USS Weehawken (1862)
| | Career | |
|---|
| Laid down: | 1862 |
| Launched: | 5 November 1862 |
| Commissioned: | 18 January 1863 |
| Fate: | Sunk at anchor, 6 December 1863 |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 1,173 tons |
| Length: | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Beam: | 46 ft (14 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Speed: | 5 knots (9 km/h) |
| Complement: | 75 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | • 1 × 15 in (380 mm), and
• 1 × 11 in (280 mm)
Dahlgren smoothbore cannon |
The first
USS Weehawken was a single-turreted
monitor in the
United States Navy during the
American Civil War.
Weehawken was
launched on
5 November 1862 at
Jersey City, New Jersey, by
Zeno Secor & Company; sponsored by Miss Nellie Cornstock; and
commissioned on
18 January 1863, Captain
John Rodgers in command.
The
Passaic-class Weehawken was an improved and enlarged version of
Monitor. Accompanied by
Iroquois and towed by
Boardman, she departed
New York on
18 January 1863, bound for
Port Royal, South Carolina, and duty with the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The three vessels encountered gale force winds and high seas off the
New Jersey coast on
20 January.
Iroquois and
Boardman headed for sheltered waters; but Rodgers pressed on in
Weehawken. The
Passaic ironclads differed from the original
Monitor in having less deck overhang and a rounded lower hull. This enabled
Weehawken, unlike her famous prototype, to ride out a heavy sea with relative ease. Rodgers reported that "the behavior of the vessel was easy, buoyant, and indicative of thorough safety."
Weehawken put into
Norfolk for minor repairs, leaving on
1 February 1863 in tow of screw steamer
Lodona. She arrived at Port Royal on
5 February 1863, and deployed in the blockade off
Charleston, South Carolina.
On
7 April 1863,
Weehawken led the Union fleet in the first major naval assault against
Confederate installations in Charleston harbor. The attack failed miserably, and the fleet withdrew after only 40 minutes. During the action,
Weehawken took 53 hits and had a torpedo (
naval mine) explode beneath her keel without suffering serious damage. Shortly after the attack, Rear Admiral
John A. Dahlgren replaced Rear Admiral
Samuel F. DuPont as commander of the squadron.
After repairs,
Weehawken proceeded to
Wassaw Sound, Georgia, on
10 June 1863 to block the expected sortie of ironclad
CSS Atlanta. The Confederate ram and two escort steamers showed themselves early on the morning of
17 June 1863.
Weehawken and
Nahant weighed anchor to meet
Atlanta which ran hard aground only moments after entering the sound.
Weehawken commenced firing at 05:15 and ceased a quarter of an hour later when the Confederate vessel surrendered. With only five shots, Rodgers blew the roof off
Atlanta's pilothouse and pierced the grounded ram's casemate, putting two gun crews out of action. Capt. Rodgers became a national hero and received commendations from
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, President
Abraham Lincoln, and
Congress. He was promoted to commodore and ordered north to command the new ironclad
Dictator. Both
Weehawken and
Atlanta returned to Port Royal.
Weehawken resumed operations against Confederate strongholds in and around Charleston harbor. On 10 and
11 July 1863, Union ironclads
Catskill,
Montauk,
Nahant, and
Weehawken shelled Confederate batteries at
Fort Wagner on
Morris Island, South Carolina, to cover an
Army amphibious landing under Brigadier General
Quincy A. Gillmore. Despite additional bombardments on 18 and
24 July, the monitors failed to silence the fort, leaving General Gillmore's troops pinned down on the beach caught between a murderous hail of cross fire. Fort Wagner was finally reduced during a naval bombardment of
Forts Gregg,
Sumter, and
Moultrie on
17 August 1863.
Weehawken,
Montauk,
Nahant,
Passaic, and
Patapsco now took aim at Fort Sumter, pounding it to rubble during two separate bombardments on
23 August and 1 and
2 September 1863. Admiral Dahlgren demanded Sumter's surrender on
7 September and ordered
Weehawken to deploy in a narrow channel between the fort and
Cumming's Point on Morris Island. There,
Weehawken grounded, taking concentrated gunfire from Fort Moultrie and
Sullivan's and
James Island. The vessel was refloated with the help of tugs on
8 September, and received a "Well done!" from Admiral Dahlgren for outstanding defensive gunnery while aground.
Weehawken repaired at Port Royal until
4 October 1863, then returned to Charleston for routine patrol duty in the harbor.
The next two months were uneventful, and
Weehawken lay anchored off Morris Island during a moderate gale early on the morning of
6 December 1863. Suddenly, the ironclad signalled for assistance and appeared to observers ashore to be sinking. Attempts to beach the vessel failed, and she sank bow first five minutes later in 30 feet of water. A court of inquiry found that
Weehawken had recently taken on a considerable amount of heavy ammunition in her forward compartments. This change excessively reduced her forward freeboard, causing water to rush down an open hawse pipe and hatch during the storm. As the bow sank, and the stern rose, water could not flow aft to the pumps and the vessel foundered.
Four officers and 27 enlisted men drowned aboard
Weehawken.
See
USS Weehawken for other ships of this name.
*
history.navy.mil: USS Nahant*
navsource.org: USS Nahant *
hazegray.org: USS Nahant 
