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Thomas Oliver Selfridge Jr.
Thomas Oliver Selfridge Jr. (February 6, 1836 – February 4, 1924), son of Rear Admiral Thomas O. Selfridge, was an officer in the United States Navy. Early life Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Selfridge graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1854. He was the first officer to receive a diploma from the Academy. Civil War At the beginning of the American Civil War, he helped with efforts to destroy the untenable Norfolk Navy Yard; and he then escaped from that burning and beleaguered base in the USS ''Cumberland'', helping to save the sloop of war for the Union Navy. He participated in the capture of the Hatteras forts and was on board ''Cumberland'' on 8 March 1862 when she was sunk by Confederate ironclad, CSS ''Virginia''. He then briefly commanded USS ''Monitor'', after Lieutenant John L. Worden was wounded; and then commanded the USS ''Alligator'', an experimental submarine, in testing operations based at the Washington Navy Yard. In August, he jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Oliver Selfridge Sr
Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (other) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Apostle * Thomas (bishop of the East Angles) (fl. 640s–650s), medieval Bishop of the East Angles * Thomas (Archdeacon of Barnstaple) (fl. 1203), Archdeacon of Barnstaple * Thomas, Count of Perche (1195–1217), Count of Perche * Thomas (bishop of Finland) (1248), first known Bishop of Finland * Thomas, Earl of Mar (1330–1377), 14th-century Earl, Aberdeen, Scotland Geography Places in the United States * Thomas, Illinois * Thomas, Indiana * Thomas, Oklahoma * Thomas, Oregon * Thomas, South Dakota * Thomas, Virginia * Thomas, Washington * Thomas, West Virginia * Thomas County (other) * Thomas Township (other) Elsewhere * Thomas Glacier (Greenland) Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Thomas'' (Burton novel) 1969 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Monitor
USS ''Monitor'' was an ironclad warship built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War and completed in early 1862, the first such ship commissioned by the Navy. ''Monitor'' played a central role in the Battle of Hampton Roads on 9 March under the command of Lieutenant John L. Worden, where she fought the casemate ironclad (built on the hull of the scuttled steam frigate ) to a stalemate. The design of the ship was distinguished by its revolving turret, which was designed by American inventor Theodore Timby; it was quickly duplicated and established the monitor class and type of armored warship built for the American Navy over the next several decades. The remainder of the ship was designed by Swedish-born engineer and inventor John Ericsson, and built in only 101 days in Brooklyn, New York on the East River beginning in late 1861. ''Monitor'' presented a new concept in ship design and employed a variety of new inventions and innovations in ship building that caught ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Omaha (1869)
The first USS ''Omaha'' was laid down in 1867 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard as ''Astoria''; launched 10 June 1869; she was renamed ''Omaha'' on 10 August 1869; and commissioned 12 September 1872, Captain John C. Febiger in command. Service history Atlantic Stations, 1873–1879 ''Omaha's'' first assignment was with the South Atlantic Squadron, and she served alternately on South and North Atlantic Stations from 1873 to 1879. From 1880 to 1884, ''Omaha'' was laid up in ordinary at Philadelphia, for a complete refit. By 1885 she was en route to the Asiatic Station via Cape Horn. Statue of Liberty, 1885 Captain Thomas Oliver Selfridge Jr., of the U. S. man-of-war Omaha, delegated a lieutenant to present his compliments to Captain De Saune, the French commander of the Isère, laden with the Statue of Liberty, and suggest that Gravesend Bay would be a safer anchorage than the Sandy Hook Horseshoe. Asiatic Station, 1885–1891 ''Omaha'' served on the Asiatic Station fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Enterprise (1874)
The fifth USS ''Enterprise'', a barque-rigged screw sloop, was launched 13 June 1874 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, US, by John W. Griffiths, a private contractor; and commissioned 16 March 1877, Commander George C. Remey in command. She was later commanded by Bowman H. McCalla around 1890, followed by Commander Albert S. Barker from 1892 to 1896. Overview ''Enterprise'''s first duty after fitting out at Norfolk, Virginia, took her to the mouth of the Mississippi River for surveying operations. Returning to Norfolk in April 1878, she remained there only briefly, sailing 27 May for surveying duty up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers. On 1 October 1878 off the coast of Pará, Brazil, Seaman Thomas Smith rescued a fellow sailor from drowning, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. This surveying duty completed, she repaired at New York City, then in December 1878 joined the U.S. naval forces in European waters, calling at numerous ports in northern Europe and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Nipsic (1863)
USS ''Nipsic'' was a gunboat in the Union Navy. The ship was laid down on 24 December 1862 by Portsmouth Navy Yard; launched on 15 June 1863; sponsored by Miss Rebecca Scott; and commissioned on 2 September 1863, Lieutenant Commander George Bacon in command. In 1874 she was rebuilt as a new, and substantially larger, Adams/Enterprise-class gunboat. The Navy rebuilt some ships to new, when they could not get budget authorization for a new ship, but had significant funding for repairs. She would also be completely rebuilt in 1890 her length and beam extended and her tonnage increased. Service history 1863–1873 ''Nipsic'' arrived off Morris Island, South Carolina, on 5 November 1863 to join in the blockade of Charleston, where she served until the end of the American Civil War. On 27 June 1864, she took schooner ''Julia'' as the blockade-runner attempted to enter port. On 26 June 1865, three sailors deserted from the ''Nipsic''. They were Henry May, Ordinary Seaman; Jul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the principal city of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that includes New Hanover and Pender counties in southeastern North Carolina, which had a population of 301,284 at the 2020 census. Its historic downtown has a Riverwalk, developed as a tourist attraction in the late 20th century. In 2014, Wilmington's riverfront was ranked as the "Best American Riverfront" by readers of ''USA Today''. The National Trust for Historic Preservation selected Wilmington as one of its 2008 Dozen Distinctive Destinations. City residents live between the Cape Fear river and the Atlantic ocean, with four nearby beach communities just outside Wilmington: Fort Fisher, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach, all wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Anderson (North Carolina)
