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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Monongahela (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sacramento-class Screw Sloop-of-War:
  • Built by the Philadelphia Navy Yard
  • Launched, 10 July 1862
  • Commissioned USS Monongahela, 15 January 1863, CAPT. James P. McKinstry in command.
  • Assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron off Mobile, AL.
  • At the conclusion of the Civil War USS Monongahela was assigned to the West Indies Squadron
  • Reassigned in 1873 to the South Atlantic Station
  • Reassigned as a training ship in 1876 on the east coast before departing for duty on the Asiatic Station
  • Decommissioned in 1879 at Mare Island Navy Yard
  • Converted to a supply ship in 1883
  • Assigned to the Training Squadron in 1891 after a refit at Portsmouth Navy Yard, N.H.
  • Reassigned as Naval Academy Practice Ship, 15 May 1894
  • Reassigned as training ship for apprentices at the Training Station Newport, R.I., in 1899
  • Reassigned as store ship at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in May 1904
  • Final Disposition, destroyed by fire, 17 March 1908
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,078 t.
    Length 227'
    Beam 38'
    Draft 17' 6"
    Speed 8.5 kts.
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    one 200-pdr Parrott Rifle
    two 11" smooth bore
    two 24-pdrs
    two 12-pdrs
    Propulsion steam and sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Monongahela
    091904206    		 154k
    Namesake
    Monongahela - The Monongahela River is a 130-mile-long river in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. The river flows from the confluence of its west and east forks in north-central West Virginia northeasterly into southwestern Pennsylvania, then northerly to Pittsburgh and its confluence with the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River. (Wikipedia)
    Photo - The Monongahela River at Fairmont, West Virginia, 2006. ©Tim Kiser
    Map - Monongahela River basin ©Pfly (real name unknown)    		 Tommy Trampp
    Hartford 156k Flag Officer Farragut ship's passing Fort Morgan during the Battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Drawing from the book "Under Both Flags" Veteran Publishing Co., © 1896. From left to right:
    USS Manhattan
    USS Tecumseh
    USS Brooklyn
    USS Octorara
    USS Hartford
    USS Metacomet
    USS Richmond
    USS Port Royal
    USS Lackawanna
    USS Seminole
    USS Monongahela and
    USS Kennebec     		Tommy Trampp
    Tennessee
    098619817    		 326k During the Battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. USS Monongahela rams CSS Tennessee.
    From a war time sketch. Engraving by Xanthus Russell Smith. Image taken from p. 424 of the 1887 book "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers", based upon “The Century War Series", volume 4.    		 Robert Hurst
    Lackawanna 266k Woodcut by Roberts, circa 1866, entitled "Capture of the Ram Tennessee by Farragut (Mobile Bay)". It depicts CSS Tennessee being rammed by a U.S. Navy steam sloop, either USS Monongahela or USS Lackawanna.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 65707.    		 USNH&CC
    Monongahela 70k Artwork showing USS Monongahela as originally built, with three pivot guns and no bowsprit. This was her configuration until 1865.
    US Navy photo # NH 45205 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela
    NH 45208    		 62k USS Monongahela stranded at Frederikstad, St. Croix, Virgin Islands on 4 March 1868 after an unsuccessful launching attempt. She had been washed ashore by a tidal wave on 18 November 1867 and was finally refloated on 11 May 1868. Monongahela had received a bowsprit in her 1865 refit, but retains her original straight bow.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #'s NH 45208 and NH 46207.    		 Robert Hurst
    Mike Green
    Monongahela
    NH 45207    		 226k
    Monongahela 60k USS Monongahela off Mare Island Navy Yard, California, in July 1884, following conversion to a sailing storeship. USS Mohican (1885-1922) is fitting out in the left background, with Mare Island's distinctive large crane beyond.
