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USS Rhode Island (1860)
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{{otherships|USS Rhode Island}} {|{{Infobox Ship Begin}} {{Infobox Ship Image |Ship image= [[Image:USSRhodeIsland1861.jpg|300px|USS Rhode Island (1861)]] |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox Ship Career |Hide header= |Ship country= |Ship flag={{USN flag|1867}} |Ship name=USS ''Rhode Island'' |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= |Ship laid down=1860, as ''John P. King'' |Ship launched= 6 Sep 1860<ref name=bauerroberts_p87>Bauer and Roberts, p. 87.</ref> |Ship acquired=by purchase, 27 June 1861 |Ship commissioned= 29 July 1861 |Ship decommissioned= 21 April 1864 |Ship renamed=''Eagle'', 1861<br />''Rhode Island'', 29 July 1861 }} {{Infobox Ship Career |Hide header=yes |Ship commissioned= 3 October 1864 |Ship decommissioned= 1867 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship renamed=''Charleston'', 8 November 1867 |Ship reclassified= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate= Sold for merchant service, 1 October 1867<br />Abandoned, 1885 |Ship status= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox Ship Characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= [[Steamship|Steamer]] |Ship displacement={{convert|1517|LT|t|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} |Ship length={{convert|236|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|36|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft={{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=[[Steam engine]] |Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|lk=on}} |Ship range= |Ship complement=257 officers and enlisted |Ship armament=''As supply ship'' (1861–1864) :<br/ >• 4 × 32-pounder guns<br/ >''As auxiliary cruiser'' (1864–1867) :<br/ >• 1 × {{convert|11|in|mm|abbr=on}} gun<br/ >• 8 × {{convert|8|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns<br/ >• 1 × 30-pounder [[Parrott rifle]]<br/ >• 1 × 12-pounder rifle |Ship armor= |Ship notes= }} |} The first '''USS ''Rhode Island''''' was a side-wheel steamer in the [[United States Navy]], commissioned in 1861. ''Rhode Island'' was built at [[New York City|New York]], [[New York]], in 1860 by [[Lupton & McDermut]] as ''John P. King''; burned and rebuilt and renamed ''Eagle'' in 1861 before being purchased by the Navy on 27 June 1861 from [[Spofford, Tileston & Company]], at New York; renamed ''Rhode Island''; and commissioned at [[New York Navy Yard]] on 29 July 1861, Comdr. [[Stephen D. Trenchard]] in command. ==Service history== ===Supply ship=== During the [[American Civil War]], ''Rhode Island'' was employed as a supply ship, visiting various ports and ships with mail, paymasters officers stores, medicine, and other supplies. She departed New York on her first cruise on 31 July 1861, returning on 2 September. While cruising off [[Galveston]], [[Texas]], ''Rhode Island'' captured the [[schooner]] ''Venus'' attempting to run the blockade with a cargo of lead, copper, tin, and wood. During the remainder of 1861 and 1862 ''Rhode Island'' continued her essential support duties. Departing [[Philadelphia]] on 5 February 1862, she supplied 98 vessels with various stores before returning to [[Hampton Roads, Virginia]], on 18 March; on another trip from 5 April to 20 May 1862 she supplied 118 vessels. Assigned to support the [[Gulf Blockading Squadron]] from 17 April 1862, ''Rhode Island'' chased and forced ashore the [[United Kingdom|British]] schooner ''Richard O'Bryan'' near [[San Luis Pass]] on 4 July 1862. ===Loss of the USS ''Monitor''=== [[File:USS Monitor - H58758.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Engraving of the ''Monitor'' sinking]] Returning to the north, ''Rhode Island's'' next duties were towing the low-freeboard [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]]s {{USS|Monitor||2}}, {{USS|Passaic|1862|2}}, {{USS|Montauk|1862|2}}, and {{USS|Weehawken|1862|2}} south from Hampton Roads to [[Beaufort, North Carolina|Beaufort]], [[North Carolina]], or [[Port Royal, South Carolina|Port Royal]], [[South Carolina]]. On 29 December 1862 ''Rhode Island'' departed Hampton Roads with the famous ''Monitor'' in tow and the ''Passaic'' in company. As the ships rounded [[Cape Hatteras]] on the evening of 30 December, they encountered a heavy storm. ''Monitor's'' pumps were unable to control flooding caused by underwater leaks so that the order to abandon ship had to be given. Before ''Monitor's'' crew could be completely transferred to ''Rhode Island'', the ironclad sank, taking four officers and 12 enlisted men with her. ''Rhode Island'' endeavored to remain as near as possible to the position in which ''Monitor'' sank so as to fix the location, some 20 miles (32 km) south-southwest of Cape Hatteras and to await daylight to search for a missing small boat. Seven ''Rhode Island'' crewman were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the sinking: Ordinary Seaman [[Luke M. Griswold]], Seaman [[Lewis A. Horton]], Landsman [[John Jones (Medal of Honor)|John Jones]], Captain of the Afterguard [[Hugh Logan]], Seaman [[George Moore (Medal of Honor)|George Moore]], Coxswain [[Charles H. Smith (Medal of Honor)|Charles H. Smith]], and Coxswain [[Maurice Wagg]].