Fort Anderson is a mid-19th-century earthen fort in the lower Cape Fear Region of North Carolina, located over the ruins of the colonial town of Brunswick in Brunswick County. It was built as a Confederate Fort by major general Samuel Gibbs French during the American Civil War. The fort was pivotal in protecting the Cape Fear River inlets and Wilmington upstream. Earthen batteries comprise the fort and were used as platforms and shields for the Confederate cannons. Beneath some of the earthworks were "bombproofs," shelters used by troops during enemy bombardment. The Confederacy decided to build forts around the Cape Fear River to protect the port of Wilmington from the Union blockade. During the Civil War, blockade runners brought supplies such as iron, guns, and ammunition to the Confederacy. The purpose of the fort was to hinder movement of Union ships, and to serve as a dropping off point for blockade runners fortunate enough to make it up the mouth of the Cape Fear Rive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865. The fort was located on one of Cape Fear River's two outlets to the Atlantic Ocean on what was then known as Federal Point or Confederate Point and today is known as Pleasure Island. The strength of Fort Fisher led to its being called the ''Southern Gibraltar'' and the "Malakoff Tower of the South". The battle of Fort Fisher was the most decisive battle of the Civil War fought in North Carolina. Significance Wilmington The city of Wilmington is located upstream from the mouth of the Cape Fear River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. During the war, Wilmington was one of the most important points of entry for supplies for the Confederacy. Its port traded cotton and tobacco in exchange for foreign goods, like munitions, clothing and foodstuffs. This nourished both the southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Huron (1861)
USS ''Huron'' was a built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War for blockage duty against the ports and rivers of the Confederate States of America. ''Huron'', a schooner-rigged screw steamer, was launched on 21 September 1861 by Paul Curtis, Boston, Massachusetts, under Navy contract; and commissioned on 8 January 1862 at Boston Navy Yard, Lieutenant John Downes in command. Service in the American Civil War ''Huron'' joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in February to take part in Union strangulation of Confederate commerce, and steamed off the coasts of Georgia and Florida. In addition to blockading duties, her men often took part in shore expeditions against the Confederates, as on 15 March 1862 on the Georgia coast. ''Huron'' captures blockade runners ''Glide'', ''Albert'', and ''Cumbria'' ''Huron'' chased a schooner ashore on 12 April and seven days later captured schooner ''Glide'' off Charleston, South Carolina with 100 bales of cotton an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Conestoga (1861)
USS ''Conestoga'' was originally a civilian side-wheel towboat built at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. She was acquired by the U.S. Army in June 1861 and converted to a 572-ton " timberclad" river gunboat for use by the Western Gunboat Flotilla, with officers provided by the navy. Civil War service ''Conestoga'''s first combat action took place in September 1861 when she engaged CSS ''Jackson'' near Lucas Bend, Kentucky. Other skirmishes punctuated the routine of river patrol service into 1862. In February, she participated in an expedition up the Tennessee River that led to the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson. Later in the month, she saw action at Columbus, Kentucky, a Confederate strongpoint on the Mississippi River. During the rest of her service, ''Conestoga'' continued to operate along the rivers. She took part in the bombardment of Saint Charles, Arkansas, in June 1862 and was formally transferred to the navy in October of that year. In April and July 1863, she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Cairo (1861)
USS ''Cairo'' is one of the first American ironclad warships built at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War. ''Cairo'' is the lead ship of the City-class gunboats and named for Cairo, Illinois. In June 1862, she captured the Confederate garrison of Fort Pillow on the Mississippi, enabling Union forces to occupy Memphis. As part of the Yazoo Pass Expedition, she was sunk on 12 December 1862, while clearing mines for the attack on Haines Bluff. ''Cairo'' was the first ship ever to be sunk by a mine remotely detonated by hand. The remains of ''Cairo'' can be viewed at Vicksburg National Military Park with a museum of its weapons and naval stores. Service in the American Civil War ''Cairo'' was built by James Eads and Co., Mound City, Illinois, in 1861, under contract to the United States Department of War. She was commissioned as part of the Union Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla, which had US Navy Lieutenant James M. Prichett in command. ''Cairo'' served with the Army's West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mississippi Squadron
The Mississippi River Squadron was the Union brown-water naval squadron that operated on the western rivers during the American Civil War. It was initially created as a part of the Union Army, although it was commanded by naval officers, and was then known as the Western Gunboat Flotilla and sometimes as the Mississippi Flotilla. It received its final designation when it was transferred to the Union Navy at the beginning of October 1862. History American Civil War The squadron was created on May 16, 1861, and was controlled by the Union Army until September 30, 1862. John Rodgers was the first commander of the squadron and was responsible for the construction and organization of the fleet. Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote relieved Rodgers and encouraged the army commander in the west, Major General Henry W. Halleck, to authorize an expedition down the Tennessee River against Fort Henry. Operating in conjunction with Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the District of Cairo, Foote subdue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
