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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Alabama (1861-1865).
Previously and later the civilian steamship Alabama (1850-1861, 1865-1878)

Alabama, a 1261-ton wooden side-wheel steamer, was built at New York City in 1850 and operated thereafter in commercial service in the western Atlantic. The U.S. Army used her as a transport during the spring and early summer of 1861, and she was purchased by the Navy at the beginning of August of that year for conversion to a warship. Commissioned as USS Alabama at the end of September 1861, in the next month she was attached to the large naval force preparing to seize Port Royal, South Carolina, for use as a base for blockading the southern seacoast. However, before that expedition reached its target area, she was detached and sent to patrol off Charleston, South Carolina. In December, Alabama took station along the Georgia coast, capturing the ship Admiral there on the 12th.

For the rest of 1861 and most of 1862, Alabama continued to enforce the blockade. In February and March 1862 she took part in the occupation of coastal positions in Georgia and Florida, and later played a role in the capture of at least three blockade running schooners. Alabama was under repair in October-December 1862, after which she spent nearly seven months cruising in the West Indies area in search of Confederate commerce raiders. She was sent north in late July 1863 in an effort to control an outbreak of yellow fever among her crew and did not resume active service until May 1864.

Alabama served with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron for the rest of the Civil War. While off the North Carolina coast in October 1864, she assisted in the destruction of the blockade runner Annie. Late in 1864 and in January 1865, Alabama supported the attacks that finally captured Fort Fisher, thus closing the port of Wilmington, N.C., as a source of supplies and commerce for the Confederate cause. During March and April 1865, she operated in the vicinity of Hampton Roads and on the James River, Virginia. Her final active service was performed cruising along the mid-Atlantic coast. USS Alabama was decommissioned at Philadelphia in mid-June 1865 and sold less than a month later. She soon resumed civilian employment, with no change in name, and remained in merchant service until destroyed by fire in 1878.

This page features all the views we have related to USS Alabama (1861-1865) and the civilian steamship Alabama (1850-1861, 1865-1878).

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 63861 Steamship Alabama (1850-1878) Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1948, painted for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume I. This steamship served as USS Alabama during 1861-1865. Courtesy of Erik Heyl. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 390 pixels
Photo #: NH 59366 "Merchant Steamers Converted into Gun-boats." Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume. It depicts thirteen merchant steamships acquired by the U.S. Navy between April and August 1861 and subsequently converted into warships, plus the steamer Nashville (far left), which became a Confederate cruiser. U.S. Navy ships, as identified below the image bottom, are (from left to right: Alabama, Quaker City, Santiago de Cuba (listed as "St. Jago de Cuba", Mount Vernon, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Florida, De Soto, Augusta, James Adger, Monticello, Bienville and R.R. Cuyler. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 182KB; 1200 x 470 pixels
Photo #: NH 59316 "Portion of the Naval Expedition, as it appeared on the night of October 16, sailing to Hampton Roads. -- Sketched by an Officer on Board." 1861 Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume, pages 712. It depicts Flag Officer DuPont's squadron en route to capture Port Royal, South Carolina. Ships, all U.S. Navy, as identified below the image bottom, are (from left): Wabash, Florida, Augusta, Alabama, Ottawa, Seneca and Pembina. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 167KB; 740 x 575 pixels
Photo #: NH 59317 "The Great Expedition -- The Vessels at Anchor at Hampton Roads Previous to the Departure." Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume, page 725. It gives two views of Flag Officer DuPont's squadron at Hampton Roads, Virginia, prior to leaving on 29 October 1861 to capture Port Royal, South Carolina. Ships and geographical features, as identified below the images, are (upper engraving, from left): ferry boats, store ship, steamer Marion, USS Seminole, steamer Ben Deford, ship Grapeshot, Fort Monroe, USS Narragansett, USS Alabama, USS Pawnee, and new ("90-Day") gunboats (lower engraving, from left): store ship, steamer Vanderbilt, steam tug (foreground), store ship, steamer Winfield Scott, steamer Atlantic, USS Minnesota, steamer Baltic, USS Relief, USS Wabash, USS R.B. Forbes, steamer Oriental, steamer Matanzas, steamer Philadelphia, and the Rip Raps. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 218KB; 900 x 650 pixels
Photo #: NH 59315 "The Great Naval Expedition" to capture Port Royal, South Carolina, November 1861 Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume, pages 696-697. It depicts Federal warships and transports, under Flag Officer Samuel F. DuPont, USN, departing Hampton Roads, Virginia, en route to Port Royal. Ships, as identified below the image bottom, are (from left): (illegible), Oriental, Baltic, USS O.M. Pettit, USS Gem of the Sea, Great Republic, USS Wabash (DuPont's flagship), USS Seneca, USS Pembina, USS Connecticut, tug Mercury, USS Unadilla, USS Augusta, USS Alabama and (illegible). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 345 pixels
Photo #: NH 59349 "Destruction of a Schooner off Cumberland Inlet, Georgia, by the Boats of the 'Alabama' -- Sketched by an Officer of the 'Alabama'." Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", January-June 1862 volume, page 65, depicting a typical incident of the Civil War blockade of the southern coast, circa late 1861 or early 1862. USS Alabama, which was then serving on the blockade of South Carolina and Georgia, is depicted in the right center distance. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 430 pixels
Photo #: NH 59170 "Second Attack upon Fort Fisher, showing the positions of the vessels, and the lines of fire", 13-15 January 1865 Chart by Walter A. Lane, published in "The Soldier in our Civil War", Volume II. The positions of 58 ships are represented on the chart. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 216KB; 825 x 1225 pixels

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Page made 2 June 2002