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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

U.S. Army Ram Switzerland

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sidewheel Steamer:
  • Built in 1854, by U.P. and Jules Schenck at Cincinnati OH.
  • Launched, in 1854
  • Switzerland was put into service on the Louisville-New Orleans route
  • Acquired by the US Army Quartermaster Corps in 1861 for service in the Mississippi Marine Brigade, often participated in operations of the Western Flotilla
  • Switzerland operated on the Red, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
  • The Western Flotilla was transferred to the Navy Department in the autumn of 1862, but the Mississippi Marine Brigade remained a part of the Army until it was disbanded late in the Civil War
  • Final Disposition, Switzerland was sunk by the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, 25 March 1863
  • Switzerland was raised, date unknown
  • Switzerland was sold twice following the Civil War and was off the Lists by 1870.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 413 t.
    Length 178'4"
    Beam 36'8"
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft 8'1"
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    US Army Ram Switzerland
    Switzerland
    098661404    		 87k US Army Ram Switzerland on the Western Rivers during the Civil War.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 55829, courtesy of the US Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Switzerland 252k Sepia wash drawing by F. Muller, circa 1900, depicting US Army Ram Switzerland on the Western Rivers during the Civil War.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 55829, courtesy of the US Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Monarch 259k "Colonel Ellet's Ram Fleet on the Mississippi" Line engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in Harper's Weekly, 1862. Ships in the foreground are: Monarch (letter M between stacks), Queen of the West (with letter Q) and Lioness (letter L). In the left background are: Switzerland (with letter S on paddlebox), Samson and Lancaster. Note cotton bales stacked on deck to protect boilers.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59007    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Switzerland
    098661402    		 502k "The [Army] Rams Switzerland and Lancaster operating as part of th Red River blockading fleet below Vicksburg, 25 March 1863". Line engraving after a sketch by Theodore R. Davis, published in Harper's Weekly, 1863. In this operation, USS Switzerland (depicted here in the foreground) was disabled by gunfire from shore batteries at the mouth of the Red River. US Army Ram Lancaster (in the left center distance) was fatally damaged and sank.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59103    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Switzerland
    098661403    		 61k Sketch of the Mississippi Squadrons US Army Ram Switzerland in full dress, 22 February 1864.
    Harper's Weekly, 30 April 1864    		 Tommy Trampp
    Switzerland
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 15 October 2021