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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Key West (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Stern-wheel Steamer - Tinclad #32:
  • Built in 1862 at California, PA., as the wooden sternwheel steamer SS Key West No. 3
  • Purchased by the Union Navy from W. S. Evans et al. at Cairo, Ill., 16 April 1863
  • Commissioned 26 May 1863, Acting Master E. M. King in command
  • During the Civil War USS Key West was assigned to patrol the Tennessee River
  • Engaged Confederate batteries at Eastport, MS., 10 October 1864, while transports debarked Union troops, Key West was damaged with two hits by the Confederate batteries
  • Assisted USS Tawah in recapturing Army transport Venus, 2 November 1864, near Johnsonville, TN.
  • Engaged Confederate batteries, 4 November 1864, near Johnsonville, hit 19 times, set afire and scuttled
    Specifications:
    Displacement 207 t.
    Length 156'
    Beam 33'
    Depth 4' 6"
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    four 6" guns
    six 24-pdrs
    Propulsion
    steam engie
    one stern-wheel
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Key West 51k Print of USS Key West (Tinclad #32) underway on a western river during the Civil War. Image used with the permission of the artist David Harrison Wright Bill Gonyo
    Key West
    098617503     		76k USS Key West (Tinclad #32) in port on a western river during the Civil War.
    University of Wisconsin-Madison Digital Library    		 John Spivey
    Austin 40k Mississippi Squadron Gunboats including USS Key West off the Naval Station at Mound City, IL., circa 1863. Ships present include USS Key Westat left, with her number ("32") painted on her pilothouse; at least ten other "Tinclad" gunboats; one "City" class ironclad (just astern of Key West; and one "Timberclad" gunboat (seen beyond the ironclad's stern). US Navy History and Heritage Command
    Tawah
    098684601    		 118k USS Tawah and USS Key West attack CSS Undine, and the transports, Cheesemen, and Venus, at Davidson’s Ferry on the Tennessee River in Tennessee, 2 November 1864. This results in the Federal recapturing of the vessel, Venus, from Major General Nathan B. Forrest (CSA) who had captured these vessel the previous day. Forrest had been sailing up the Tennessee River towards Johnsonville, Tennessee, but was forced to retire to the safety of the Confederate batteries near Fort Henry.
    Hardman County Tennessee Civil War History    		 Tommy Trampp
    USS Key West (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 4 June 2021