USS Wyandotte, a 464-ton screw gunboat, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1853 as the commercial steamship Western Port. In 1858 she was chartered by the Navy for use during a punitive expedition to Paraguay, serving as USS Western Port from October 1858 until May 1858. She was then purchased by the Navy, renamed Wyandotte and placed in commission in September 1859. While operating in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, she captured the slaver William off Cuba in May 1860. During the latter part of that year and the first four months of 1861, Wyandotte was active off Florida, protecting U.S. Government facilities during the secession crisis.
When the crisis exploded into war in April 1861 Wyandotte remained active in the Gulf until she went north for repairs in August. From December 1861 until July 1862 she enforced the blockade of the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and eastern Florida. Her next assignment, beginning in September 1862, was to the Potomac Flotilla, which operated in the Chesapeake Bay region. Structural weakness caused Wyandotte to be confined to guardship duty at Norfolk, Virginia, from October 1863 until the end of the Civil War. Decommissioned in June 1865, she was sold at auction in July and two months later entered merchant service as S.S. Wyandotte. However, her commercial career was cut short when she was wrecked off Duxbury, Massachusetts, on 26 January 1866.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Wyandotte and the S.S. Western Port.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 67075 Western Port (American Merchant Steamship, 1853-1866) Artwork by Erik Heyl, 1955, made for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume III. This steamer was chartered by the Navy in 1858 for the Paraguay expection. Purchased in 1859, she served as USS Wyandotte from then until sold in 1865. Subsequently the civilian steam ship Wyandotte, she was wrecked on 26 January 1866. Courtesy of Erik Heyl. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 410 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 59580 USS Wyandotte (1859-1865) Firing a salute on George Washington's birthday, 22 February 1861, while in Pensacola Harbor, Florida. The U.S. Naval hospital is in the right distance. Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 129KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 59580-KN (color) "The United States Gun-boat 'Wyandotte' firing a Salute on Washington's Birthday in Pensacola Harbor -- (Drawn by an Officer of Lieut. Slemmer's Command)" Hand-colored print of a line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861. Features identified in text immediately below the image are (left to right): Fort Barrancas, Barrancas Barracks, Unites States Gun-boat "Wyandotte", and Unites States Marine Hospital. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 360 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 59121 "The United States Fleet off Fort Pickens, Florida" Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861, depicting U.S. Navy ships off Pensacola, Florida, in April 1861. Federal troops were landed at Fort Pickens on 12 April. Ships identified in the title line are (left to right): USS Wyandotte (partially visible); USS Supply (in the distance); USS Sabine; USS Brooklyn and USS Crusader (partially visible). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 137KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 73743 The United States Fleet off the harbor of Pensacola, Florida Right half of a line engraving published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", 1861, depicting the scene off Pensacola in mid-April 1861. Features identified in text immediately below the image are (left to right): USS Sabine, USS St. Louis, USS Supply, USS Wyandotte (incorrectly depicted as a side-wheel steamer), Pensacola Navy Yard, and the chartered steamship Atlantic. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 161KB; 740 x 535 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 59114 "Relief of Fort Pickens, Santa Rosa Island, Fla., by the United States Fleet, April 17th 1861" Line engraving published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War", Volume I, depicting the scene off Pensacola as USS Powhatan landed Federal troops to reinforce Fort Pickens on 17 April 1861. Features identified in text immediately below the image are (left to right): USS Powhatan, USS Wyandotte, Fort McRae, Entrance to Harbor, Fort Pickens, Encampment of Confederates, Lighthouse, Steamer Illinois and Navy Foundry. This engraving was originally published in 1861 in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", with text giving an incorrect date in March 1861. See Photo # NH 73732. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 143KB; 1200 x 375 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 73732 "Relief of Fort Pickens, by the United States Fleet. March 2... (rest of date lost in gutter) -- Sketched from the Wheel-house of the Atlantic by an Officer of the Expedition" Line engraving published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", 1861, depicting the scene off Pensacola as USS Powhatan landed Federal troops to reinforce Fort Pickens. The actual date of this event was 17 April 1861. Features identified in text immediately below the image are (left to right): USS Powhatan, USS Wyandotte, Fort McRae, Entrance to Harbor, Fort Pickens, Encampment of Confederates, Lighthouse, Steamer Illinois and Navy Foundry. See Photo # NH 59114 for a nearly identical version of this print. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 183KB; 1200 x 370 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 8 September 2004