USS Essex (IX-10)

USS ''Essex'' was an ''Enterprise''-class wooden-hulled armed naval steam sloop of war. She was built between 1874 and 1876 by Donald McKay at the Kitter Naval Yard of East Boston, Massachusetts. She was commissioned on 3 October 1876 by the United States Navy. On 23 December 1930 ''Essex'' was sold for scrap, and on 14 October 1931 she was taken to the beach just outside Duluth Harbor where they set fire to her; she eventually burned to the waterline. On 14 April 1994 the remains of ''Essex'' were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She is significant because she is the only known remaining ship built by master shipbuilder Donald McKay.

History

Construction

Shortly before his assassination, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln authorized the construction of ''Essex'', but her construction was delayed for several years. On 10 February 1873 a Congressional act was approved. This act gave authority to the Secretary of the Navy to construct eight war vessels. The act stated that the four vessels should be built by the lowest responsible bidders for the contract in public competition. Donald McKay won the contract to build two of the four vessels, these were and USS ''Essex''. ''Adams'' and ''Essex'' were sister ships, and both of them were built by the Kitter Naval Yard.

''Essex'' keel was laid in 1874, and she was launched in 1876. ''Essex'' had a length of , her beam was and her draft was . Her gross register tonnage was 615 tons. She displaced of water. USS ''Essex'' engine was a fore and aft compound steam engine that was built by the Atlantic Engine Works of Boston, Massachusetts, and she had a single water tube boiler built by Babcock & Wilcox. ''Essex'' was originally equipped with one cannon, four Dahlgren guns and a 60-pounder (127mm) cannon. ''Essex'' had a very bluff appearance; she had a figurehead, a moderate tumble home and a shapely rounded stern. She also had a bowsprit, a jib boom and also a flying jib boom. USS ''Essex'' was also believed to have copper sheathing on her bottom. She had two iron folding stock anchors at her bow. She carried six lifeboats that were chained to davits that were pointing outward from the main deck. Her retractable smokestack was positioned directly in front of the central mainmast. ''Essex'' was propelled by both steam and sail.

Ocean service

After being commissioned, she was placed in the command of Commander Winfield Scott Schley; and she later reported to the North Atlantic Squadron. During the year of 1877 ''Essex'' cruised to Liberia and along the west coast of Africa and in 1878–79 joined the South Atlantic Squadron. While at Monrovia, Liberia, on 31 October 1877, Ordinary Seaman John Millmore and First Class Fireman Henry Lakin Simpson rescued a shipmate from drowning, for which they were later awarded the Medal of Honor. ''Essex'' sailed on the Pacific Station from November 1881 to December 1882 and thence on the Asiatic Station for two years during which she took on board Captain S. H. Morrison and crew members of the shipwrecked ''Ranier''. Following repairs she returned to the Asiatic Station under command of Commander T.F. Jewell in June 1886 and in October anchored at Ponape, Caroline Islands, to afford protection to American missionaries during a native uprising. She returned to New York via the Suez Canal and was placed out of commission in May 1889.

Regarded as one of the finest ships of the fleet, ''Essex'' was designated next as a training ship. A three-month cruise with cadets at the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1893 was followed by two lengthy tours to train naval apprentices (January 1894–April 1898, and September 1898 to December 1903.)

Great Lakes service

From 1904 to 1916 the Navy Department loaned ''Essex'' to the Ohio Naval Militia. Lieutenant Anthony E. Nicklett of the Toledo Naval Militia decided to transfer ''Essex'' to the Toledo reserves. She was accepted, and plans were made to transfer her to the Toledo reserves. During her service on the Great Lakes ''Essex'' mostly used her sails because her engines were badly deteriorated. On one of her voyages she nearly collided with an ocean liner in dense fog. On another of her trips ''Essex'' ran aground in the mouth of the Saguenay River about from Quebec. A 15 August 1904, issue of the ''Toledo Blade'' described the event:

The pilot had gone aboard the tow tug when suddenly the ''Essex'' struck bottom in a spot where there are a large number of boulders, dangerous at all times. The tide commenced to lower soon after the ship struck and she gradually careened as the water commenced to fall, until her lights were under. Excitement reigned supreme but the best of order was maintained throughout. At noon that day the tide again rose until, when at its height, the vessel floated free. She did not get free, however, without assistance from the tug....

