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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Brilliant

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sternwheel Gunboat (Tinclad No.18)
  • Built in 1862 at Brownsville, PA. as the wodden steamer Brilliant
  • Purchased by the War Department, 13 August 1862, at St. Louis, MO.
  • Transferred to the Navy with the Western Flotilla, 1 October 1862
  • Commissioned USS Brilliant, 2 October 1862, Acting Volunteer Lt. Charles G. Perkins in command
  • Brilliant sailed from St. Louis, September 1862, joining the Mississippi Squadron at Cairo, IL.
  • Throughout the Civil War Brilliant operated on the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers until 2 August 1865
  • On 3 February 1863, she assisted in repelling the Confederate attack on Fort Donelson, TN. and from 3 December until 16 December 1864 supported the Union Army's attack on Nashville, TN.
  • Decommissioned, date unknown at Mound City, IL.
  • Sold at public auction, 17 August 1865, at Mound City, IL.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 227 t.
    Length 154'8"
    Beam 33'5'
    Depth of Hull unknown
    Draft 5'
    Speed 6 MPH
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    two 12-pdr rifles
    two 12-pdr smoothbores
    Propulsion
    steam engine
    sternwheel

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    USS Brilliant
    Dictionary of American Navy Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 17 September 2021