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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Ascutney

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sassacus Class Sidewheel Gunboat:
  • Laid down in the autumn 1862 as the wooden-hulled, side-wheel gunboat Ascutney for the Navy at G.W. Jackson, Newburyport, MA.
  • Launched, 4 April 1863
  • Delivered by her builders to New York Navy Yard in June 1863
  • Commissioned, USS Ascutney, 28 July 1864, LCDR. William Mitchell in command
  • Ascutney was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, arriving at Beaufort, N.C., on 23 August
  • Ascutney was the first Union warship to encounter CSS Tallahassee when, that ship returned the morning of 25 August to Wilmington, N.C. after a highly successful 19-day cruise
  • LCDR. Mitchell immediately gave chase, but the Tallahassee's speed, 17 knots, enabled her to slip away with ease
  • During the chase Ascutney's engine broke down, taking the gunboat out of the race
  • The gunboat was surveyed and towed to Washington Navy Yard where she was decommissioned, 22 September 1864
  • Extensive repairs kept her in ordinary through the end of the Civil War
  • Recommissioned, 19 October 1865, Ascutney was stationed at the Washington Navy Yard and carried cargo and passengers in the Chesapeake Bay area and along the Atlantic coast
  • Decommissioned, 1 August 1868, at Washington Navy Yard
  • Sold, 28 October 1868 to John Roach
  • Final Disposition, since the ship's name did not appear on subsequent lists of merchant vessels, and since Roach was then embarking upon an extensive shipbuilding program, it is reasonable to conclude that she was scrapped for her materials
    Specifications:
    Displacement 974 t.
    Length 205'
    Beam 35'
    Draft 6'8"
    Depth of Hold 8'6"
    Speed unknown
    Complement 102
    Armament
    two 100-pdr rifles
    four 9" smoothbores
    two 24-pdr howitzers
    two 12-pdr howitzers
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Sassacus (I)
    098635505    		 85k Generic lithograph representing the Sassacus-class gunboats.
    Wikipedia    		 John Spivey
    Ascutney 203k US Navy drawing for USS Ascutney dated 16 June 1865 showing Ascutney's inboard profile and hurricane and main decks.
    US National Archives    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Ascutney
    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 29 July 2022