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Photo # NH 46205:  USS Memphis underway during the Civil War.  Artwork by R.G. Skerrett.

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

USS Memphis (1862-1869).
Originally blockade running steamship Memphis (1862).
Was the civilian steamer Mississippi after 1869.

USS Memphis, a 791-ton (burden) iron screw gunboat, was built at Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1862 as the commercial steamship of the same name. She soon found employment running the Union blockade of the Confederacy and, on 22 June 1862, ran aground while attempting to enter Charleston harbor, South Carolina. Efficient work by Southern troops got her partially unloaded on the following day, and she was towed to safety before Federal warships could hit her with shell fire. The blockade runner was captured on 31 July when she encountered USS Magnolia during her outbound voyage. The U.S. Navy purchased her from the New York Prize Court in early September. Commissioned in October 1862, Memphis was sent back to the Charleston area to counter the activities of other blockade runners.

On 14 October 1862, shortly after arriving on station, Memphis captured the British steamer Ouachita. During 1863 she was involved in the capture of three more blockade violators, among them the steamship Havelock on 11 June. She also had two actions with enemy warships. The first took place on 31 January 1863, when the Confederate ironclads Chicora and Palmetto State attacked Union vessels off Charleston. During that battle, Memphis towed the disabled USS Keystone State out of harm's way. In March 1864, while on guard in the North Edisto River, near Charleston, Memphis was the target of the spar torpedo boat David, but escaped serious damage or destruction when the Confederate torpedos misfired.

Memphis continued on blockade service until the Civil War's end and stayed in active service for the next two years. She was decommissioned in May 1867 and sold in May 1869. Reentering commercial trade under the name Mississippi, she operated until 13 May 1883, when she burned at Seattle, Washington.

This page features all the views we have related to USS Memphis (1862-1865).


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 46205

USS Memphis
(1862-1869)

Wash drawing by R.G. Skerrett, 1902, depicting Memphis underway during the Civil War.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 530 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 63881

Steamship Mississippi
(1862-1883)

Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1951, painted for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume I.
Originally the blockade runner Memphis, built in England in 1862, she was USS Memphis in 1862-1869. After sale by the Navy she became the commercial steamer Mississippi and was destroyed by fire in 1883.

Courtesy of Erik Heyl.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 395 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59365

"Our Prize Fleet, consisting of British Vessels captured while trying to run the Blockade."


Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1862 volume.
It depicts (from left to right) the blockade runners Petrel, Memphis, Elizabeth, Ella Warly, Patras, Alliance, Ann, Stettin, Circassian and Tubal Cain.
Three of these vessels, Memphis, Stettin and Circassian later served in the U.S. Navy.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 144KB; 740 x 560 pixels

 


Additional image:

An artwork of USS Memphis (1862-1869) is held by the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia. This depicts the ship from a starboard broadside vantage point, under sail and steam (with all sails deployed) in a wavy sea. The Mariners Museum identification number (dating from at least the 1960s) for this image is QO-940.

For additional information on this item, the availability of reproductions and usage rights, contact the Mariners Museum.


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


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Page made 18 January 2003
Caption corrected 10 December 2003