USS Wasp

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
The wreck of the Workd War Two USS Wasp has been discovered on the Pacific. So this made me wonder if there was a Civil War USS Wasp and what she did during the Civil War.
 
Side-wheel Gunboat:
  • Built by as the Iron paddle steamer SS Emma Henry by J & G Thomson, Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. Yard # 81 for Henry Lafone, Liverpool (for Importing & Exporting Co of Georgia)
  • Launched 1 September 1864
  • Emma Henry, was captured at sea in December 1864 attempting to run the Union blockade
  • Purchased from the New York prize court, 13 January 1865, the the Navy
  • Commissioned USS Emma Henry, 11 May 1865
  • Emma Henry joined Acting Rear Admiral Sylvanus W. Godon squadron established to search for the Confederate ram CSS Stonewall
  • Damaged by collision at Charleston, S.C. and returned to Philadelphia for repairs
  • Renamed USS Wasp 13 June 1865
  • With repairs completed Wasp was assigned to the Brazil Squadron and based at Rio de Janeiro
  • Wasp patrolled in the vicinity of the La Plata and Uruguay Rivers during the war between Paraguay and the coalition of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay to protect Americans and their interests in the combat zone
  • After the war ended in June 1870, Wasp continued to operate out of Montevideo, Uruguay, her duty consisted of transporting diplomats and generally watching out for American interests
  • Surveyed early in 1876 and found to be unfit for further naval service
  • Decommissioned that same spring
  • Sold to Mr. L. B. Scheiner of Montevideo, 5 June 1876
  • Final Disposition, fate unknownSpecifications:
    Displacement 521 t.
    Length 212'
    Beam 25' 2"
    Depth of Hold 10'
    Draft 6'
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown Armament one 30-pdr Parrott rifle two 24-pdr howitzers Propulsion steam
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86646.htm

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Wasp VI (SwGbt)



(SwGbt.: t. 521; l. 212'0"; b. 25'2"; dph. 10'0"; dr. 6'0"; a. 1 30-pdr. P. r., 2 24-pdr. how.)
Any of numerous winged hymenopterus insects possessing smooth, slender bodies, and an abdomen attached by a narrow stalk. They have well developed wings, biting mouthparts, and often administer painful stings.
VI
Emma Henry, an iron-hulled sidewheel steamer, was captured at sea in December of 1864 attempting to run the Union blockade of the Confederacy; purchased from the New York prize court on 13 January 1865; and commissioned on 11 May 1865.
At Norfolk, Emma Henry joined the squadron commanded by Acting Rear Admiral Sylvanus W. Godon which had been established to search for the Confederate ram Stonewall. She departed Hampton Roads with the rest of the squadron on 17 May. On the 22d, she carried Acting Rear Admiral Godon into Charleston harbor to confer with Rear Admiral Dahlgren before the squadron continued on its way. During that interlude, she collided with another ship and, after returning Godon to his flagship Susquehanna, headed north for repairs at Philadelphia.
On 13 June 1865, while undergoing repairs, she was renamed Wasp. As soon as she completed repairs, the ship rejoined Rear Admiral Godon's squadron, designated the Brazil Squadron and based at Rio de Janeiro. The original reason for the squadron's dispatch, CSS Stonewall, had long since ceased to pose a problem. The former Confederate ironclad had surrendered to Spanish authorities in Cuba on 19 May just as Wasp had begun her repairs at Philadelphia. Thus, she and her squadron-mates took up a different duty, watching out for American interests in South America and along the eastern coast of Africa.
The latter location, however, Wasp left to her larger sisters while she concentrated upon the vicinity of the La Plata and Uruguay Rivers during the war between Paraguay and the coalition of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay which had begun when the Paraguayan dictator, Francisco Solano Lopez, invaded Brazil on the day after Christmas 1864. The war lasted until mid-1870, peace coming only after the complete reduction of Paraguay and the death of Lopez at the hands of Brazilian lancers following a protracted guerrilla campaign. In the meantime, Wasp patrolled the area to protect Americans and their interests in the combat zone. As frequently on the rivers in the interior as she was at sea, she ascended Rio de La Plata and its tributaries, the Uruguay Parana and Paraguay Rivers.
After the war ended in June 1870, Wasp continued to operate out of Montevideo in Uruguay on the aforementioned rivers, ascending them as far as Asuncion, Uruguay. Her duty consisted of transporting diplomats and generally watching out for American interests. She continued to be so employed until surveyed early in 1876 when she was found to be unfit for further naval service. Decommissioned that same spring, Wasp was sold to Mr. L. B. Scheiner of Montevideo on 5 June 1876.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/wasp-vi.html

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
One earlier Wasp was a sloop in the early 1800s which captured HM brig-sloop Frolic in a battle which saw both ships heavily damaged. Unfortunately the 74-gun ship of the line Poictiers then came along and captured/recaptured them both.

The US Navy considered the original action highly creditable and named two of its next class of sloops Wasp and Frolic. That Wasp defeated two more brig-sloops before disappearing without a trace. USS Frolic was captured by the British.
 
