Ed Bearss Article on Pensacola

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Found while looking for something else:

CIVIL WAR OPERATIONS IN AND AROUND PENSACOLA by Edwin C. Bearss

 

[Carronade]

Great article, thanks. Me being me, this item about USS Sabine, especially the 1855 date, picqued my curiosity, so I looked into DANFS:

The U. S. S. Sabine, a sailing frigate of 1,726 tons' displacement, was built in 1855. In January 1861 the Sabine's armament consisted of two 10‑inch Dahlgrens, ten 8‑inch Dahlgrens, and eighteen 32‑pounders.

She was laid down as early as 1822 but not launched until 1855 or commissioned until 1858, not unusual for the time. "During this period, she underwent various alterations, the most extensive being a lengthening of her hull by twenty feet" despite which she's still listed with the standard Brandywine class tonnage of 1726. They were nominal 44-gunners, usually mounting 50 or so guns, mainly 32-pounders; but Sabine was armed in 1850s style with a smaller number of heavier guns. The 10" were probably pivot guns, and this photo suggests the rest were mainly on the gun deck:

Expired Image Removed

Not unlike her sister, or by now half-sister, Cumberland.

p.s. happened to look back at this and noticed I had written usual when I meant unusual; many ships spent years or decades on the stocks before being completed, if they ever were.