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

Photo # NH 57823:  USS Harvest Moon underway during the Civil War.  Artwork by R.G. Skerrett

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Harvest Moon (1864-1865).
Originally the Civilian Steamship Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon, a 546-ton (burden) side-wheel steamship, was built at Portland, Maine, in 1862 for commercial use. She was purchased by the Navy in November 1863 and placed in commission as USS Harvest Moon in February 1864. The ship was soon sent to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which operated along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, the squadron's commander, made Harvest Moon his flagship, and she served in that capacity for most of the next year. On 1 March 1865, while underway near Georgetown, S.C., with the Admiral on board, she hit a Confederate mine (or "torpedo" in contemporary terms) and sank with the loss of one of her crew. She was subsequently abandoned where she lay.

This page features the only views we have related to USS Harvest Moon (1864-1865).


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 66973

Harvest Moon
(American Steamship, 1862)

Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1953, for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume III.
This ship served as USS Harvest Moon in 1864-1865.

Courtesy of Erik Heyl.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 51KB; 740 x 370 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 57823

USS Harvest Moon
(1864-1865)

Wash drawing by R.G. Skerrett, 1903, depicting the ship underway during the Civil War.

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

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 435 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59175

"Landing of General Potter's and Admiral Dahlgren's Troops at Bull's Bay, South Carolina"


Line engraving, based on a sketch by John Everding, published in "Harper's Weekly", March 1865, depicting the landings made on 16-17 February 1865.
Ships shown include (as identified below the print, from left to right -- all U.S. Navy): State of Georgia, Pawnee, Juniata, Harvest Moon -- flagship, Wando, Winona, Shenandoah and Canandaigua.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 146KB; 740 x 495 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 53685

USS Harvest Moon
(1864-1865)

SCUBA Divers use rods to probe the area of the ship's wreck, circa 1963. Note the remains of her smokestack nearby.
Harvest Moon was sunk by a mine in Georgetown Bay, South Carolina, on 1 March 1865.

Courtesy of Walter McDonald.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 110KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 


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


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Page made 16 March 2003