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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:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Silver Cloud (1863-1865, "Tinclad" # 28)

USS Silver Cloud, a 236-ton "tinclad" river gunboat, was built in 1862 at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, for commercial use. Described in published sources as a stern-wheel steamer, she was acquired by the Navy in April 1863 and commissioned a month later. Silver Cloud was assigned to patrol the Tennessee river and other rivers in that vicinity, interdicting Confederate transporation, convoying Union steamers, protecting Federal positions and raiding enemy-held locations. In April 1864, she was present when Confederate forces captured Fort Pillow, Tennessee, and when that fort was retaken soon thereafter. In June 1865, following the end of the Civil War, USS Silver Cloud was decommissioned. Sold in August, she was reportedly converted to a side-wheel steamer for civilian employment and was lost in 1866 after striking a snag in Buffalo Bayou, Texas.

This page features our only view of a ship identified as USS Silver Cloud.

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 60330

USS Silver Cloud (1863-1865)


Photographed while tied up along the Western Rivers during the Civil War.
Note: Silver Cloud is generally described as a stern-wheel steamer. However, the ship in this view appears to be a side-wheel type. Therefore, the identification of this photograph should be approached with caution.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 118KB; 740 x 535 pixels

 
 


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


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13 February 2000