Return to Naval Historical Center home page. Return to Online Library listing

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 63072:  Lieutenant Commander James S. Thornton, circa 1864

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --

Captain James S. Thornton, USN (1826-1875)

James Shepard Thornton was born in Merrimack, New Hampshire on 25 February 1826 and entered the Navy as a Midshipman in January 1841. Following duty in the frigate Columbia in the Home and Mediterranean Squadrons, he was assigned to the sloops of war John Adams and Falmouth, in which he served during the Mexican War. Beginning in late 1846 Thornton attended the U.S. Naval School at Annapolis, Maryland, and was promoted to the rank of Passed Midshipman in August 1847. He next served in the store ship Relief and in December 1848 was sent to Pacific coast for duty in the Coast Survey vessel Ewing. Thornton resigned from the service in May 1850, spent the next four years surveying gold fields in California and Utah, rejoined the Navy in February 1854 and again served in the Relief. Promoted to Acting Master in May 1855, he left the service later in that year but returned in January 1858 with the rank of Lieutenant and was once more assigned to the Relief.

When Lieutenant Thornton's tour on USS Relief ended in mid-1860 he served on the Receiving Ship at Boston until the beginning of the Civil War. From May to November 1861 he was an officer of the brig Bainbridge, operating on blockade duty in the Gulf of Mexico. Late in that year he became Executive Officer of the steam sloop Hartford, performing with distinction in her during the Mississippi River campaigns of 1862. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander in July, he commanded the gunboat Winona in the Gulf area during August and September 1862. In April 1863 he became Executive Officer of the steam sloop Kearsarge, cruising in European waters, and in her participated in the successful 19 June 1864 action against the Confederate cruiser Alabama. Thornton finished the Civil War as Commanding Officer of the gunboat Iosco, operating in the North Carolina Sounds.

From October 1865 Thornton had shore duty at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, and was promoted to the rank of Commander in mid-1866. He returned to USS Kearsarge as her Commanding Officer in July 1868, serving in her in the Pacific until November 1870, after which he was again assigned to the Portsmouth Navy Yard. In May 1872 Thornton achieved the rank of Captain and in August 1873 was ordered to command the steam sloop Monongahela on the South Atlantic Station. On 14 January 1875, Captain Thornton's spine was gravely injured when his ship made a sudden lurch, throwing him against cabin furniture. Left an invalid, he was ordered home in February and died of his injuries at Germantown, Pennsylvania, on 14 May 1875.

The Navy has named two ships in honor of Captain James S. Thornton, including: USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33) of 1902-1920; and USS Thornton (Destroyer # 270, later DD-270 and AVD-11) of 1919-1945.

This page features all the views we have concerning James S. Thornton.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 63072

Lieutenant Commander James S. Thornton, USN


Portrait photograph taken by Rondin, Place d'Armes, Cherbourg, France, circa 1864. Thornton was then Executive officer of USS Kearsarge.
The original print is mounted on a Carte de Visite.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 73KB; 475 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 51114

USS Kearsarge (1862-1894)


Montage of portraits of the ship's officers, circa 1864. They are identified on Photo # NH 51114 (complete caption).

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 171KB; 740 x 625 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 61669

USS Kearsarge (1862-1894)


Ship's officers pose on deck, at Cherbourg, France, soon after her 19 June 1864 victory over CSS Alabama.
Her Commanding Officer, Captain John A. Winslow, is 3rd from left, wearing a uniform of the 1862 pattern. Other officers are generally dressed in uniforms of 1863-64 types.
View looks aft on the port side. At left is Kearsarge's after XI-inch Dahlgren pivot gun, with its training tracks on the deck alongside.
Those present are identified in Photo # NH 61669 (complete caption).

The original glass negative is held by the Library of Congress.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 140KB; 740 x 590 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 51113

USS Kearsarge (1862-1894)


Ship's officers, photographed circa 1864. They are identified on Photo # NH 51113 (complete caption).

Donation of Mrs. J.E. Palmer, from the Collection of Surgeon General John Mills Browne.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 126KB; 740 x 470 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 92921

USS Kearsarge (1862-1894)


Ship's officers pose by her forward XI-inch Dahlgren pivot gun, which is trained to starboard. Taken at Sydney, Australia, circa mid 1869. View looks aft from the forecastle.
Identified officers include:
Lieutenant Commander Charles V. Gridley (front, far left);
Surgeon C.H. Burbank (front, just left of gun muzzle, with full beard); and
Commander James S. Thornton, Commanding Officer (front, center, with gun trunnion behind him).
Note telescoping smokestack, boiler room cowls turned to port, spare spars stowed along the port side bulwark, and dog on deck in front of the officers.

Courtesy of Tom Halpin, 1981.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 141KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

Page made 6 September 2006