Frigates

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Frigates were such a major part of the US Navy in the War of 1812 yet they seem to have been a non-factor in the American Civil War. I was curious about what frigates were in the Navy during the war.

From what I can tell, the US Navy nominally had 25 vessels classified as frigates at the time of the Secession Crisis: 13 sailing, 5 sidewheeler, 7 screw. The screw frigates were all Merrimack class from the mid-1850s. The sidewheelers were mostly circa 1850, plus one from 1841. The sail frigates were of older vintage, mostly from the 1820s-1840s range but some dating back to before the War of 1812.

This is all the ones I could find. The counts excludes a few former frigates that had been cut down to sloops some years prior to the war, and a couple vessels that are sometimes referred to as frigates but seem to have actually been sloops. I've also excluded the Franklin which had been laid down in 1854 and remained unfinished on the ways in 1860; the screw frigate would not be finished until 1864 and commissioned until 1867.

However, this count of 25 is misleading. Three frigates were effectively useless as warships: Constitution (Old Ironsides) was a permanent training ship, Allegheny was a receiving ship in Baltimore and remained in that role throughout the war, and Independence (cut down from a ship-of-the-line to a frigate) was a receiving ship in San Francisco Bay. Another frigate, Michigan, had been built specifically for the Great Lakes and would remain there throughout the war.

Of the other 21 frigates, only 9 were in commission (5 sail, 2 screw, 3 sidewheel). Cumberland, Potomac, and Sabine (all sail) were in the Home Squadron. Also on station in the greater Atlantic area were San Jacinto (screw, Africa), Congress (sail, Brazil), and Susquehanna (sidewheel, Mediterranean Squadron). John Adams (sail), Niagara (screw), and Powhatan (sidewheel) were on various missions to the Pacific.

Santee (sail) had been laid down in 1820 but not finished until 1855 and had never been placed into commission. No new frigates of any kind had been commissioned since 1855, though some had be recommissioned. It was normal for sailing ships to be decommissioned periodically for budgetary reasons or while undergoing the major repairs required by wood-hulled vessels.

The USN's other 11 frigates (5 sail, 1 sidewheel, 5 screw) had been in service in the past but at the start of 1861 were "laid up in ordinary" i.e. out of commission. Frigates (with year decommissioned):

Sail: United States (1849), Brandywine (1850), Raritan (1852), Columbia (1855), St. Lawrence (1859)
Sidewheel: Mississippi (1860)
Screw: Roanoke (1857), Colorado (1858), Minnesota (1859), Wabash (1859), Merrimack (1860)

Whether the laying up of most of the screw frigates after very little service reflects problems with their engines (certainly the case for the Merrimack), Congressional fiscal policy, or negligence or malfeaseance by the Buchanan administration I don't know.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Columbia and Raritan (both sail frigates) were among the vessels burned when the Norfolk Navy Yard was abandoned in 1861; neither was recovered during the war. Merrimack (screw) was also burned, but famously recovered and converted into the ironclad CSS Virginia.

United States, a relic from the War of 1812, was considered of so little value the USN didn't even bother burning the vessel when fleeing Norfolk. The Confederates armed the frigate for use as a floating battery but did not rename the vessel, resulting in the oxymoronic "CSS United States." Around the time of the CSS Virginia's demise the Confederates also scuttled the United States in an effort to block the James River.

The other 7 frigates that had been out of commission were all recommissioned in 1861, although Brandywine was used as a storeship rather than a warship. Santee was finally commissioned for the first time. The old John Adams remained in the Pacific throughout the war (and Michigan remained on the Great Lakes, as mentioned previously). All other active frigates were recalled from their distant stations.

That meant by the end of 1861 the US Navy had 15 frigates as commissioned warships available for service against the Confederacy: 6 sail, 3 sidewheel, 6 screw.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Probably the two-best known frigates of the war were Congress and Cumberland. The two sailing vessels were about two decades old when they were sunk by CSS Virginia at the Battle of Hampton Roads while on blockade duty. Screw frigates Minnesota and Roanoke were also present at Hampton Roads for the battle, but survived. Minnesota grounded on a mud bank and Roanoke's draft was deep enough she could not engage. St. Lawrence also participated, but being a sailing frigate had to be towed to engage in the battle and grounded for a time.

Two other USN frigates were lost during the war. Mississippi, the oldest non-sailing frigate, grounded on her namesake river while attempting to pass Port Hudson. The warship had to be blown up to keep it out of Confederate hands. George Dewey, of later Manila Bay fame, was the XO during this incident. Screw frigate San Jacinto, best known for involvement in the Trent Affair, wrecked in the Bahamas in early 1865.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Frigates were such a major part of the US Navy in the War of 1812 yet they seem to have been a non-factor in the American Civil War. I was curious about what frigates were in the Navy during the war.

From what I can tell, the US Navy nominally had 25 vessels classified as frigates at the time of the Secession Crisis: 13 sailing, 5 sidewheeler, 7 screw. The screw frigates were all Merrimack class from the mid-1850s. The sidewheelers were mostly circa 1850, plus one from 1841. The sail frigates were of older vintage, mostly from the 1820s-1840s range but some dating back to before the War of 1812.

