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

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- SHIPS of the UNITED STATES ARMY --

U.S. Ram Queen of the West (1862-1863)

Queen of the West, a 406-ton side-wheel towboat built at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1854, was converted to a ram in 1862 for Colonel Charles Ellet's U.S. Ram Fleet. As Ellet's flagship, she played a prominent role in the 6 June 1862 Battle of Memphis, which largely cleared the Mississippi of Confederate naval forces. On 15 and 22 June, Queen of the West twice engaged the ironclad CSS Arkansas.

During the rest of 1862 and into 1863, she was involved in operations around Vicksburg, Mississippi, including an expedition up the Yazoo river in November and December. On 2 February 1863, under the command of Colonel Charles Rivers Ellet, Queen of the West attacked the Confederate steamer City of Vicksburg under the guns of the Vicksburg fortress. Though damaged, she then moved down the river. For nearly two weeks, she operated independently on the Mississippi and its tributaries, where she captured four Confederate steamers. On 14 February, while seeking another prize on the Black River, Queen of the West ran aground near an enemy shore battery and was captured. Repaired, she became the Confederate warship Queen of the West.

This page features our only views of the U.S. Ram Queen of the West.

For additional views of this ship, taken following her capture by the Confederates, see: CSS Queen of the West.


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 61917-KN (Color)

U.S. Ram Queen of the West (1862-1863)

Watercolor, initialled "T.C.R.", of the ship operating on the Western Rivers during the Civil War.

Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 435 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 61918-KN (Color)

U.S. Ram Queen of the West (1862-1863)

Watercolor sketch, annotated with descriptions of the ship's iron and baled cotton protection.

Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 335 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59007

"Colonel Ellet's Ram Fleet on the Mississippi"


Line engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862.
Ships in the foreground are: Monarch (letter "M" between stacks), Queen of the West (with letter "Q") and Lioness(letter "L"). In the left background are: Switzerland (with letter "S" on paddlebox), Samson and Lancaster.
Note cotton bales stacked on deck to protect boilers.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 123KB; 740 x 360 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42367

"The Total Annihilation of the Rebel Fleet by the Federal Fleet under Commodore Davis."

"On the Morning of June 6th 1862, off Memphis, Ten."

Lithograph by Middleton, Strobridge & Co.
In the foreground, the print depicts the Confederate ships (from left to right): General M. Jeff Thompson (shown sinking); Little Rebel (shown burning); General Sterling Price; General Beauregard (shown being rammed by the Ellet Ram Monarch); General Bragg (shown aground) and Colonel Lovell (shown sinking).
In the background are the Federal warships (from left to right): Queen of the West; Cairo; Carondelet; Louisville; Saint Louis; a tug; and Benton.
The city of Memphis is in the right distance, with a wharf boat by the shore.

Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 570 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 58891

"The Great Naval Battle before Memphis, June 6, 1862"


Engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", depicting the action between the Confederate River Defense Fleet and Federal warships off Memphis, Tennessee.
In the center foreground the CSS General Beauregard is being rammed by the Federal ram Monarch. At left are the disabled Federal ram Queen of the West and the Confederate ships General Sterling Price and Little Rebel. Other Federal ships are in the center and left distance, with other Confederate ships in the center and right middle distance.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 310 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59106

"The Federal Ram 'Queen of the West' attacking the Rebel Gun-boat 'Vicksburg' off Vicksburg"


Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting the 2 February 1863 attack by U.S. Ram Queen of the West on the Confederate steamer City of Vicksburg off Vicksburg, Mississippi.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 194KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42370

"The Queen of the West and the Vicksburg"


Engraving from Harper's "History of the Great Rebellion, 1860-65", page 449, depicting the U.S. Ram Queen of the West attacking the Confederate steamer City of Vicksburg off Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 2 February 1863.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 156KB; 740 x 460 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 58760

"The Loss of the 'Queen of the West'"


Line engraving after a sketch by Mr. McCullagh, published in "Harper's Weekly", 21 March 1863, depicting the capture of the U.S. Ram Queen of the West while she was operating on the Red River, Louisiana, 14 February 1863.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 193KB; 740 x 620 pixels

 

For additional views of this ship, taken following her capture by the Confederates, see: CSS Queen of the West.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

21 March 2000