Borderruffian
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2007
- Location
- Marshfield Missouri
During the war there were twenty-seven "Sassacus" class double-ended gunboats placed in commission. These vessels were specially constructed for service on narrow inland waterways, and with a rudder on each end, were able to travel in either direction without having to turn around.
The U.S.S. Agawam was one of these sidewheelers and was built at Portland, Maine, with her wooden hull being laid down in October 1862. She was launched on April 21, 1863, but was not commissioned until March 9, 1864. Her armaments consisted of two 100 pounder rifled cannon, four 9-inch smoothbore cannons, two 24-pounder smoothbore cannons, one 12 pounder rifled cannon, and one 12 pounder smoothbore cannon. These vessels had a complement of about two hundred men.
Three months before the vessel was commissioned, Confederate agents had seized control of a New York steam packet, the Chesapeake, some twenty miles north of Cape Cod, and had taken her into Canadian waters. The Union Navy Department sent orders to various naval commands for the immediate pursuit and capture of these miscreants, and in the ensuing flurry of activity, the seaworthy but incompletely armed Agawam was one of those that started out for the chase. However, the chase was soon abandoned when the vessel ran into a severe gale and could not proceed any further without serious damage or loss of life to those on board. She returned to Portland on December 17, 1863 with all on board feeling rather miserable after their lucky escape from the forces of nature. Some time later the vessel was sent to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to recruit her crew from the Kittery Navy Yard, where she was placed in commission on March 9, 1864, with Commander Alexander Colden Rhine and Lieutenant George Dewey as commanding and executive officers respectively.
On March 17th, the vessel cast off from the naval yard, with pilot, Mr. Prebel, in charge. However, she struck rocks at Sullivan’s Island and broke her port wheel. She was then moored to a buoy for two days before returning to the yard for repairs. Further damage was detected some days later when she went into dry dock and repairs were commenced immediately. On April 18, 1864 the vessel left Portsmouth in the morning and arrived at Portland, Maine that evening. Ten days later she weighed anchor and left Portland shortly after noon. However the vessel struck engine problems later that afternoon and returned to Portland for repairs.
http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1862agawam.htm
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The U.S.S. Agawam was one of these sidewheelers and was built at Portland, Maine, with her wooden hull being laid down in October 1862. She was launched on April 21, 1863, but was not commissioned until March 9, 1864. Her armaments consisted of two 100 pounder rifled cannon, four 9-inch smoothbore cannons, two 24-pounder smoothbore cannons, one 12 pounder rifled cannon, and one 12 pounder smoothbore cannon. These vessels had a complement of about two hundred men.
Three months before the vessel was commissioned, Confederate agents had seized control of a New York steam packet, the Chesapeake, some twenty miles north of Cape Cod, and had taken her into Canadian waters. The Union Navy Department sent orders to various naval commands for the immediate pursuit and capture of these miscreants, and in the ensuing flurry of activity, the seaworthy but incompletely armed Agawam was one of those that started out for the chase. However, the chase was soon abandoned when the vessel ran into a severe gale and could not proceed any further without serious damage or loss of life to those on board. She returned to Portland on December 17, 1863 with all on board feeling rather miserable after their lucky escape from the forces of nature. Some time later the vessel was sent to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to recruit her crew from the Kittery Navy Yard, where she was placed in commission on March 9, 1864, with Commander Alexander Colden Rhine and Lieutenant George Dewey as commanding and executive officers respectively.
On March 17th, the vessel cast off from the naval yard, with pilot, Mr. Prebel, in charge. However, she struck rocks at Sullivan’s Island and broke her port wheel. She was then moored to a buoy for two days before returning to the yard for repairs. Further damage was detected some days later when she went into dry dock and repairs were commenced immediately. On April 18, 1864 the vessel left Portsmouth in the morning and arrived at Portland, Maine that evening. Ten days later she weighed anchor and left Portland shortly after noon. However the vessel struck engine problems later that afternoon and returned to Portland for repairs.
http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1862agawam.htm
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