USS Lackawanna (1862)
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The first USS ''Lackawanna'' was a screw-propelled sloop-of-war in the
Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were un ...
during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. She was named after the
Lackawanna River The Lackawanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of th ...
in
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.


Construction and commissioning

''Lackawanna'' was launched by the New York Navy Yard at
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, New York, on 9 August 1862, sponsored by Ms. Imogen Page Cooper, and was commissioned on 8 January 1863, Captain John B. Marchand in command.


Civil War

The new screw sloop-of-war departed New York on 20 January 1863 to join the
Union blockade The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlanti ...
of the
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
coast. She reported to the
West Gulf Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atla ...
at
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,
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, early in February 1863 and for the remainder of the war served along the
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of the Confederacy, principally off
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,
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. ''Lackawanna'' took her first
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– ''Neptune'' – on 14 June 1863 after a long chase in which the
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-registered ship had jettisoned her cargo trying to escape. ''Lacakwanna'' scored again the next day, capturing the steamer ''Planter'' as the blockade runner attempted a dash from
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, Alabama, to
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,
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, laden with
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and
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. Following duty along the
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coast near
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in March and April 1864, ''Lackawanna'' returned to the blockade of Mobile early in May 1864 to prevent the escape of the Confederate
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CSS ''Tennessee''. During the summer of 1864 she served in the blockade while preparing for Rear Admiral
David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. F ...
's conquest of Mobile Bay. On 9 July 1864, with , , and , she braved the guns of
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to shell the steamer ''Virgin'', a large blockade runner aground at the entrance of Mobile Bay. Their guns forced a Confederate river steamer to abandon efforts to assist ''Virgin'', but the next day the Confederates refloated the blockade runner, which reached safety in Mobile Bay. Closing Mobile was an important part of the Union strategy to isolate and subdue the Confederacy. At dawn on the morning of 5 August 1864, Farragut's ships crossed the bar and entered the Mobile Bay. A field of
naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s and a Confederate
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led by CSS ''Tennessee'' blocked their advance. Farragut's lead
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, , struck a mine and sank in seconds. The Confederate flagship, ''Tennessee'', vainly tried to
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, and the action became general, raging for more than an hour. At one point in the struggle, ''Lackawanna'' rammed ''Tennessee'' at full speed, causing ''Tennessee'' to list, and later ''Lackawanna'' collided with Farragut's flagship while attempting to ram ''Tennessee'' again, shortly before ''Tennessee'' struck her colors. Farragut's success in the
Battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...
closed the last major Confederate port on the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
. Twelve of ''Lackawanna's'' sailors received the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...
for their actions during the battle: * Seaman John M. Burns * Landsman Michael Cassidy * Landsman Louis G. Chaput * Landsman Patrick Dougherty *
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* Landsman Samuel W. Kinnaird * Seaman Adam McCullock * Boatswain's Mate William Phinney * Captain of Forecastle John Smith *
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George Taylor * Quarter Gunner James Ward *
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Daniel Whitfield Following the victory at Mobile Bay, ''Lackawanna'' continued to operate in the Gulf of Mexico, enforcing the blockade until after the end of the Civil War in April 1865. She departed Key West, Florida, on 24 June 1865, reached New York City on the 28 June 1865, and decommissioned at New York Navy Yard on 20 July 1865.


Post-war


Pacific, 1866–1885

Recommissioned on 7 May 1866, Commander William Reynolds in command, ''Lackawanna'' sailed for the South
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
on 4 August 1866, transited the Strait of Magellan on 9 November, and arrived at
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in the Kingdom of Hawaii on 9 February 1867. ''Lackawanna'' hen sailed to Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and on 28 August 1867 Captain Reynolds took formal possession of the
atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
for the United States. In 1867, she also
surveyed Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Two-dimensional space#In geometry, two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of ...
what is now called
Kure Atoll Kure Atoll (; haw, Hōlanikū, translation=bringing forth heaven; haw, Mokupāpapa, translation=flat island, label=none) or Ocean Island is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean west-northwest of Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands ...
, to the west northwest of Midway, to produce more accurate charts of the
reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...
s there, which had been causing shipwrecks.https://georgehbalazs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2001-KURE-ATOLL-DARK-SIDE-OF-THE-SUN.pdf ''Lackawanna'' continued to operate in the
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, primarily in the Hawaiian Islands and along the coasts of
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and
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, until she arrived at
Mare Island Navy Yard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates t ...
in California, for decommissioning on 10 February 1871. Recommissioning on 8 May 1872, ''Lackawanna'' departed for
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on 22 June 1872 and served in the
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until returning to the United States, arriving at
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, California, on 23 April 1875. In October 1880, in the midst of the
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, ''Lackawanna'' sailed for the South Pacific to host a diplomatic conference proposed by the United States to end the war. The conference took place at the port of
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, which then was
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but was ceded to
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after the war. Officials from the countries involved in the war – Peru, Chile, and Bolivia – did not reach an immediate agreement and U.S. efforts failed.B.W. Farcau, ''The Ten Cents War'' Except for two brief periods
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, ''Lackawanna'' continued to operate in the Pacific for the next 12 years. On 16 March 1883 at Honolulu,
Captain of the Hold A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be superi ...
Louis Williams jumped overboard and rescued a fellow sailor from drowning, for which he was awarded the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...
. A year later, at Callao, Peru, on 13 June 1884, Williams again rescued a man from drowning, along with Ordinary Seaman Isaac L. Fasseur. Both Williams and Fasseur were awarded a Medal of Honor for this act, making Williams one of the few two-time recipients of the award. ''Lackawanna'' decommissioned for the last time at Mare Island Navy Yard on 7 April 1885 and was sold there to W. T. Garratt & Company on 30 July 1887.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lackawanna Sloops of the United States Navy Ships built in Brooklyn Ships of the War of the Pacific Ships of the Union Navy 1862 ships