This is all the ones I could find. The counts excludes a few former frigates that had been cut down to sloops some years prior to the war, and a couple vessels that are sometimes referred to as frigates but seem to have actually been sloops. I've also excluded the Franklin which had been laid down in 1854 and remained unfinished on the ways in 1860; the screw frigate would not be finished until 1864 and commissioned until 1867.

However, this count of 25 is misleading. Three frigates were effectively useless as warships: Constitution (Old Ironsides) was a permanent training ship, Allegheny was a receiving ship in Baltimore and remained in that role throughout the war, and Independence (cut down from a ship-of-the-line to a frigate) was a receiving ship in San Francisco Bay. Another frigate, Michigan, had been built specifically for the Great Lakes and would remain there throughout the war.

Of the other 21 frigates, only 9 were in commission (5 sail, 2 screw, 3 sidewheel). Cumberland, Potomac, and Sabine (all sail) were in the Home Squadron. Also on station in the greater Atlantic area were San Jacinto (screw, Africa), Congress (sail, Brazil), and Susquehanna (sidewheel, Mediterranean Squadron). John Adams (sail), Niagara (screw), and Powhatan (sidewheel) were on various missions to the Pacific.

Santee (sail) had been laid down in 1820 but not finished until 1855 and had never been placed into commission. No new frigates of any kind had been commissioned since 1855, though some had be recommissioned. It was normal for sailing ships to be decommissioned periodically for budgetary reasons or while undergoing the major repairs required by wood-hulled vessels.

The USN's other 11 frigates (5 sail, 1 sidewheel, 5 screw) had been in service in the past but at the start of 1861 were "laid up in ordinary" i.e. out of commission. Frigates (with year decommissioned):

Sail: United States (1849), Brandywine (1850), Raritan (1852), Columbia (1855), St. Lawrence (1859)
Sidewheel: Mississippi (1860)
Screw: Roanoke (1857), Colorado (1858), Minnesota (1859), Wabash (1859), Merrimack (1860)

Whether the laying up of most of the screw frigates after very little service reflects problems with their engines (certainly the case for the Merrimack), Congressional fiscal policy, or negligence or malfeaseance by the Buchanan administration I don't know.

I suggest taking a look at the NavSource Old Navy Steam & Sail Index. All of the commissioned vessels in both the USN & CSN are listed. Your questions about the periodic laying up & recommissioning of vessels are answered. It was routine for sailing ships to be laid up & rebuilt between commissions.

The ships all have histories, lists of commanders, histories & images, often very extensive ones.

Monitors:

NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

USN & CSN commissioned vessels:

NavSource "Old Navy" Steam and Sail Index

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

The obsolescence of the sailing frigates is evidenced by their use after the first year of the war, when the USN was no longer desperate for anything that would float. Of the four such vessels not sunk by CSS Virginia, Sabine and Santee were converted into training ships, and Potomac and St. Lawrence were converted into storeships.

The 9 screw or sidewheel frigates were active warships throughout the war.

Roanoke had the most unusual experience, being converted mid-war into the first triple-turret monitor!

Niagara received a squadron assignment none of the others did, spending the latter half of the war in European waters, hunting Confederate raiders. Other frigates with missions other than coastal blockades were San Jacinto hunting for the raider CSS Alabama in the North Atlantic and sidewheeler Powahatan being sent to the Caribbean for nearly a year.

Mississippi participated in Farragut's running of the forts and capture of New Orleans. Colorado would have also participated, but could not cross the bar to enter the delta.

Susquehanna (sidewheeler) participated in the expedition that captured Hatteras Inlet and, along with Wabash (screw), the successful attack on Port Royal.

Colorado, Minnesota, Powhatan, Susquehanna, and Wabash all participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher.

Including all three types of frigates: 11 served with the North Atlantic Blockade Squadron, 4 South Atlantic, 5 East Gulf, 2 West Gulf. This adds up to more than 15 because some vessels changed which squadron they were with.

 

[Rhea Cole]

You raise an interesting point. In a littoral, riverine, brown water war the deep keel of a blue water war frigate was a liability.

The enormous crew needed to man a frigates fifty guns vs a few far more lethal swivel guns on a sloop leads to a self evident conclusion. The age of the greyhounds of the sea was over.

Note: I was a crewman aboard a wooden hulled 500 ton 28 gun 6th rate frigate. Not many can say that. Made a trans Atlantic crossing, Boston, Horta, in the Azores, Bristol, Dublin. The tall ship HMS Rose / Surprise is a replica of a RN frigate commissioned in 1757.

The Rose was an example of the evolution of the role of the frigate. The main mast is the same height as the mizen of the USS Constitution. They were the frigate's alpha & omega.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

The enormous crew needed to man a frigates fifty guns vs a few far more lethal swivel guns on a sloop leads to a self evident conclusion. The age of the greyhounds of the sea was over.

Agreed.

A Merrimack-class screw frigate mounted over 40 guns and required 674 crew.

For comparison, the 23 "90-day gunboats" that were built during the war and played an integral role in the blockade mounted a mere 5 guns and needed only 114 men. They were single-screw schooner-rigged.

USS Hartford, Farragut's famous flagship, was a steam sloop with 24 guns and 300 crew. The monitor USS Tecumseh, sunk by a mine in the Battle of Mobile Bay, had a crew of 100.