 USSSciota (2nd ship from left) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg)  United States | |
| Name | USSSciota |
| Builder | Jacob Birely (Philadelphia) |
| Cost | $96,000 |
| Launched | 15 Oct 1861 |
| Commissioned | 15 Dec 1861 |
| Fate | Struck mine and sank, 14 Apr 1865; salvaged; sold 25 Oct 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Unadilla-classgunboat |
| Displacement | 691 tons |
| Tons burthen | 507 |
| Length | 158 ft (48 m) (waterline) |
| Beam | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Draft | 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) (max.) |
| Depth of hold | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × 200IHP 30-inbore by 18 instroke horizontalback-acting engines; single screw |
| Sail plan | Two-mastedschooner |
| Speed | 10 kn (11.5 mph) |
| Complement | 114 |
| Armament |
|
USSSciota was aUnadilla-classgunboat built on behalf of theUnited States Navy for service during theCivil War. She was outfitted as agunboat, with both a 20-pounder rifle for horizontal firing, and twohowitzers for shore bombardment, and assigned to theUnion blockade of the waterways of theConfederate States of America.
The firstU.S. Navy ship to be so named,USSSciota was one of the "ninety-day gunboats" rushed through construction at the beginning of the Civil War,Sciota was laid down in the summer of 1861 atPhiladelphia by Jacob Birley and J. P. Morris and Company; launched on 15 October 1861; and commissioned at thePhiladelphia Navy Yard on 15 December 1861.
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The new screw gunboat was assigned to theGulf Blockading Squadron and arrived atShip Island, Mississippi, on the afternoon of 8 January 1862. On 6 February, she capturedblockade runner,Margaret, offIsle of Breton, Louisiana, as thesloop was attempting to escape to sea laden withcotton.
WhenSecretary of the NavyGideon Welles divided naval jurisdiction in theGulf of Mexico between Flag OfficerWilliam McKean and Flag OfficerDavid Farragut,Sciota was assigned to Farragut'sWest Gulf Blockading Squadron which had been created to wrestNew Orleans from Southern hands.
During the first weeks in April,Sciota, supported Farragut's efforts to get his deep draft ships across the bar off Pass a L'Outre and into theMississippi River. During this period, she also steamed up the river gathering information about Southern defenses.
On the 18th, the ships of Farragut's fleet took position close toFort St. Philip andFort Jackson.Sciota bombarded these forts, and she continued to duel with theConfederate guns intermittently for the next six days.
In the early morning darkness of the 24th,Sciota got underway with the fleet and dashed up river past the forts. AfterNew Orleans, surrendered,Sciota operated up the river with Farragut. She attacked and passed the Confederate forts atVicksburg, Mississippi on 28 June when Farragut raced by that riverside stronghold to join Flag OfficerCharles H. Davis' Western flotilla.
Since theArmy was unable to provide the troops necessary for joint operations against Vicksburg, Farragut decided to return down river to turn his attention to the blockade in the western gulf.Sciota again ran the gauntlet past the Southern batteries.
The gunboat continued operations on the Mississippi below Vicksburg for much of the remainder of the year. She engaged Southern batteries atDonaldsonville, Louisiana, on 4 October. During this action at least one officer, LT Charles Swasey, was killed.[1] He was the gunboat's executive officer.
On 3 January 1863, Farragut ordered gunboats,Sciota,Cayuga, andHatteras toGalveston, Texas which had just been captured by the South in a surprise attack shortly after midnight onNew Year's Day. On the 10th, Commodore Bell, inBrooklyn led an attack bySciota,Owasco, andKatahdin on the Confederate batteries at Galveston. They learned that the Southern guns were capable of firing past the Union squadron-more than two and one-half miles.
After the engagement,Sciota continued to operate in theGulf of Mexico, bolstering the still leaky blockade in the area. On 14 July 1863, she collided with the Union steamer,Antona, in theMississippi River about eight miles above Quarantine and sank. However, she was raised late in August and taken to New Orleans to be refitted.
The ship returned to blockade duty off theTexas coast early in December. On the last day of 1863, she andGranite City made areconnaissance fromPass Cavallo, and landed soldiers on the gulf shore ofMatagorda Peninsula in action continuing through 1 January 1864.
WhileGranite City covered the troops ashore from attacks by Confederate cavalry,Sciota reconnoitered the mouth of theBrazos River. Returning to the landing area,Sciota anchored close to the beach and shelled Confederate positions.Granite City steamed down to Pass Cavallo to call upMonogahela,Penobscot, andEstrella to assist. Confederate gunboat,John F. Carr, closed and fired on the Union troops,
making some very good hits ...
but was driven ashore by a severe gale and destroyed by fire. The Union troops were withdrawn on board ship. Reporting on the operation, Lt. Col. Frank S. Hasseltine wrote:
Captain Perkins, of theSciota, excited my admiration by the daring manner in which he exposed his ship through the night in the surf till it broke all about him, that he might, close to us, lend the moral force of his ... guns ... and by his gallantry in bringing us off during the gale.
On 21 January 1864,Sciota andGranite City joined several hundred troops in a reconnaissance of the Texas coast. They covered the troops atSmith's Landing, Texas, and the subsequent foray down the Matagorda Peninsula.
On 4 April,Sciota captured the schoonerMary Sorly attempting to run the blockade at Galveston with a cargo of cotton. She had previously been United States Revenue Cutter,Dodge, seized by the Confederates at Galveston at the war's outbreak.
Sciota continued operations on the Texas coast through the summer. On 13 September, she came across a large quantity of cotton afloat at sea, picked up 83 bales, and sent them toNew Orleans. On 27 October, she capturedPrussian schooner,Pancha Larispa, attempting to run through the blockade into eitherVelasco orSan Luis Pass, Texas. The next day, she tookCora Smyser while that British schooner vainly attempted the same feat.
In November,Sciota was ordered toPensacola, Florida for repairs. In January 1865, she steamed toMobile Bay to help cleartorpedoes from the waters there. On 14 April, the day of PresidentAbraham Lincoln's assassination, she struck atorpedo and sank offMobile, Alabama. Her commanding officer, Acting Lieutenant James W. Magune, reported:
The explosion was terrible, breaking the beams of the spar deck, tearing open the waterways, ripping off starboard forechannels, and breaking fore-topmast.
Early in July, she was raised. Her hulk was sold atpublic auction atNew York City on 25 October 1865.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
Media related toUSS Sciota (ship, 1861) at Wikimedia Commons