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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Niagara (II)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Steam Frigate:
  • Laid down, date unknown, at New York Navy Yard
  • Launched, 23 February 1855
  • Commissioned USS Niagara, 6 April 1857, CAPT. William L. Hudson in command.
  • Participated in the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable, between 1857 and 1858
  • Decommissioned at New York, 2 December 1857, after laying several hundred miles of cable westward from Ireland
  • Recommissioned, 24 February 1858, CAPT. William L. Hudson in command
  • USS Niagara successfully completed laying the cable ashore at Brills Mouth Island
  • Niagara next carried 200 Africans liberated from the slave brig Echo off Cuba by the brig USS Dolphin
  • Decommissioning at New York, 17 December 1858
  • Recommissioned, 14 May 1860, CAPT. William W. McKean in command
  • Assigned to carry Japan’s first diplomatic mission to the United States from Washington to New York, and then home, leaving New York 30 June 1869 returning Boston 23 April 1861
  • During the Civil War USS Niagara was assigned to duty on the blockade of the southern ports at , Charleston, and at Mobile Bay
  • As flagship of Flag Officer McKean's East Gulf Blockading Squadron Niagara engaged Confederate defenses at Fort McRea, Pensacola, and Warrington 22 November 1861
  • Decommissioned, 16 June, 1862 at Boston for repairs
  • Recommissioned 14 October 1863, she steamed from New York 1 June 1864 to watch over Confederate warships then fitting out in Europe
  • Took steamer Georgia, a former Confederate warship in the Bay of Biscay, 15 August 1864
  • Niagara patrolled with the European Squadron through 29 August when she cleared Cadiz for Boston, arriving 20 September. There she decommissioned 28 September, remaining in the Boston Navy Yard until sold 6 May 1885
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,540 t.
    Length 328' 10"
    Beam 55'
    Draft 24'
    Speed unknown
    Complement 251
    Armament
    twelve 11" Dahlgren smooth bores
    Propulsion Sail and Steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Niagara 146k Painting of the steam frigate USS Niagara depicting the ship in her original configuration. Artwork by Clary Ray.
    US Naval History & Heritage Command photo # NH 44507    		 Robert Hurst
    Niagara 93k USS Niagara at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA, circa 1863, showing modifications made in 1862-1863. She was then under the command of CAPT. Thomas T. Craven, USN. The Bunker Hill Monument is in the left center distance.
    US Navy photo # NH 57980 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo by Black, Washington, D.C.    		 Robert Hurst
    Niagara 113k USS Niagara off Boston, MA., in 1863, showing modifications made in 1862-1863.
    US Navy photo # NH 75895 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command    		 Robert Hurst
    Sacramento 137k The Tower of Belem, Lisbon Harbor, Portugal. Firing on USS Niagara and USS Sacramento, 28 March 1865.
    Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 13 May 1865, page 301.
    This incident resulted when Niagara was shifting her berth in the harbor and was briefly fired upon by the harbor fortification, on the presumption that she was trying to follow CSS Stonewall to sea before expiration of the 24-hour waiting period mandated by international law. Portugal later apologized for the incident
    US Navy photo # NH 59345    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Niagara 120k Boston Navy Yard waterfront, about 1870. Ships laid up and housed over, on the right, are Iowa (ex-Ammonsooc, 1868-1888), inboard, and USS Niagara. On the stocks in left center, with sterns visible between and beyond the two shiphouses, are Connecticut (ex-Pompanoosuc), and Pennsylvania (ex-Keywadin). The receiving ship USS Ohio (1838-1883) is in the middle distance. Donation of CAPT. Yancey S. Williams, USN, 1928.
    US Navy photo # NH 42470. from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command    		 Robert Hurst
    Niagara 61k Boston Navy Yard, waterfront, as seen from East Boston, circa 1876. Ships at left are USS Wabash, outboard, with USS Niagara housed over inboard of her. Iowa (ex-Ammonoosuc) is inboard of Niagara with only her four smokestacks and stern visible. The large ships on the building ways in the center and extreme right are Connecticut (ex-Pompanoosuc) and Pennsylvania (ex-Keywadin).
    US Navy photo # NH 42470 from the US Naval History and Heritage Command, courtesy of National Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Niagara (II)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 13 January 2012