West Gulf Blockading Squadron.

[mobile_96]

I'm trying to help someone research a family member. I ran across the following via fold3 and trying to understand its meaning. At the bottom its shows both the ships Susquehanna and the Juniata, and in another file, the Katahdin. Did Samuel have service on all 3 ships or just 2 of them.
And am I wrong that the "Rendezvous" indicate a 'meeting' up of the ships and/or at the port?'

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

No--- a "rendezvous" was the name for a recruiting office. I'm guessing this means he was placed right on board the Susquehanna when he enlisted.

 

[mobile_96]

No--- a "rendezvous" was the name for a recruiting office. I'm guessing this means he was placed right on board the Susquehanna when he enlisted.

Thanks.
Now, what about the other 2 ships. Would they be the ones he served on?

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Most likely. Susquehanna was a big prewar sidewheel gunboat (it had been part of Perry's expedition to Japan in the early 1850s); Juniata was a late-war cruiser somewhat similar to Kearsarge; Katahdin was a "90-day gunboat."

 

[mobile_96]

Most likely

Thanks Mark. Although the info on Samuel Watson is sketchy, at least my friend will have a bit more than she had before.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Does she have any information on what his rating or position was? If he went through a rendezvous, he was definitely an enlisted sailor...

 

[mobile_96]

Does she have any information on what his rating or position was?

Nothing. All she knew was that he served in the 83rd NY for a short while, then joined the Navy. Fold3 has 3 cards as above, and a page from 1860 census.