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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Amaranthus


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Screw Tug:
  • Hull built in 1864 by unknown builder at Wilminton, DE. as the wooden-hulled screw tug Christiana for Bishop, Son, & Co., Philadelphia, PA. Engines built by Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, DE.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased for the Navy at Philadelphia, 1 July 1864 by COMO C.K. Stribling, Renamed Amaranthus
  • Fitted out at the Philadelphia Navy Yard
  • Commissioned USS Amaranthus, 12 July 1864, Acting Master Enos O. Adams in command
  • Amaranthus was initially kept in the Delaware River performing towing duties..
  • She joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, 6 August 1864, at Port Royal, S.C. where she was assigned to the inner cordon of forces blockading Charleston, S.C. where she remained, (with occasional trips to Port Royal for repairs, etc.) until the end of the War
  • On the night of 9 and 10 September 1864, Amaranthus sighted a steamer attempting to run out of Charleston and fired repeatedly at the blockade runner which, nevertheless, escaped to sea
  • About two-and-one-half months later, she fired upon two incoming steamers which entered the harbor about two hours apart
  • On both occasions, Confederate shore batteries at Fort Moultrie fired upon the Union blockaders
  • A spent 10-inch shell struck Amaranthus’ starboard counter, damaging the tug sufficiently to require her to enter a nearby inlet for repairs
  • The patching was quickly completed, and the steamer was back on station three days later
  • On 1 February 1865, Acting Ensign William R. Cox, the tug’s executive officer, assumed command
  • Following the collapse of the Confederacy early in the spring of 1865, Amaranthus remained off Charleston into the summer
  • She departed Charleston, 10 August 1865, and entered New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., 18 August
  • Decommissioned, 19 August, at New York Navy Yard.
  • Sold at pulic auction in November 1866, to John Mahoney, Jr., J.W. Sly and A. Lawrence, Charleston, S.C..
  • Re-documented under her original name Christiana, 28 December 1866
  • Re-sold circa 1872-1876 to new owners in Albany, N.Y.
  • Final Disposition, abandoned in 1900
    Specifications:
    Displacement 182 t.
    Length 117'
    Beam 21'
    Depth of Hold 8'
    Draft 9'
    Speed 9.5 kts
    Complement 40
    Armament
    three 24-pdr smoothbores
    Propulsion
    Engines - one vertical low pressure. Diameter of cylinder 30", stroke 30"
    Boiler - one return, tubular, diameter 9', length 16', 2 furnaces; 4 flues, two 11" diameter and 2 18" tubes, 3½" diameter
    single screw

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    Amaranthus
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 3 June 2022