USS Lafayette (1848)
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| History | |
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| Name: | USS Lafayette |
| Laid down: | 1848 |
| Acquired: | by purchase, 18 May 1862 |
| Commissioned: | 27 February 1863 |
| Decommissioned: | 23 July 1865 |
| Fate: | Sold, 28 March 1866 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ironclad ram |
| Displacement: | 1,193 long tons (1,212 t) |
| Length: | 280 ft (85 m) |
| Beam: | 45 ft (14 m) |
| Draft: | 8 ft (2.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Speed: | 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) |
| Armament: |
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The first USS Lafayette was a side wheel steamer, converted to an ironclad ram, in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.
Lafayette was built at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1848 as Aleck Scott (often spelled Alick Scott). She was purchased by the War Department as Fort Henry on 18 May 1862 for use in the western flotilla. She was converted to an ironclad ram at St. Louis. Renamed Lafayette on 8 September 1862, she was transferred to the Navy with the entire western flotilla by executive order on 1 October 1862. She was commissioned at Cairo, Illinois, 27 February 1863, with Captain Henry A. Walke in command.
The new ram joined Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's Mississippi Squadron above Vicksburg in time for the famous dash on 16 April 1863 past the deadly batteries which protected the vital Confederate fortress. The gunboats engaged the southern guns as they shepherded Army transports through the gauntlet to New Carthage. Ram General Sterling Price was lashed to the starboard side of Lafayette for the passage. The ships were covered with heavy logs and bales of wet hay, which proved to be an excellent defense. Each ship, except Benton, also towed a coal barge. Lafayette, hampered by the ship lashed to her side, received nine "effective" shots through her casemate and had her coal barge sunk. Although under fire for 2½ hours, all ships of the squadron were ready for service within half an hour after the passage. The successful steaming of the squadron past the heavy batteries contributed to the early seizure of Grand Gulf, the eventual fall of Vicksburg itself, and ultimately the conquest of the entire Mississippi River.
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