After being brought to into the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean, General Critchfield ordered the Toledo reserves to cruise in ''Essex'' on Lake Erie if they wanted to. On 22 July 1904, while in Montreal, Quebec, ''Essex'' was joined by Captain Edward McNelly, who became her first captain on the Lakes. She was handed over to him by Lieutenant Anthony Nicklett. In 1910 her fore and aft compound engine was replaced with a triple expansion steam engine and her sail rig was reduced to two pole masts. In 1927 ''Essex'' was transferred to the Naval Reserve of the State of Minnesota. In 1928 ''Essex'' engine and her boilers were removed, she also had her deck housed over. After this conversion she was used as a receiving ship for the Minnesota Naval Militia and the U.S. Naval Reserve.

End of service

''Essex'' served the Minnesota Naval Militia for three years after which she was stricken from the Navy list on 27 October 1930. ''Essex'' was sold for scrap on 23 December 1930. The navy sold her for $400 () to A.J. Klatzky who was the president of the Klatzky Iron and Metal Company. At the time she was sold ''Essex'' was the oldest steamer on the Navy's list. On 22 November 1930, the ''Detroit Free Press'' wrote a lament to the old vessel:

On December 17 initial steps to divorce her from the navy will be instituted when she is offered to the highest bidder adjudged capable of treating her kindly in her old age.

The Klatzky Brothers stripped ''Essex'' and sold some of her pieces to former officers and enlisted men throughout the country. On 13 October 1931, ''Essex'' was towed to the lake side of Minnesota Point where she was set on fire with 200 gallons of kerosene, and by the morning of 14 October 1931, ''Essex'' had burned to the waterline. Two heavy steel cables held her so that the wind could not blow her out into Lake Superior. The remains of ''Essex'' were pulled up onto the beach so that her hull could continue to burn; any metals (such as spikes, nails, or drift pins) were also recovered for scrap. The Klatzky Brothers intended to burn away enough of ''Essex'' hull to pull it onto the shoreline.

USS ''Essex'' today

The wreck of ''Essex'' lies on the shoreline of Lake Superior on Minnesota Point about one-third of a mile northwest of the Superior Harbor entrance. of ''Essex'' hull bottom lies partially submerged in of water, with a very small piece of the wreck buried in sand. Her wreck consists of her hull bottom, her keelson, sister keelson, rider keelson, bits of her frame and some hull and ceiling planks. Remains of her engine mount are also present on the site. ''Essex'' is the only known surviving ship built by Donald McKay, though there are rumors that another one of his vessels lies in Australia.

The USS ''Essex'' Shipwreck Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 for its state-level significance in the themes of engineering, historic archaeology, and maritime history.

Gallery

Image: USS Essex at Annapolis.jpg, USS ''Essex'' training midshipmen at Annapolis, ca. 1893-1896
Image:S-A war Essex.jpg, USS ''Essex'' circa 1898
Image:USS Essex (1876) in 1913.jpg, USS ''Essex'' (IX-10) in 1913, showing the changes made to her in 1910.
Image:Brig Niagara 1913 edit.jpg, ''Niagara'' at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, for the Perry Centennial in 1913. USS ''Essex'' on the right.

References

External links

Log of the U.S.S. ''Essex'', 1881-1882, MS 129
held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy
Logbook 1 (October 3, 1876-March 31, 1877)
on Internet Archive; The other 61 surviving logbooks can also be found there.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essex
1874 ships
Duluth–Superior metropolitan area
National Register of Historic Places in St. Louis County, Minnesota
Ships designed by Donald McKay
Shipwrecks of Lake Superior
Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
Steamships of the United States Navy
Shipwrecks of the Minnesota coast