    US Navy photo # NH 45209 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command .    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela 656k Mare Island Navy Yard, September-October 1889. Ships present:
    USS Monongahela, outboard of,
    USS Monadnock (under construction),
    USS Albatross,
    USC&GS Carlisle P. Patterson,
    USS Charleston (C-2) (being outfitted),
    Floating dry dock and
    USS Independence (Receiving Ship)
    Ships in the channel (left to right)
    USS Alert and
    USS Thetis.
    US Navy photo from the collections of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum    		 Darryl Baker and Robb Johnson
    Monongahela 69k USS Monongahela photographed in port, following her 1890-91 conversion to a ship-rigged training ship.
    US Navy photo # NH 60266 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela 105k USS Monongahela underway in an unidentified harbor, circa 1890 to 1901.
    Library of Congress photo # LC-D4-20040    		 Mike Green
    Monongahela 110k USS Monongahela moored, circa 1890 to 1901, location unknown.
    Library of Congress photo # LC-D4-20041    		 Mike Green
    Monongahela 56k Mural by Howard B. French, in Memorial Hall, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, depicting USS Monongahela during her days at the Naval Academy Practice Ship, 1894-99. The mural was donated to the Naval Academy by Mrs. Louis M. Nulton.
    US Navy photo # NH 43576-KN (Color) from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela 66k USS Monongahela under sail, with starboard studding sails spread in a very light wind, while serving as U.S. Naval Academy Practice Ship in 1894-99.
    US Navy photo # NH 89732 (Color). Courtesy of Edward Page, 1979. from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela 77k USS Monongahela under full sail in a very light breeze, while serving as U.S. Naval Academy Practice Ship in 1894-99..
    US Navy photo # NH 45993 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela 81k USS Monongahela under sail during the later 1890s, while serving as the US Naval Academy Practice Ship.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-12118 (Color) from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela 97k USS Monongahela ship's officers, with crew in the background, circa 1903, while Monongahela was serving as a training ship. Officers in front row, left-to-right, are identified as: LCDR. Charles Nelson Atwater; CDR. Corwin R. Rees, Commanding Officer; LCDR. George R. Clark; LT. James H. Reid (possibly). Officers in second row are identified as: third from left is possibly "M. Trench"; fifth from left is Midshipman Charles T. Hutchins, Jr; sixth from left is LT. Joel R.P. Pringle. Left-most officer in third row is identified as Ensign George L. Smith.
    US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 45815 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Collection of Rear Admiral C.T. Hutchins; courtesy of LT. H.C. Allen, 1940. Identifications were made by CAPT. Dudley W. Knox.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela 75k View on deck, looking aft on board USS Monongahela, showing Naval Cadet Austin Kautz (Naval Academy Class of 1897) at the wheel with two other Naval Cadets, during the U.S. Naval Academy Cruise, Summer 1894. A First Classman is on the bridge as Officer of the Deck. The Quartermaster is on the right, looking up at the rigging.
    US Navy photo # NH 45807 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela 110k Helmsman Earl Peck Finney (Naval Academy Class of 1902) at work during the U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen's cruise, Summer 1899 aboard USS Monongahela.
    US Navy photo # NH 45997 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela
    NH 50181    		 62k Seaman Sam Tines, US Navy on board USS Monongahela, Summer 1899. Tines "was a spinner of tall tales for the amusement of midshipmen" during their training cruise on board Monongahela.
    US Navy photos # NH 50181 and NH 50182 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Monongahela
    NH 50182    		 66k
    Monongahela 215k Post card image of Training Ship USS Monongahela underway, circa 1899-1904, location unknown.
    Mercury Publishing Co., Newport, R.I.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Monongahela 86k USS Monongahela moored, circa 1890 to 1905, location unknown.
    Library of Congress photo # LC-D4-32296    		 Mike Green
    Monongahela 136k USS Monongahela underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim Kurrasch
    Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
    Monongahela
    094691522    		 190k Post Card image of the US Training Ship USS Monongahela underway in 1907, location unknown.
    ©Enrique Muller. Manufactured by Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco between 1907-1915         		James Bass
    USS Monongahela (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 5 August 2022