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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS South Carolina (III)


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Screw Steamer:
  • Built in 1860 at Boston, MA.
  • Purchased by the Navy, 3 May 1861
  • Commissioned, USS South Carolina, 22 May 1861, at Boston Navy Yard, CAPT. James Alden in command
  • During the Civil War USS South Carolina was assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron off Galveston, TX.
    Captured ten small schooner between, 4 and 7 July including Shark
    Engaged Confederate batteries at Galveston, 3 August
    Captured prize steamer Anna Taylor, 11 September
    Captured schooners, Ezlida and Joseph H. Toone off Southwest Pass, 4 October
    Captured British schooner Edward Barnard, 16 October off Mobile
    Captured sloop Florida, 11 December
    With USS Brooklyn took Confederate steamer CSS Magnolia, 19 February 1862
  • Decommissioned, at Boston, 8 April 1862, for repairs
  • Recommissioned, 16 June 1862
  • Reassigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Charleston
    Destroyed abandoned schooner Patriot aground near Mosquito Inlet, FL., 27 August
    Captured schooner Nellie off Port Royal, S.C., 27 March 1863
  • Decommissioned, 25 March 1865, at Philadelphia Navy Yard, to be fitted out as a store ship
  • Recommissioned, 17 June 1865, assigned to resupply to Port Royal, Key West and Pensacola
  • Decommissioned, 17 August 1866, at New York Navy Yard
  • Sold at Public auction, at New York, 5 October 1866
  • Redocumented SS Juniata, 24 December 1866
  • Final Disposition, reduced to a schooner barge, 8 April 1893, and soon after vanished from maritime records
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,165 t.
    Length 217' 11½"
    Beam 33' 6"
    Depth 25'
    Draft 14' 6"
    Speed 12kts
    Complement 115
    Armament
    four 8" guns
    one 32-pdr
    Propulsion steam and sail
    single propeller

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    South Carolina (III) 71k Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1948, of SS South Carolina, in 1860, painted for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume I. Renamed SS Juniata upon returning to commercial employment in 1866.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 63842, courtesy of Erik Heyl.
    Bill Gonyo
    Alabama 186k "Merchant Steamers Converted into Gun-boats."
    Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume. Depicts thirteen merchant steamships acquired by the U.S. Navy between April and August 1861 and subsequently converted into warships, plus the steamer Nashville (far left), which became a Confederate cruiser. US Navy ships as identified below the image bottom, are (from left to right:
    USS Alabama,
    USS Quaker City,
    USS Santiago de Cuba, (listed as "St. Jago de Cuba")
    USS Mount Vernon,
    USS Massachusetts,
    USS South Carolina,
    USS Florida,
    USS De Soto,
    USS Augusta,
    USS James Adger,
    USS Monticello,
    USS Bienville and
    USS R.R. Cuyler.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59366.
    Robert Hurst
    South Carolina (III) 120k Line engraving published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", 1861, depicting USS South Carolina in action against Confederate shore batteries at Galveston, Texas, in August 1861.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59135
    Bill Gonyo
    South Carolina (III) 85k Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", January-June 1863, page 76, of the US Navy Blockading Fleet off North Channel, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. US Navy ships depicted are (from left to right): USS South Carolina, USS G.W. Blunt, USS Daylight and USS Stars and Stripes.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59135
    Bill Gonyo

    USS South Carolina (III)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 7 January 2017