Tinclad Steamer Number 8, USS Grosbeak- Before Sultana

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
ship 8.JPG

Identified only as Number 8 on the Mississippi defenses, I 'think' sources tell us this is USS Grosbeak- a long war for ship and crew did not end with the surrender. If it is Grosbeak, Sultana survivors were pulled aboard from dark waters on a terrible night, an entire war after this photograph was taken.

Generally easy finding names when the number is so clear. From Hathitrust, one of the original, public access books ( it says so ), hadn't come across this. Another archive, from Google, states Number 8 tin clad is USS Grosbeak. That's pretty much it though, can't find one, more piece of information on Number 8, Mississippi.

If it is Grosbeak- was renamed ' Fanny ', making it confusing since ' Fanny ' was also a schooner of the era, albeit private.

According to a few sources Grosbeak was one of the ships, now veterans of a long war, shocked back into action when Sultana became a tomb for thousands coming home. Essex famously was there ( crew raised 1000 bucks for survivors, toboot ), Tyler, with a volunteer crew, Jenny Lind, Bostonia ( first on scene ) and any ship coming on the scene- cannot find accounts for Grosbeak. Newspapers are usually great but the disaster was nearly not covered. Details are lost to History- between Lincoln's death, the end of the war and Booth's cowardly skedaddle, no room for a couple thousand dead.
 
I'm trying to correct some old threads. If the original ( and not tin clad Signal ) Grosbeak was re-named Fanny, would this be the correct ship please?
fanny grosbeak gunboat fanny.jpg


Account of one of the Sultana survivors. If it's the same ship, artist missed the side wheel?
sultana grosbeak.JPG

I'll dig up the rest of his story, seem to have misplaced it.
 
I'm trying to correct some old threads. If the original ( and not tin clad Signal ) Grosbeak was re-named Fanny, would this be the correct ship please?
View attachment 315038

Account of one of the Sultana survivors. If it's the same ship, artist missed the side wheel?
View attachment 315039
I'll dig up the rest of his story, seem to have misplaced it.
This looks like a propeller tug to me. She appears to be armed forward. Possible awning over her after deck. The writing below the vessel appears to say NY Sun which leads me to suspect this is a quick sketch done by a correspondent to be sent in to the paper. If the dark object on her starboard bow is a cannon, its a small one. More like a howitzer. The Union navy did have a number of propeller tugs on the Mississippi during the war. I don't know how quickly they put them into reserve or sold them. The rudiments of what appears to be a US flag are at the peak of the mast. Did this illustration come with the article, or was it a clipping thrown in the same file?
 
This looks like a propeller tug to me. She appears to be armed forward. Possible awning over her after deck. The writing below the vessel appears to say NY Sun which leads me to suspect this is a quick sketch done by a correspondent to be sent in to the paper. If the dark object on her starboard bow is a cannon, its a small one. More like a howitzer. The Union navy did have a number of propeller tugs on the Mississippi during the war. I don't know how quickly they put them into reserve or sold them. The rudiments of what appears to be a US flag are at the peak of the mast. Did this illustration come with the article, or was it a clipping thrown in the same file?


It's LoC, Prints and Drawings? Amazing amounts of images of ships there, not just photos. My problem is being so terrible at identifying types of ships it's very limiting! They've ' orphaned ' the sketch, meaning the article for which it was intended isn't included.

Thanks very much for the over view. ONE day I'll have the ability to do more than guess.
 
Back
Top