Mosquito Fleet Boat Commanders

[corn-fed-erate]

Facinating! Found some info on the men that were in command of all the boats in the Mosquito fleet on the day that it was utterly destroyed. The info gave the follow up service of 9 men. You know, to me, it seems that loosing the fleet would have been embarrassing to the government and the ones in command would be held accountable. As I read the individual bios of the men I started to see a lot of iron in their history. The men who were in command of these little known non - famous even infamous boats were: Parker, Alexander, Cooke, Hunter, Hoole, Simms, Tayloe, and Harris. They went on to serve on famous Confederate ships: Atlanta, Virginia II, North Carolina, Chicora, Albemarle, Georga, Virginia, Jackson, Manassas, Louisiana, and commerce raider Florida. Of the nine men, 1 died during the battle of Hampton Roads, 1 became the Commandant of the Confederate Naval Academy, and 4 were given command of ironclads before war's end: Albemarle, Virginia II, Georga, and Chicora. Does not look like the battle of Elizabeth City was a career ender for these men.

 

[AndyHall]

Here's the register of C.S. Navy and Marine officers:

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth204523/

 

[NC Squadron]

Facinating! Found some info on the men that were in command of all the boats in the Mosquito fleet on the day that it was utterly destroyed. The info gave the follow up service of 9 men. You know, to me, it seems that loosing the fleet would have been embarrassing to the government and the ones in command would be held accountable. As I read the individual bios of the men I started to see a lot of iron in their history. The men who were in command of these little known non - famous even infamous boats were: Parker, Alexander, Cooke, Hunter, Hoole, Simms, Tayloe, and Harris. They went on to serve on famous Confederate ships: Atlanta, Virginia II, North Carolina, Chicora, Albemarle, Georga, Virginia, Jackson, Manassas, Louisiana, and commerce raider Florida. Of the nine men, 1 died during the battle of Hampton Roads, 1 became the Commandant of the Confederate Naval Academy, and 4 were given command of ironclads before war's end: Albemarle, Virginia II, Georga, and Chicora. Does not look like the battle of Elizabeth City was a career ender for these men.

They knew they were goners when they came to Elizabeth City. They were almost completely out of ammunition and there was none to be had. They did find some blasting powder that they made up in charges.

Over 50 men from the battle of Elizabeth City also fought in the battle of Hampton Roads. The Raleigh missed the battle in EC, being at Gosport having a hole received near the waterline at the battle of Roanoke Island repaired. She joined the Beaufort as escorts for the Virginia in the battle of Hampton Roads. Some men from the NC Squadron fought aboard the Virginia. Twenty Virginia crewmen and Lt. Sims fought aboard the Appomattox at Elizabeth City.

 

[Republican Blues]

The Savannah Squadron was also referred to as The Mosquito Fleet in its early days, when it was mostly just civil vessels with a gun mounted on it...

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Incidentally, the earliest reference I've seen to a "mosquito fleet" or "mosquito squadron" has been the boat operations in the Seminole War. (I can't help but wonder if the 'mosquitoes' in question were really the small size of the boats or the local insect life in the area they operated...) Anyone seen any earlier references or uses?

 

[Republican Blues]

Facinating! Found some info on the men that were in command of all the boats in the Mosquito fleet on the day that it was utterly destroyed. The info gave the follow up service of 9 men. You know, to me, it seems that loosing the fleet would have been embarrassing to the government and the ones in command would be held accountable. As I read the individual bios of the men I started to see a lot of iron in their history. The men who were in command of these little known non - famous even infamous boats were: Parker, Alexander, Cooke, Hunter, Hoole, Simms, Tayloe, and Harris. They went on to serve on famous Confederate ships: Atlanta, Virginia II, North Carolina, Chicora, Albemarle, Georga, Virginia, Jackson, Manassas, Louisiana, and commerce raider Florida. Of the nine men, 1 died during the battle of Hampton Roads, 1 became the Commandant of the Confederate Naval Academy, and 4 were given command of ironclads before war's end: Albemarle, Virginia II, Georga, and Chicora. Does not look like the battle of Elizabeth City was a career ender for these men.

Oh, and not be a pain in the butt, but Georgia has an I in it..

 

[NC Squadron]

The Savannah Squadron was also referred to as The Mosquito Fleet in its early days, when it was mostly just civil vessels with a gun mounted on it...

The NC Squadron was not referred to as the "mosquito fleet" until after it was destroyed. A number of the sailors transferred to Wilmington Station. At least 4-6 transferred to the Chattahoochee. Around 20 fought on the CSS Virginia. A number were still around in 1864 and served on the CSS Albemarle. The majority of the men were from the northeastern part of North Carolina or southeastern part of Virginia, so they were locals.

 

[NC Squadron]

Almost three complete boat crews came from Currituck County, NC. (At that time the Outer Banks and Roanoke Island were part of Currituck County.) All of the Appomattox crew members except for a couple of petty officers were members of the Virginia's crew waiting on the Receiving Ship United States for the Virginia to be commissioned; they were sent to Roanoke Island for the emergency when the Burnside expedition arrived.

 

[Republican Blues]

Point being there was more than one so called Mosquito Fleet.....

 

[NC Squadron]

Point being there was more than one so called Mosquito Fleet.....

Yes, there were. The one in NC was only called that after the fact, not before they were destroyed.

 

[Dave Wilma]

Point being there was more than one so called Mosquito Fleet.....

On Puget Sound in Washington in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries the steamers that plied between all the little and big ports was referred to as the Mosquito Fleet.

 

[corn-fed-erate]

Spelling has always been a pain in my butt. I'm so bad that spell check and auto fill don't help me all the time.