed command atShanghai . From there "Shenandoah" proceeded to Chefoo, China, where she received orders to sail for Korea to attempt to rescue the crew of the American schooner, "General Sherman", which had been destroyed in thePing Yang River some eighteen months previously. It had been rumored that some of the crew or passengers were alive and in captivity. Korea, at that time, sought to exclude all strangers or foreigners."Shenandoah" departed Chefoo on
7 April 1868 and arrived offChodo Island , Korea, on9 April . After proceeding around to the southeast side, she arrived at the mouth of the Ping Yang River on the 16th. Commodore Goldsborough concluded from the information gathered that none of the passengers and crew of "General Sherman" had survived. He succeeded, however, in making a survey of the Ping Yang River and its approaches and in securing other useful data on that part of the Korean coast where no previous surveys had been made.On
18 May , "Shenandoah" departed the mouth of the Ping Yang River to join the Asiatic Squadron in visiting the principal commercial ports of China and Japan to counter difficulties that arose out of opposition to contact with foreigners. Certain ships of the squadron stationed themselves in areas where roving Chinese pirates had attacked the American merchantmen. They protected foreign settlements in Yokohama as well as in the newly opened ports of Osaka and Hyōgo. They continued their service until local authorities assured the American officers that foreigners would receive respectful and peaceful treatment. The Chinese Viceroy at Canton promised Commodore Goldsborough that he would issue a proclamation prohibiting fishing junks from carrying extra men, or arms, or munitions of war which might be used to prey upon American commerce.After calling at Chefoo, Shanghai, Yokohama, and Hong Kong, "Shenandoah" departed the latter port on
10 November . She visited Batavia, Java (1 to 8 December); thence proceeded, via the Cape of Good Hope and the island ofSt. Helena , to Boston where she arrived on25 April 1869 . She decommissioned there on2 May 1869 .The European station 1870 – 1874
"Shenandoah" was recommissioned at Boston on
15 August 1870 , and sailed on4 September for service on theEuropean Station . After a call atLisbon and station duty atLe Havre , she touched Southampton on her way to the Mediterranean to show the flag at such ports as Ville Franche,Toulon ,Marseille ,Genoa ,Alexandria , andNaples . On1 June 1872 , she set course north for Lisbon, Queenstown,Plymouth , andSouthampton ; thence proceeded to Lisbon,Cadiz ,Algiers ,Tunis ,Malta , andPiraeus . In the last named port, Christmas Day of 1872, she was host to the King and Queen ofGreece . The following months found her at such ports asSmyrna, Turkey ;Syracuse, Sicily ; Ville Franche, France; andBarcelona, Spain . She departed the Mediterranean on12 December 1873 for Tangiers; thence proceeded, viaFunchal ,Madeira , and St. Thomas in theWest Indies , to Florida. She arrived in Key West on22 January 1874 and sailed on4 April for New York where she decommissioned on23 April 1874 .The South Atlantic 1879 – 1882
"Shenandoah" was recommissioned in the
New York Navy Yard on8 September 1879 . On4 October , she sailed for Brazil, and arrived at Rio de Janeiro on1 December 1879 to serve as flagship of Rear AdmiralAndrew Bryson who commanded theSouth Atlantic Squadron . She watched over American interests in that quarter while cruising between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Montevideo ,Uruguay ; andBuenos Aires ,Argentina . This duty terminated on4 February 1882 when she departed Montevideo on a homeward-bound cruise that included calls at Barbados in the West Indies,Cartagena, Colombia andHavana , Cuba. She arrived at New York on29 April and was decommissioned in the New York Navy Yard on27 May 1882 .Final days 1883 - 1887
Her last cruise took "Shenandoah" to the Pacific coasts of South and
Central America . She was recommissioned at Boston on5 November 1883 and sailed on29 December for the Cape Verde Islands. Thence, she steamed via Montevideo and aroundCape Horn toValparaíso ,Chile , where she arrived on5 May 1884 — one day after theTreaty of Valparaíso marked Chile's victory in her war withPeru andBolivia ."Shenandoah" cruised among parts of Peru, Chile, and
Ecuador protecting American interests until6 April 1885 when she arrived offPanama . Her landing party protected American property there during revolt against the Colombia Government that resulted in insurgent occupation of Panama. Aspinwall, on the Atlantic side, was attacked by insurgents who also occupied the greater portion of the isthmus, blocking the transit of the railroad. Obliged by the treaty of 1846 to guarantee the neutrality of the isthmus as well as rights of sovereignty by Colombia, the United States took immediate action. A naval force of eight ships and 2,648 sailors and marines under Rear AdmiralJames E. Jouett arrived at Aspinwall and protected that town while a landing expedition proceeded across the isthmus to reestablish free passage for trains.On
24 May 1885 , "Shenandoah" departed Panama forCallao , Peru. She continued to cruise for protection of the American mercantile marine and other interests for the next seventeen months. Besides showing the flag at the principal ports of Chile and Peru, she called from time to time at San Jose, Guatemala; Corinto, Nicaragua; Panama, and Alcapulco, Mexico. She arrived inSanta Barbara, California , from the Mexican coast on30 September 1886 . After a visit to Monterey, she was decommissioned in theMare Island Navy Yard on23 October 1886 . She was sold on30 July 1887 toW. T. Garratt & Company ,San Francisco, California .References
External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s11/shenandoah-i.htm DANFS: USS "Shenandoah"]
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