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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Commodore McDonough


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Sidewheel Steamer:
  • Built, as a sidewheel ferry, date and location unknown
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased by the US Navy, 5 August 1862, at New York
  • Fitted out at New York Navy Yard
  • Commissioned, USS Commodore McDonough, 24 November 1862, LCDR. G. Bacon in command
  • Commodore McDonough joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron arrived at Port Royal, S.C., 11 December 1862
    Commodore McDonough operated in the harbor at Charleston bombarding the forts protecting the city. She also conducted operations cruising the coastal rivers to bombard shore installations, cover landing of troops, engage Confederate batteries, and perform reconnaissance
    At the close of the war, Commodore McDonough assisted in harbor clearance at Port Royal
  • Final Disposition, foundered, 23 August 1865, while under tow for New York
    Specifications:
    Displacement 532 t.
    Length 154' (estimate)
    Beam 32' (estimate)
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft 8'6"
    Speed 8 kts
    Complement 75
    Armament
    one 9" smoothbore
    one 20-pdr rifle
    four 24-pdr smoothbores
    Propulsion steam, two paddlewheels


    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 59160
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    Commodore McDonough 48k USS Commodore McDonough in a harbor, during the Civil War.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 55306
    Robert Hurst
    Commodore McDonough
    098668902
    95k USS Commodore McDonough at anchor at Hilton Head, S.C., circa December 1862, with Union soldiers sitting in a rowboat in the foreground
    Photograph by Hass & Peale.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Item # LC-USZ62-49371
    Tommy Trampp
    Commodore McDonough
    098668903
    353k "New Advance upon Charleston The Gunboat Com. M'Donough, and a Mortar Boat, shelling the Rebel Position on James Island, S.C., Feb. 9."
    Line engraving after a sketch by W.T. Crane, published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1865. It depicts USS Commodore McDonough (probably seen distantly at right) another steamer and a mortar schooner in action during operations against Charleston, S.C., on 9 February 1865.
    Tommy Trampp

    USS Commodore McDonough
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 20 November 2020