Steamships of the Southern Steamship Company in May of 1961 at New Orleans

georgew

First Sergeant
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Oct 1, 2010
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southern california
I've just realized that it is dangerous to compose before the morning coffee has done its magic. The above should say May of 1861.

"New Orleans, May 4, 1861

Tennessee, Charles Morgan, Texas, Mexico, Orizaba, Atlantic, all wooden vessels.
Also, William G. Hewes (aka "Jewess"), Arizona, Austin, Matagorda, all iron vessels.
Tow Boats: Junius Bebe, Anglo Norman, Anglo Saxon, Anglo American, William H. Ivy, A.J. Whitmore, William H. Webb, Vanderbilt, Victoria. All low-pressure boats.
James L. Day, J.P. Whitney, L. Millandon, J.M. Whann, Mary Kingsland, Phoenix, Baltic, J.M. Daniels, Hercules, Ocean, Star, St. Charles, Defiance, Music, Landis, Panther. These last are all high pressure. Julius A. Pratt.
Low-pressure steamer Calhoun (privateer)
Propellers: Watson, Mosher, Union, Baltic, Tuscarora, Mobile (under seizure at Berwick Bay)
Propeller Enoch Train, now in port."

(Pratt's list and addenda of Southern Steamship Co. do not have the Galveston and General Rusk which were in coastal trade or Texas waters. The addenda of propeller vessels includes two tow boats, Enoch Train and Mobile. The rest were single propeller tugs. A majority of the Southern Steamships had been sent to New Orleans for safekeeping, a few were used for coastal trade with their original crews and detachments of Louisiana militia to assure that they were not diverted to northern ports. In the case of the towboats, most were not owned by the steamship company and their services leased. It is not clear what happened to the Phoenix and Panther. They may have been used as runners and sold foreign. The physical condition of these vessels varied greatly. Some were elderly, dating to the 1840's. With the onset of the blockade funds for maintenance declined rapidly. Most of the high-pressure boats were mothballed off Algiers. The low pressure towboats had brief careers as inefficient runners. James L. Day was scuttled and burned after a failed attempt to run the blockade. Vanderbilt was renamed and then foundered at sea during a run from Havana. The high-pressure towboat Yankee (CSN Jackson) is not on the list having initially been leased by the state of Louisiana, then absorbed as a gunboat seeing service upriver and later at the forts below New Orleans. Mobile and Tuscarora were taken into naval service. The Train was originally a privateer, then an ironed privateer, then seized by the CSN. The other propeller tugs (less Baltic and Watson) ended up under Army leases at the forts. Baltic's career is obscure. Watson was leased by the Army as a workboat during the conversion of vessels for the River Defense Service and then taken as Senior Captain Montgomery's flagship. The Southern Steamship vessels Mexico and Orizaba were taken by the RDS. Charles Morgan and Galveston became Louisiana Provisional Navy gunboats. Both lost at the forts below New Orleans. GW)
 
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