USS Weehawken
Civil War Union Naval Ship

USS Weehawken (1863-1863)

USS Weehawken , a 1335-ton Passaic class monitor built at Jersey City, New Jersey, was commissioned in mid-January 1863. A few days later, while en route to Port Royal, South Carolina, she encountered a heavy winter storm and proved that ships of her type could successfully handle such weather. In early February, Weehawken joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron to participate in combat operations along the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to Florida.

On 7 April 1863, Weehawken led a strong force of new ironclads in a close attack on Fort Sumter, guardian of the entrance to Charleston harbor, S.C. This attack, which demonstrated some of the limitations of monitor-type armored warships, ended after several of the attacking ships were damaged. Weehawken was struck by over fifty enemy cannon projectiles and shaken by the explosion of a nearby mine. After receiving repairs, she was sent to Georgia waters, where, on 17 June 1863, she encountered and quickly captured the Confederate ironclad Atlanta .

After this victory, which made her the object of great fame, Weehawken returned to the Charleston area, where she spent the summer of 1863 participating in regular bombardments of Confederate positions ashore. These greatly assisted in the capture of Fort Wagner on Morris Island and reduced Fort Sumter to rubble, though that position remained as strong or stronger than ever. During one of these attacks, on 7 September 1863, Weehawken grounded and was exposed to heavy fire from the forts. With the assistance of other monitors, she was successfully refloated on the following day.

The repaired Weehawken was back on the Charleston blockade in early October. While moored off Morris Island in rising seas on 6 December 1863, she began to taken on water forward. Due to faulty trim and debris in her bilges, the influx overwhelmed her pumps and the ship sank rapidly. Over thirty of Weehawken 's officers and men were lost with her.

Attack on Fort Sumter, 7 April 1863
Line engraving, after a sketch by W.T. Crane, published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War"
USS Weehawken firing on Fort Sumter during the attack.

Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", January-June 1863
USS Weehawken pushing the mine-clearing raft designed by John Ericsson for use in Charleston harbor, South Carolina.

19th Century engraving depicting Weehawken in a harbor.

19th Century photograph of an artwork, depicting Weehawken in stormy seas.

Line engraving published in "The Soldier in our Civil War", Volume II, page 172, with a key to individual ships and land features shown.
U.S. Navy ships present are (from left to center): Keokuk , Nahant , Nantucket , Catskill , New Ironsides , Patapsco , Montauk , Passaic and Weehawken




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DVD DVD Book Book

Quest for the Monitor
The first group of non-governmental divers to dive the Monitor. All diving operations were conducted under the close supervision of NOAA.This was beautifully photographed by veteran lensman Ric O'Donnell and narrated and written by Jackie Stone. The video shows a lot of action both on the deck of the dive boat as well as wonderfully clear underwater views of the Monitor
Raise the Alabama
Known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France, where the Alabama had gone for repairs.RAISE THE ALABAMA! descends into the murky depths of the English Channel with the marine archeology team led by the renowned Gordon Watts. 200 feet beneath these foreign waters, the legendary Confederate ship is surrendering her secrets, despite weather conditions that make it safe to dive only a few days a year. The program also documents the Alabama's extraordinary career, from her construction in Liverpool to the surprise attacks that made her the scourge of Union shipping and the valiant, 90-minute battle with the Kearsarge
War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor
David Mindell has combined a sensitive and incisive reading of the documentary evidence with insightful historical analysis to illuminate not only his central theme, the experience of battle in an emerging machine age, but also the process of invention, negotiation, and politics that brought the Monitor into existence and the quite different process of narration, memory, and imagination that invested the ship and its exploits so heavily with symbolic meaning.
Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy
Ringle is among the first to examine the many aspects of sailors' lives during the American Civil War. He examines topics such as the recruiting efforts of the U.S. Navy, compensation and promotion, training, entertainment, and disease to name but a few. The extensive research and sheer fact that this is one of the first books to examine this aspect of CW naval history makes it a must for any American naval library



American Military Gear Recruiter and History
United States Marines gear history and support of Semper Fi Fund

 

The Complete DVD History of U.S. Wars (1700-2004)
War has always been part of the American experience. From the time the first colonists set foot upon North America's shores, they were in conflict with the Native inhabitants. One hundred years later the colonies suddenly found themselves an extension of the conflicts in Europe. Less than a century later, the Revolutionary War freed the fledgling United States from its British overlords and European entanglements. Born and nurtured in war, America grew in strength and power until at the beginning of the 21st century it was the foremost military power in the world.

 

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
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US Naval Archives