There was at least one CSS version...

William A. Graves designed and built a group of boats at the Rockett’s shipyard near Richmond; Wasp, Hornet, and Scorpion.[1] Scorpion was damaged in the Battle of Trent’s Reach on 23 January 1865 when escorting the gunboat, Drewry. Both vessels were grounded while under fire and consequently evacuated. Union forces recovered Scorpion and took the vessel as a prize.[2] Scorpion, was described as follows, “Her length is 46 feet, beam amidships 6 feet 3 inches, and depth 3 feet 9 inches.”[3] Given the provided dimensions of the vessel, it is again, easy to see how the description might have been mistaken as one of a “David.” However, the report also noted an enclosed sketch, which was not included in the report. Instead there is an asterisk with the following clarifying remark, “This drawing is substantially the same as that of the C. S. torpedo boat Squib, shown in Series 1, volume 9, p. 602.—Compilers” (see Squib IMAGE), demonstrating that Scorpion was a steam launch.[4]
Hornet, one of two sister-vessels of Scorpion, was sunk in a collision with C.S.S. Allison on 26 January and appeared to have been raised by the Union Navy at some point shortly thereafter.
[5] Little more is known of the third vessel, Wasp, although Campbell reports that the vessel was lost in April 1865.
[1] All three just slightly larger than Squib, Campbell 2000, 105.
[2] Various reports describing the recovery of the Rebel torpedo boat in the James River, 27-31 January 1865, ORN Vol. 11 (1900), 706-7.
[3] Report of Chief Engineer Henderson, 31 Jan.1865, ORN Vol. 11 (1900), 707.
[4] Report of Chief Engineer Henderson, 31 Jan.1865, ORN Vol. 11 (1900), 707.
[5] Memorandum regarding the James River Squadron 19 Feb 1865, ORN Vol. 12 (1901), 185-6.
 
There were some significant deficiencies in the construction of Wasp, as compared to her sisters Yorktown, Hornet and Enterprise.
The wreck of the Workd War Two USS Wasp has been discovered on the Pacific. So this made me wonder if there was a Civil War USS Wasp and what she did during the Civil War.
The old WWII Wasp (CV-7) was constructed after Yorktown and Enterprise. It was built on the cheap, an under powered, under armored version of the Yorktown class carriers. There was no armor protection for the ship's vital propulsion systems, magazines and aviation fuel tanks. IIRC, she almost immediately became an uncontrollable inferno upon torpedo detonation. The Wasp was initially deployed to the Atlantic, but the loss of Lexington at Coral Sea and severe damage to Saratoga in an earlier Jap sub torpedo attack caused the Navy to deploy it to the South Pacific.
 
There were some significant deficiencies in the construction of Wasp, as compared to her sisters Yorktown, Hornet and Enterprise.

CV-7 was built as a one-off vessel to use up our (USN) remaining tonnage allotment under the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Since that wasn't enough to build a repeat Yorktown class, changes had to be made. The flaws in her design were known and acknowledged at the time of her build. And she did get popped by 3 x Type 95 torps - that is enough to ruin anyone's day...
105

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
So if the Civil War USS Wasp was the 5th Wasp, how many total USS Wasps have there been?
 
...how many total USS Wasps have there been?

Sir, 10 or 11 depending on what you count...

USS Wasp may refer to:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uss_wasp
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Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
So if the Civil War USS Wasp was the 5th Wasp, how many total USS Wasps have there been?
I believe that there has only been two more (CV 18 & LDH1) only the Amphibious Assault Ship is still in service.
 
The present USS Wasp (photo US Navy)
10080117 (2).jpg
 
If someone had time to kill they could see how many Civil War ships have a ship with the same name in today's US Navy.
 
10 or 11 is a fair amount. The US Navy does like to reuse names.

Tradition, Dang-it! :smile:

The American Navy has used the names Enterprise, Hornet, Morris, Niagara, and Washington about eight times each. Ranger has been used around ten times. The British Navy - being around a bit longer - has used Mary at least 30 times, Fox 31 times, and Swallow 32 times.
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Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
The 1813 Wasp, btw, was the only US warship under sail power alone, to defeat two similarly rated enemies, HM 18-gun Brigs Reindeer and Avon, while out on the same cruise, under the same captain, in this case North Carolinian Johnston Blakeley. She vanished at sea in late 1814, possibly after a 3rd, running, night-time fight with HM Frigate Aquilion, 32, during a gale. The latter chased and fired at someone, who then suddenly vanished, that fitted the Wasp's description, sailing where the Wasp was last seen off the Azores, according to the Briton's log. Who knows ...

Constitution, Constellation, and Hornet each fought more than one victory, but each returned home afterwards to crow, while Connie and Hornet each also replaced their captains.
 
I mean, no power available other than sail. Poorly phrased perhaps, but I'm excluding more modern sail equipped vessels, like the USS Hartford or the USS Mississippi.

Although, come to think of it, the Reindeer did initially attack the Wasp under sweeps, when the breeze suddenly dropped.
 
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