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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Cincinnati (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Cairo Class Centerwheel Casemate Gunboat:

Built in 1861 under a War Department contract by James Eads, St. Louis, MO.

Commissioned at Mound City, IL., 16 January 1862, Naval LCDR. George M. Bache in command

During the Civil War USS Cincinnati was assigned to the Western Gunboat Flotilla, under Flag Officer A. H. Foote and participated in the following actions;

Attack and capture of Fort Henry, 6 February 1862

Operations against Island No. 10, 12 March to 7 April 1862

Engagement with the Confederate gunboat fleet at Plum Point Bend, 10 May 1862

Bombardment of Fort Pillow, 10 May 1862, were Cincinnati, the lead vessel, was repeatedly struck by enemy rams and sunk, raised and returned to service, transferred to the Navy Department, 1 October 1862

Army-Navy operation against Port of Arkansas and installations on the White River in January 1863

Steele's Bayou Expedition, 14 to 27 March 1863, on the Yazoo River

Attack on the Vicksburg batteries, 27 May 1863, Cincinnati came under heavy fire and was sunk for the second time, suffering 40 casualties

Raised again in August 1863 Cincinnati returned to patrol duty on the Mississippi River and its tributaries until February 1865

Reassigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in February 1865 where she patrolled off Mobile Bay and in the Mississippi Sounds

Decommissioned, 4 August 1865, at Algiers, LA.

Sold at New Orleans, 28 March 1866

Final Disposition, fate unknown

Specifications:
Displacement 512 t.
Length 175'
Beam 51' 2"
Depth 6'
Speed 9 mph
Complement 251

Armament

six 32-pdrs

three 8" smoothbore

four 42-pdrs

one 12-pdr howitzer

Propulsion steam

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
179k	"Battle of Fort Henry, 6 February 1862." Line engraving after a drawing by Rear Admiral Henry Walke, published in the "History of the Great Rebellion", by Harper. The print depicts the Federal gunboats USS Saint Louis, USS Carondelet, USS Essex and USS Cincinnati bombarding Fort Henry. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Photo #: NH 42336. Courtesy of Paul H. Silverstone, 1981.	Robert Hurst
114k	"Bombardment and Capture of Island Number Ten on the Mississippi River, April 7, 1862." Colored lithograph published by Currier & Ives, New York, circa 1862. It depicts the bombardment of the Confederate fortifications on Island Number Ten by Federal gunboats and mortar boats. Ships seen include (from left to right): USS Mound City; USS Louisville; USS Pittsburgh; USS Carondelet; USS Benton; USS Cincinnati; USS Saint Louis; USS Conestoga. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # KN 9691	Robert Hurst
373k	"Battle of Fort Pillow, First position" Engraving published in Rear Admiral Henry Walke's Naval Scenes and Reminiscences of the Civil War in the United States ... (1877), depicting the action between the Confederate River Defense Fleet and Federal ironclads near Fort Pillow, Tennessee, 10 May 1862. Confederate ships, seen at right, include (from left to right): CSS General Earl Van Dorn, CSS General Sterling Price, CSS General Bragg, CSS General Sumter and CSS Little Rebel. The Federal ironclads, in the center and left, are (from left to right): USS Mound City, USS Carondelet and USS Cincinnati. A Federal mortar boat is by the river bank in the lower right. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 2049	Tommy Trampp
126k	"Brilliant Naval Victory on the Mississippi River, Near Fort Wright, May 10th 1862." Brilliant Naval Victory on the Mississippi River, Near Fort Wright, May 10th 1862 by the Union Flotilla of 6 Gunboats, commanded by Com. C.H. Davis, and the Rebel fleet of 8 Iron-clads, under Hollins. The action lasted one hour. Two of the Rebel gunboats were blown up and one sunk, when the remainder retired precipitately under the guns of the fort. Lithograph by Currier & Ives, New York, providing a curious (and quite inaccurate) view of the action off Fort Pillow in which the Confederate River Defense Fleet, under Captain James E. Montgomery, attacked Federal gunboats. The print identifies the following ships (from left to right): CSS Mallory (non-existent vessel), shown sinking); CSS Louisiana (an ironclad that had already been destroyed by this time); USS Cincinnati; USS Benton; USS Cairo; USS Carondelet; USS Saint Louis; and USS Conestoga. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42365. Collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 1936	Robert Hurst
98k	USS Cincinnati on the Western Rivers in 1862-63. Note laundry drying on lines rigged from her mainmast, and awnings spread over her upper deck. US Navy photo # NH 63211 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn
96k	City Class ironclad gunboats at anchor off Cairo, IL. in 1863, with barges moored in the foreground. Ships are (from left to right): USS Baron de Kalb; USS Cincinnati and USS Mound City. Boats are tied astern of *Baron de Kalb* and *Cincinnati* US Navy photo # NH 56663 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn
152k	Currier & Ives Lithographed and hand colored Civil War Battle Scene print from 1960. "THE BOMBARDMENT AND CAPTURE OF FORT HINDMAN, ARKANSAS POST, ARK., JAN.11, 1863". Hand colored though silk-screen stencils this Civil War print came from a limited edition in 1960. Ships participating in the bombardment include: USS Baron De Kalb USS Cincinnati USS Louisville USS Black Hawk and USS Rattler	Tommy Trampp
131k	Line engraving of USS Cincinnati published in "Harper's Weekly", 20 June 1863, soon after she was sunk off Vicksburg, Mississippi, by Confederate gunfire. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58761
166k	Sketch of USS Cincinnati during the later part of the Civil War, with a long deckhouse fitted above her casemate. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 998. Courtesy of the Philibrick Collection, Kittery, Maine.	Robert Hurst
185k	"They Swam to and from Shore, Saving their Comrades." Artwork by Bacon, published in "Deeds of Valor", Volume II, page 47, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907. It depicts Landsman Thomas E. Corcoran assisting fellow crewmen of USS Cincinnati as their ship sinks under fire of Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi, 27 May 1863. Corcoran was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at this time. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #: NH 79917	Robert Hurst
157k	Landsman Thomas E. Corcoran, USN, copied from "Deeds of Valor", Volume II, page 47, published by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the loss of USS Cincinnati while in action with Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi, 27 May 1863. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 79918

USS Cincinnati (I)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Stembel, Roger N.	16 January 1862 - 12 May 1862	WIA
02	Act. Vol LT.. Hoel, William R. (Temp)	12 May 1862 - 6 October 1862
03	LCDR. Bache, George Mifflin	6 October 1862 - 27 May 1863	Sunk
	Repair period	August 1863 - 4 December 1864
04	Act. Vol LT. Goudy, Jason	4 December 1864 - 28 March 1865	Died 28 March 1865
05	LCDR. Brown, George	28 March 1865 - 1 July 1865
06	LCDR. Wallace, Rush R.	1 July 1865 - 4 August 1865	Decomm


Courtesy Bill Gonyo

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Last Updated 7 January 2017