.jpg) USSRattler | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg)  United States | |
| Launched | 1862 |
| Acquired | 11 November 1862 |
| Commissioned | 19 December 1862 |
| Out of service | 30 December 1864 |
| Fate | Sank, 30 December 1864 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 165 tons |
| Length | ~170 feet[1] |
| Propulsion |
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| Armament |
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USSRattler was asteamer acquired by theUnion Navy during theAmerican Civil War.
She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of theConfederate States of America, especially theMississippi River, and to be employed as agunboat when required.
Florence Miller, a wooden stern-wheel steamer built atCincinnati, Ohio, in 1862, was purchased by the Navy there on 11 November 1862; renamedRattler 5 December 1862; and commissioned 19 December 1862 atCairo, Illinois, Acting Master Amos Longthorne, in command. WithRattler in the lead, sounding as she went along, AdmiralDavid Dixon Porter'sMississippi Squadron ascended the White andArkansas Rivers to attack Fort Hindman atArkansas Post on 10 January 1863, in a joint Army-Navy expedition as part of the largercampaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi. While the other gunboats bombarded Fort Hindman,Rattler closed within 50 yards of the Confederate guns in an unsuccessful effort to clear away a barrier ofchevaux-de-frise and was forced by heavy fire to return to station.
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The next dayRattler andUSS Glide dashed past the fort to enfilade the Confederate position; their guns drove the Rebel troops out of rifle pits allowing Federal troops under GeneralWilliam T. Sherman to reach the fort unopposed. The gunboat's cannonade forced the Rebel commander to surrender Fort Hindman and some 6,500 Confederate troops.Rattler next served asflagship of a flotilla of "tinclads" and Army transports carrying 6,000 men of General Sherman's Corps during the Yazoo Pass expedition, an abortive attempt to bypass and isolate Vicksburg by means of bayous. The expedition failed in attacks againstFort Pemberton 11–13 March at the confluence of theYalobusha andTallahatchie Rivers. During the action Rattler lost one man killed, and another was wounded by fire from the riverbanks.
After the success of the campaign against Vicksburg, 4 July 1863, Porter's squadron controlled the entireMississippi River now "unvexed to the sea." From 12 to 20 July,Rattler joined in raids up theRed, Black,Tensas, andOuachita Rivers. During these operations, she teamed withUSS Manitou to capture the Rebel steamerLouisville (laterUSS Ouachita) on theLittle Red River. In the late summer,Rattler patrolled the Mississippi River nearRodney, Mississippi, aboveNatchez, Mississippi, to intercept crossing attempts by Confederate forces, inspect river craft, andconvoy supply boats, helping to seal off the South from supplies and manpower west of the mighty river. On 13 September 1863,Rattler's commanding officer, Acting Master E. H. Fentress, and 16 crewmen were captured by Rebel guerrillas while attending church at Rodney. After this incident, the gunboat patrolled the river near Rodney for over a year.
On 30 December 1864, during a heavy gale nearGrand Gulf, Mississippi,Rattler's anchor cable parted and she was driven ashore, struck a snag, and sank. After her supplies and most of her guns were salvaged she was abandoned. Rebel troops subsequently setRattler afire and destroyed her.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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