CSS Oregon

CSS ''Oregon'' was a wooden sidewheel steamer that served as a gunboat in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Built in 1846 for the Mobile Mail Line, she transported mail between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, before the war. In 1861, she was seized by the Governor of Louisiana, Thomas Overton Moore, and served as a blockade runner before being selected for use by the Confederate Army. After transferring men and supplies to Ship Island, she was formally converted into a gunboat and armed with four cannon. Remaining behind on Lake Pontchartrain when many Confederate warships were transferred up the Mississippi River, ''Oregon'' served in the Mississippi Sound and Pass Christian areas. She took part in several minor actions involving USS ''New London'', two of which resulted in the Confederates moving into shallow water to avoid close-range action, and the third ending when the Confederate ships abandoned the Pass Christian area. In April 1862, Union pressure confined her and other Confederate ships to Lake Pontchartrain. Later that month, with Union forces closing in on New Orleans, ''Oregon'' was sunk as a blockship. Her wreck was removed and destroyed in the early 1870s.

Construction and pre-war career

''Oregon'' was built at New York City in 1846. A sidewheel steamer, she also had a single mast. With a hull that was made from wood, she had one deck and a billethead. She was long, had a beam of , weighed 532 tons, and had a draft of . ''Oregon'' is reported by the ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' to have resembled the steamer ''California''. Built for the Mobile Mail Line, ''Oregon'' was used to transport mail between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana. As of April 1861, the Geddes family of New Orleans and Cincinnati had a 60 percent ownership stake in the vessel, with the remainder being in the hands of two Mobile residents: R. A. Heirn and Samuel Wolff. Heirn had been listed as the ship's master in 1854.

American Civil War

After the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, Governor of Louisiana Thomas Overton Moore had the ship seized. While the United States Navy had a number of vessels at the beginning of the war, the Confederates had to build a navy from nothing with limited infrastructure and manufacturing. At a decided disadvantage in the naval sphere, the Confederates relied heavily on blockade running and to a lesser degree privateering. ''Oregon'' repeatedly ran the Union blockade, and under the command of Captain A. P. Boardman made 92 "entrance and clearances" to ports through the blockade. Both the Confederate States Army and the Confederate States Navy were selecting vessels for military service, and ''Oregon'' and the steamer ''J. D. Swain'' were chosen by the Confederate Army that summer. ''Oregon'' was armed with an 8-inch (20cm) columbiad and a 12-pounder (5 kg) howitzer, while ''J. D. Swain'' was armed with a 32-pounder (15 kg) rifled cannon and another howitzer.

In July, the two ships participated in a joint Army-Navy expedition. Launches from the Union blockading force were harassing the Confederate coastline, and the Confederates formed an expedition to counter the threat. About 135 sailors and marines were loaded onto ''Oregon'' and ''J. D. Swain'', and the two ships left Lake Pontchartrain on July 5 and headed to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. After spending the next day unsuccessfully looking for Union vessels, the vessels landed at Ship Island, which was located in a strategic place off of the Confederate coastline. The sailors and marines began constructing a small fortification, while ''Oregon'' inspected two fishing boats in the area before releasing them. The four cannons on the Confederate ships were taken ashore to defend the island. ''Oregon'' and ''J. D. Swain'' returned to New Orleans on July 7, and the former returned with the steamer CSS ''Gray Cloud'' the next day to bring further men and supplies for the fort. On July 13, ''Oregon'' and the steamer CSS ''Arrow'' attempted to lure the gunboat USS ''Massachusetts'' into the range of the Confederate cannon on Ship Island, but the Union vessel remained at a distance.

