USS Tallapoosa (1863)
Wash drawing by Clary Ray, circa 1900, depicting Tallapoosa as she appeared during the American Civil War.
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Name: | USS Tallapoosa |
| Namesake: | A navigable river which rises in Paulding County in northwestern Georgia |
| Builder: | New York Navy Yard |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 17 February 1863 |
| Commissioned: | 13 September 1864 |
| Decommissioned: | circa 30 January 1892 |
| Struck: | 1892 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold at Montevideo, Uruguay, on 3 March 1892 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sassacus |
| Displacement: | 974 tons |
| Length: | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam: | 35 ft (11 m) |
| Draft: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 11.5 knots |
| Complement: | 190 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
|
| Notes: | double ended |
USS Tallapoosa (1863) was a wooden-hulled, double-ended steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted with heavy guns for intercepting blockade runners and howitzers for shore bombardment.
Tallapoosa remained in service after the war and served in various capacities, including schoolship for midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy. She was sold in Uruguay in 1892.
Tallapoosa – the first U.S. Navy ship to have that name—was built at the New York Navy Yard by C. W. Booz of Baltimore, Maryland on similar plans as Sassacus. She was launched on 17 February 1863 and commissioned on 13 September 1864, Lieutenant Commander Joseph E. DeHaven in command.
As Tallapoosa was being fitted out, Confederate cruiser Tallahassee was cruising off the Atlantic coast destroying Union shipping from the Virginia Capes to Nova Scotia. Hence, the Union double-ender got underway late in October and spent her first days at sea in seeking the Southern commerce raider.
Her quest took her from New York City to Halifax, then south to the Virginia Capes, then back north again to the coast of Nova Scotia. On 4 November, Tallapoosa encountered a southeasterly gale, which battered the ship for the next two days, disabled both her rudders, and caused other damage. She finally made port at Boston, Massachusetts on the morning of the 7th.
...
Wikipedia