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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Hetzel

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Campaign Medal
Side-wheel Steamer:
  • Built in 1861 at Baltimore for the US Coast Survey
  • Transferred to the Navy Department, 21 August 1861
  • Commissioned USS Hetzel, date unknown, LT. H. K. Davenport in command
  • Hetzel was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and arrived Newport News, VA., 18 November 1861
  • The steamers first action included participation in an engagement with the Confederate steamer CSS Patrick Henry, 2 December 1861, at Hampton Roads
  • Hetzel arrived 4 January 1862 off Hatteras Inlet North Carolina and participated in the amphibious assault of Roanoke Island, 5 to 7 January
  • At Elizabeth City Hetzel participated in the destruction of Confederate batteries and destroyed or captured five Southern gunboats 10 February
  • Hetzel took part in the attack on New Bern, 13 and 14 March 1862
  • The steamer was assigned to blockading duty in the North Carolina sounds following the New Bern victory
  • Assisted in the defense of Fort Anderson, opposite New Bern, 13 to 14 March 1863
  • Hetzel remained in the sounds of North Carolina until 29 May 1865
  • Hetzel shared in the capture of five steamers, six schooners, and one sloop
  • The steamer returned north in October 1865 and was returned to the Coast Survey during that month
    Specifications:
    Displacement 200 t.
    Length unknown
    Beam unknown
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament one 80-pdr gun
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Hetzel 390k Explosion of a cannon in USS Hetzel during the bombardment of Fort Bartow Roanoke Island, North Carolina, 7 February 1862.
    "Official and Illustrated War Record of the Civil War" by General Marcus J. Wright, War Department, Washington 1898.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Hetzel 679k Wash drawing by Clary Ray, August 1897, after a drawing made on 14 March 1862 of USS Hetzel, during the New Bern, North Carolina, operation.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 57838, Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Hetzel 154k "The Battle at Newbern -- Repulse of the Rebels, March 14, 1863."
    Line engraving, published in "Harper's Weekly", 11 April 1863, depicting the action at Fort Anderson, Neuse River, North Carolina. U.S. Navy gunboats USS Hunchback, USS Hetzel, USS Ceres and USS Shawsheen are firing from the river at Confederate forces, as Union artillery and infantry move into position on the near shore.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 95121    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Hetzel
    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 7 January 2017