''Oregon'' was one of two ships that was used to run supplies to the position on Ship Island. The Confederate Army eventually fitted her as a gunboat and placed her under the command of Captain Abraham L. Myers. She was armed with one 8-inch (203 mm) cannon, one 32-pounder (15 kg) gun, and two small howitzers. Worried that the garrison at Ship Island could be easily cut off by the Union Navy and starved into submission, Confederate Major General David Twiggs ordered the island abandoned on September 13. ''Oregon'' helped evacuate supplies from the island, and the withdrawal was completed on September 16. In late 1861 and early 1862, much of the Confederate fleet in New Orleans was transferred up the Mississippi River to support the Confederate defenses of Columbus, Kentucky, but ''Oregon'' remained behind, serving on Lake Pontchartrain and intended to help other ships defend the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi. On December 7, 1861, the gunboat CSS ''Pamlico'' sighted Union vessels entering Mississippi Sound. ''Oregon'' was present at Mississippi City, Mississippi, to transport equipment for a powder mill from there to New Orleans, and joined ''Pamlico'' in confronting the Union ships, which turned out to be the steamers USS ''New London'' and USS ''De Soto''. Remaining in shallow water that the Union vessels could not enter, the Confederates fired on them with two rifled cannon. ''Oregon'' and ''Pamlico'' ignored a challenge from ''New London'' for a closer quarters fight, and the Union ships withdrew.

''Pamlico'' then escorted ''Oregon'' back to New Orleans, where the latter unloaded the power mill equipment, which increased the city's capacity for gunpowder production. After meeting a blockade runner in Lake Borgne, ''Pamlico'' and ''Oregon'' attempted to escort her into the Gulf of Mexico on December 20, but were detected by Union forces near Ship Island and forced to withdraw back to Lake Borgne. On March 25, 1862, ''Oregon'' was escorted by ''Pamlico'' to the Pass Christian area to deliver supplies and then on her own moved towards Ship Island to scout Union positions. Withdrawing to Pass Christian after being sighted, she was pursued by ''New London''. ''Oregon'' and ''Pamlico'' moved to engage the Union ship, and began firing from a range of . Two of ''Pamlico''s cannons were unable to be fired safely due to defective ammunition, and after ''Pamlico''s third cannon was rendered unusable after a projectile became stuck in the barrel, the two ships withdrew into shallow water, where ''New London'' could not pursue. The Union ship fell back several hours later.

On April 3, ''New London'', the steamer USS ''John P. Jackson'', and the troop transport USS ''Henry Lewis'' left Biloxi, Mississippi, to move against Pass Christian. ''Pamlico'', ''Oregon'', and the gunboat CSS ''Carondelet'' were mobilized to counter the threat. In an action offshore of Pass Christian, Confederate fire forced ''Henry Lewis'' to withdraw, and the other Union vessels suffered light damage. ''Oregon'' suffered a hit to her ship's wheel, and her pilot was wounded when a projectile entered the pilothouse. With ''Carondelet''s wheel also damaged in the battle and the steamer USS ''Hatteras'' approaching, the Confederate vessels withdrew to Lake Pontchartrain and the Union forces moved on to Pass Christian. The 1,200 troops aboard ''Henry Lewis'' landed, and the area was captured. With Union forces preparing to attack New Orleans, ''Oregon'', ''Pamlico'', ''Carondelet'', ''Arrow'', and the gunboat CSS ''Bienville'' remained at Lake Pontchartrian, guarding Chef Menteur Pass and the Rigolets.

On April 24, Union Navy forces under Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut pushed passed the Confederate defenses at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, and then moved past the defenses at Chalmette, Louisiana, the next day. New Orleans was largely indefensible after the fall of those positions, and ''Oregon'' was sunk as a blockship. Naval historian Neil P. Chatelain states that she was sunk in the Rigolets between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, while historian W. Craig Gaines places the sinking in either the Tchefuncte River or the Bogue Falaya River. The wreck later interfered with the escape of other Confederate vessels from Lake Pontchartrain, and remained there until a contractor for the United States Army Corps of Engineers removed it between 1872 and 1873. Any iron debris was removed by the contractor, while the rest of the wreck was burned on shore.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon
Gunboats of the Confederate States Navy
Ships built in New York City
Shipwrecks of the American Civil War
1846 ships
Maritime incidents in April 1862
Scuttled vessels