Stiles/Akin
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2016
- Location
- Atlanta, Georgia
Did you know Confederate photographer George Cook took the world’s first combat photo on September 8th, 1863? Cook took this photograph of the monitors USS Weehawken, USS Montauk, and USS Passaic as they attacked the Confederate batteries at Fort Moultrie. Cannon smoke can be seen surrounding the ships' turrets. But what happened to these three Ironclads?
Later in 1863, the Union ironclad USS Weehawken lay anchored off Morris Island, S.C., during a moderate gale. Early on the morning of December 6th, the ironclad suddenly signaled for assistance and appeared to observers ashore to be sinking. Attempts to beach the vessel failed, and she sank bow first, five minutes later, in 30 ft of water. Four officers and 27 enlisted men perished aboard the Weehawken
The USS Montauk remained off Charleston until July 1864, when she shifted operations to the Stono River. In February 1865, she transferred to the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. Proceeding to the Washington Navy Yard after the end of the conflict, she served as a floating bier for assassin John Wilkes Booth, and on April 27th and a floating prison for six accomplices.
The autopsy of John Wilkes Booth was performed on the USS Montauk after he was killed in April 1865. The ship was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1865. She remained there until sold to Frank Samuel on April 14, 1904, except for a stint from May 1898 to March 1899, when she served with a crew primarily consisting of local naval reservists to protect the harbor of Portland, Maine during the Spanish–American War.
The USS Passaic's combat service was the least historic, but not the least eventful, of the three. The ships' service began on on February 23rd,1863, in Wassau Sound, Georgia, she took part in the capture of a blockade-running schooner. On March 3rd, during an intended "shakedown" operation for new monitors, she bombarded Fort McAllister, on Georgia's Ogeechee River. Passaic was one of nine ironclads that attacked Fort Sumter, off Charleston, South Carolina, on April 7th, 1863. She received serious damage at that time and had to go to New York for repairs.
Returning to the war zone in late July, Passaic kept busy over the next two months bombarding Confederate fortifications at the harbor entrance. Among other contributions, her gunfire helped to reduce Fort Wagner, on Morris Island, facilitating its capture in early September. Passaic spent the remainder of the war operating in South Carolina and Georgia waters. Returning north after the conflict's end, she decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June 1865.
After more than a decade in reserve, Passaic recommissioned in November 1876. She was receiving ship at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., in 1878-82, then was assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, during 1883-92. The now-elderly monitor was employed on Naval Militia service in Massachusetts and Georgia during much of the rest of the 1890s and recommissioned in May 1898 for Spanish-American War duty. After a brief tour in Florida waters, she was decommissioned for the last time in September 1898. USS Passaic was sold in October 1899.
Photo: Library of Congress
Later in 1863, the Union ironclad USS Weehawken lay anchored off Morris Island, S.C., during a moderate gale. Early on the morning of December 6th, the ironclad suddenly signaled for assistance and appeared to observers ashore to be sinking. Attempts to beach the vessel failed, and she sank bow first, five minutes later, in 30 ft of water. Four officers and 27 enlisted men perished aboard the Weehawken
The USS Montauk remained off Charleston until July 1864, when she shifted operations to the Stono River. In February 1865, she transferred to the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. Proceeding to the Washington Navy Yard after the end of the conflict, she served as a floating bier for assassin John Wilkes Booth, and on April 27th and a floating prison for six accomplices.
The autopsy of John Wilkes Booth was performed on the USS Montauk after he was killed in April 1865. The ship was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1865. She remained there until sold to Frank Samuel on April 14, 1904, except for a stint from May 1898 to March 1899, when she served with a crew primarily consisting of local naval reservists to protect the harbor of Portland, Maine during the Spanish–American War.
The USS Passaic's combat service was the least historic, but not the least eventful, of the three. The ships' service began on on February 23rd,1863, in Wassau Sound, Georgia, she took part in the capture of a blockade-running schooner. On March 3rd, during an intended "shakedown" operation for new monitors, she bombarded Fort McAllister, on Georgia's Ogeechee River. Passaic was one of nine ironclads that attacked Fort Sumter, off Charleston, South Carolina, on April 7th, 1863. She received serious damage at that time and had to go to New York for repairs.
Returning to the war zone in late July, Passaic kept busy over the next two months bombarding Confederate fortifications at the harbor entrance. Among other contributions, her gunfire helped to reduce Fort Wagner, on Morris Island, facilitating its capture in early September. Passaic spent the remainder of the war operating in South Carolina and Georgia waters. Returning north after the conflict's end, she decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June 1865.
After more than a decade in reserve, Passaic recommissioned in November 1876. She was receiving ship at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., in 1878-82, then was assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, during 1883-92. The now-elderly monitor was employed on Naval Militia service in Massachusetts and Georgia during much of the rest of the 1890s and recommissioned in May 1898 for Spanish-American War duty. After a brief tour in Florida waters, she was decommissioned for the last time in September 1898. USS Passaic was sold in October 1899.
Photo: Library of Congress