<ref name="moh1"/><ref name="moh2"/> ===Enforcing the blockade === On 29 January 1863 ''Rhode Island'' was ordered to the [[West Indies]] to join in the search for the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] steamers [[CSS Florida (cruiser)|''Oreto'']] and [[CSS Alabama|''Alabama'']]. Unable to help locate the Confederate warships, she did succeed in driving the blockade runner ''Margaret and Jessie'' ashore at [[Stirrup Cay]] on 30 May. Continuing her cruising on the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast, ''Rhode Island'' achieved a fourth victory on 16 August when she captured the British blockade runner ''Cronstadt'' north of [[Man of War Bay]], [[Abaco Islands|Abaco]], [[Bahamas]] with a cargo of cotton, turpentine, and tobacco. ===Conversion to cruiser=== With defective boilers requiring repair, ''Rhode Island'' entered [[Boston Navy Yard]] on 28 March 1864 for overhaul and was decommissioned there on 21 April. Extensive alterations were made transforming ''Rhode Island'' into an auxiliary [[cruiser]] mounting one 11-inch gun, eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns, one 30-pounder (14 kg) [[Parrott rifle]], and one 12-pounder (5 kg) rifle. Ordered to tow the monitor {{USS|Monadnock|1864|2}} from Boston to New York on 26 September 1864, ''Rhode Island'' recommissioned on 3 October 1864 and joined the [[North Atlantic Blockading Squadron]] soon afterward. Employed in cruising along Confederate-controlled coasts ''Rhode Island's'' duty was highlighted by the capture of the British blockade runner ''Vixen'' on 1 December 1864. Sailing from Hampton Roads on 11 December with the monitor {{USS|Canonicus|1863|2}} in tow, ''Rhode Island'' joined the squadron attacking [[Fort Fisher]], taking part in the first assault on 24 December and the second, successful attempt of 13-15 January 1865. Signal Quartermaster [[Charles H. Foy]] was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher]].<ref name="moh1"/> Ordered to tow the monitor {{USS|Saugus|1863|2}} from [[Federal Point]], North Carolina, to [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], Virginia, on 16 January 1865, ''Rhode Island'' subsequently cruised in company with the seagoing monitor {{USS|Dictator|1863|2}} in March. In May ''Rhode Island'' made a cruise to [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]], returning to Hampton Roads on 22 May. Maintained in commission in the years immediately following the end of the Civil War, ''Rhode Island's'' first duty was to help bring the formidable former Confederate armored ram [[Japanese ironclad Kōtetsu|''Stonewall'']] to the [[United States]]. Departing on 21 October for [[Havana]] in company with {{USS|Hornet|1865|2}}, ''Rhode Island'' returned with the French-built ''Stonewall'' on 23 November. ===After the Civil War=== Throughout 1866, ''Rhode Island'' continued to cruise in the Atlantic and West Indies, from April 1866 [[flagship|flying the flag]] of [[Rear Admiral]] [[James S. Palmer]]. On January 15, 1866, Seaman [[William B. Stacy]] was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing a drowning crewmate while the ship was in the harbor of [[Cap-Haïtien]], [[Haiti]].<ref name="moh3"/> Calling once at [[City of Halifax|Halifax]] in 1867 before being decommissioned, ''Rhode Island'' was sold to [[G. W. Quintard]] on 1 October 1867. Redocumented as ''Charleston'' on 8 November 1867, the side-wheeler remained in merchant service until abandoned in 1885. ==Footnotes== {{reflist|refs= <ref name="moh1">{{Cite web | url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html | title = Medal of Honor Recipients - Civil War (A-L) | work = Medal of Honor Citations | publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] | date = August 6, 2009 | accessdate = July 10, 2010 }}</ref> <ref name="moh2">{{Cite web | url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwarmz.html | title = Medal of Honor Recipients - Civil War (M-Z) | work = Medal of Honor Citations | publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] | date = August 3, 2009 | accessdate = July 10, 2010 }}</ref> <ref name="moh3">{{Cite web | url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/interawrds.html | title = Medal of Honor Recipients - Interim Awards, 1866-1870 | work = Medal of Honor Citations | publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] | date = August 3, 2009 | accessdate = July 10, 2010 }}</ref> }} ==References== *Bauer, Karl Jack and Roberts, Stephen S. (1991): ''Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants'', Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 9780313262029. {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r5/rhode_island-i.htm}} ==External links== *[http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-r/rhode-i.htm Photos of USS ''Rhode Island''] {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhode Island}} [[Category:Ships of the Union Navy]] [[Category:Ships built in New York]] [[Category:United States Navy steamships]] [[Category:Gunboats of the United States Navy]] [[Category:American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States]] [[Category:American Civil War auxiliary ships of the United States]] [[Category:United States ships involved in the siege of Fort Fisher N.C.]] [[Category:Rhode Island in the American Civil War]] [[Category:United States Navy Rhode Island-related ships]] [[Category:1860 ships]] [[Category:Unique stores ships of the United States Navy]]
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