USS Catskill (1862)
| The officers of the USS Catskill posing on deck and atop the turret, while the ship was in Charleston harbor, SC, circa 1865. |
The officers of the USS Catskill posing on deck and atop the turret, while the ship was in Charleston harbor, SC, circa 1865. Note the Dahlgren 12-pounder deck howitzers. | | Career | |
|---|
| Laid down: | 1862 |
| Launched: | 16 December 1862 |
| Commissioned: | 24 February 1863 |
| Decommissioned: | 22 September 1898 |
| Fate: | sold, 4 December 1901 |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 1,335 tons |
| Length: | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Beam: | 46 ft (14 m) |
| Draft: | 11 ft 6 in (3.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | Screw Steamer |
| Speed: | 7 knots (13 km/h) |
| Complement: | 87 |
| Armament: | • 1 × 15 in (380 mm), and
• 1 × 11 in (280 mm)
Dahlgren smoothbore guns;
• 2 × 12-pounder Dahlgren deck howitzers (picket duty only) |
| Armor: | • 11 in (28 cm) turret,
• 8 in (20 cm) pilothouse,
• 5 in (13 cm) hull,
• 1 in (3 cm) deck |
USS Catskill, a single-turreted
Passaic-class monitor, was
launched 16 December 1862 by
Continental Iron Works,
Greenpoint, N.Y.; outfitted at
New York Navy Yard;
commissioned 24 February 1863,
Commander George W. Rodgers in command; and reported to the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Catskill reported for duty at
Port Royal, S.C., on
5 March 1863, and for the remainder of the war operated intensively on the blockade off
Charleston, S.C..
Catskill was damaged by
Confederate gunfire during the
7 April 1863 attack on
Fort Sumter that demonstrated both the strengths of well-defended fortifications and the limitations of monitor-type
ironclads. That began the lengthy series of operations against the strongly fortified and stoutly defended harbor. Julyâ€"September 1863
Catskill repeatedly took part in attacks on the batteries and forts protecting Charleston from the sea. She also cruised on picket duty, guarding other ships of the squadron from the determined and ingenious attacks launched against them, and patrolling constantly against
blockade runners.
Catskills commanding officer, Commander Rodgers, was killed in action 17 August 1863, while directing the fire of his ship against Charleston's forts. The ship was hit by Confederate gunfire on several occasions, but skillful work by her crewâ€"under the command of Lieutenant Commander Edward Barrettâ€"returned her to action without returning for repairs.
Catskill
destroyed the grounded blockade runner Prince Albert
off Fort Moultrie on 9 August 1864. When Charleston was evacuated, on 18 February 1865, she boarded and took possession of the grounded blockade runner, Deer
, and later in that day raised the flag over another grounded steamer, Celt
.
Relieved from duty, Catskill
cleared Charleston 13 July 1865, and sailed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned 26 July 1865. Here she remained in ordinary until 1873. During that time she was briefly renamed Goliath
' (
15 Juneâ€"
10 August 1869). Repaired at
New York during
1874 and
1875,
Catskill joined the
North Atlantic Squadron, with whom she cruised along the
northeast coast between
4 March 1876 and
5 November 1877. From
1878 to
1895,
Catskill was in ordinary at various anchorages in
Virginia, and from 1895 to
1898, in ordinary at
Philadelphia's League Island Navy Yard.
Upon the outbreak of the
Spanish-American War,
Catskill was one of the craft recommissioned for patrol duty in
New England waters, thus releasing more modern ships for active fighting. This period of commission lasted from
16 April 1898 to
22 September 1898, after which
Catskill returned to League Island until sold
4 December 1901.
See
USS Catskill for other ships of this name.
This article contains text from the US Naval Historical Center.*
*
history.navy.mil: USS Catskill*
navsource.org: USS Catskill *
hazegray.org: USS Catskill 
