USS Lafayette, a 1193-ton ironclad river gunboat and ram, was originally built in 1848 as the side-wheel merchant steamer Aleck Scott. She was used by the Army as a quartermaster ship under the name Fort Henry in 1861-62. Renamed Lafayette in September 1862, she was undergoing conversion to an ironclad in October when her ownership was transferred to the Navy. Her new arrangement was designed by Commodore William D. Porter, and, like other ships prepared to his plans, was less-than-satisfactory -- her armor, which used rubber backing to supposedly enhance its shot resistance, proved inadequate, and the ship was overweight and much too slow for use as a ram. Her appearance, on the other hand, was impressive.
Despite her deficiencies, Lafayette had an active career in the Mississippi Squadron. Commissioned in February 1863, and initially commanded by Captain Henry Walke, on 16 April 1863 she took part in Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's daring run past the Confederate fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Later in the month, Lafayette and other ships of the squadron bombarded Grand Gulf, another step in the campaign that ultimately opened the Mississippi to unobstructed use by the Union. In May, the ironclad and her consorts briefly operated on the Red River, in Louisiana.
Lafayette spent most of the rest of the Civil War in the lower Mississippi River area, including participation in the great Red River expedition in March-May 1864. She was decommissioned in July 1865 and laid up at New Orleans. USS Lafayette was sold in March 1866 and broken up.
This page features all our views of USS Lafayette.
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 2739 USS Lafayette (1863-1866) Dressed with flags for some occasion, in the Mississippi River area during 1863-65. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 565 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 51192 USS Lafayette (1863-1866) Dressed with flags, in the Mississippi River area during 1863-65. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 65KB; 740 x 455 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 51191 USS Lafayette (1863-1866) Dressed with flags for some occasion, in the Mississippi River area during 1863-65. Note that she is flying the United States' ensign from her main and mizzen mastheads. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 535 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 49988 USS Lafayette (1863-1866) On the Western Rivers in 1863-65. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 510 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 69897-KN (Color) "United States Iron Clad Ram 'Lafayette'. Mississippi Squadron." "Lt. Commander Jos. P. Foster com'dg Aug 1864" Colored lithograph after an original artwork by William Jefferson, published circa 1864. It features USS Lafayette (1863-1866). Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 105KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 58716 "The Western Iron-clad Gun-boat Ram 'Choctaw'" Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863. It actually depicts USS Lafayette (1863-1866), not USS Choctaw. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 111KB; 740 x 385 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 76557-KN (Color) "Admiral Porter's Fleet Running the Rebel Blockade of the Mississippi at Vicksburg, April 16th 1863." Colored lithograph published by Currier & Ives, New York, 1863. Ships depicted are (from the front to the rear, all USS except as noted)): Benton (Flagship); Lafayette with General Price alongside; Louisville; Mound City; Pittsburg; Carondelet; transports Silver Wave, Forest Queen & Henry Clay; and Tuscumbia. Text under the print's title is quoted in Photo # NH 76557-KN (Complete Caption). Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Beverley R. Robinson Collection. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 180KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 1852 "Battle of Grand Gulf, First position, R. Ad. D.D. Porter Commanding" Engraving published in Rear Admiral Henry Walke's "Naval Scenes and Reminiscences of the Civil War in the United States ..." (1877), depicting U.S. Navy ironclads engaging Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, 29 April 1863. U.S. ships present, as identified on the print, are (from left-center to right): Benton, Tuscumbia, Pittsburg, Lafayette, Louisville, Saint Louis and Carondelet. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 152KB; 740 x 510 pixels |
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Note: Photo # NH 58714, identified in its original caption as USS Lafayette, actually represents USS Choctaw (1863-1866).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
30 June 2000