.jpg) Drawing ofFulton as originally built in 1837 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Namesake | Robert Fulton |
| Builder | U.S. Government at Brooklyn Navy Yard[1] |
| Cost | $509,998.52[1] |
| Laid down | 1835 |
| Launched | 18 May 1837 |
| Commissioned | 13 December 1837 |
| Decommissioned | 23 November 1842 |
| In service | 25 January 1852 |
| Out of service | 1862 |
| Stricken | 1862 |
| Captured |
|
| Fate | Destroyed, 10 May 1862 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Side-wheel steamer |
| Tonnage | 720 |
| Length | 180 ft (55 m) |
| Beam | 34 ft 8 in (10.57 m) |
| Draft | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Propulsion | steam engine, side wheel |
| Speed | 10 knots |
| Complement | 130 |
| Armament | four 32-pounder guns |
USSFulton was a steamer that served the U.S. Navy prior to theAmerican Civil War, and was recommissioned in time to see service in that war. However, her participation was limited to being captured byConfederate forces in the port ofPensacola, Florida, at the outbreak of war.
The second ship to be namedFulton by the Navy, a side wheelsteamer, her build commenced in 1835, and she was launched 18 May 1837 byBrooklyn Navy Yard;[2] and commissioned 13 December 1837, CaptainM. C. Perry in command. She was often calledFulton II.Fulton I was the renamedfloating batteryDemologos.
_01.jpg)
Fulton cruised the Atlantic coast, aiding ships in distress, conducting ordnance experiments, and training officers in gunnery. A major event of her early service came on 23 November 1838, when she bested the British steamerSS Great Western in a speed contest off New York.
In 1841, CaptainJohn T. Newton was in command ofFulton. Experiments in gunnery and projectiles were conducted aboard under the direction of Captain M. C. Perry; during one such experiment, a gun burst, killing several men and wounding others.[3] Newton had been aboard with CommodoreIsaac Chauncey, who was inspecting the ship, and the two had left "only 10 or 15 minutes before the explosion".[4]
Decommissioned at New York 23 November 1842,Fulton layin ordinary until 1851, when she was rebuilt and her machinery completely replaced.
_after_1851_reconstruction.jpg)
The thirdFulton rebuild commenced in 1850, was launched on 30 August 1851, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.[2]Fulton was essentially a harbor defense ship and was unsuitable for the cruising missions then emphasized by Navy policy. Accordingly, theNew York Navy Yard rebuilt her in 1851 as a much more conventional warship.Fulton was recommissioned 25 January 1852 for duty in the Home Squadron, and sailed from New York 22 February for theWest Indies. After the rebuild she was commonly referred to asFulton III.[5]
During the next six years, aside from necessary repair periods in the yards at Washington, D.C., Norfolk, Virginia, and Boston, Massachusetts,Fulton ranged from the Caribbean to theGulf of St. Lawrence, transporting Government officials, protecting merchantmen against search on the high seas, and joining in the search forUSS Albany (January through May 1855) and the expedition toNicaragua in 1857 to break upWilliam Walker'sfilibustering activities. The next yearFulton's commanding officer obtained the release of five American merchant ships held atTampico, Mexico, by revolutionary forces.
From October 1858 to May 1859Fulton joined in operations commanded by Commodore W. B. Shubrick during his negotiations to improve relations withParaguay, sailing theLa Plata and theParana andParaguay Rivers.
After lying out of commission at Norfolk, Virginia, from 7 May 1859 to 30 July 1859,Fulton cruised off Cuba to suppress the slave trade until laid up atPensacola, Florida, in mid-October 1859.
The Times reported that she had been wrecked onSanta Rosa Island, offPensacola, Florida.[6]
Captured by the Confederates when they took the Pensacola yard on 12 January 1861,Fulton was considered for use in theConfederate States Navy, but was never fitted out. She was destroyed in the evacuation of the yard by the Confederates upon Federal reoccupation 10 May 1862.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
| Shipwrecks |
|
|---|---|
| Other incidents |
|
