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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Althea (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Harbor Tug:
  • Built by Lewis Hoagland, New Brunswick, NJ
  • Completed as steam tug Alfred A. Wotkyns (ON 17914), 1863
  • First enrolled at New York, 04 December 1863
  • Purchased by Navy from builder at New York for $15,100, 09 December 1863
  • Fitted out for naval service by Secor & Co., Jersey City, NJ
  • Commissioned USS Althea, circa April 1864
  • Mined and sunk in Blakeley River, AL, 12 March 1865
  • Salved and recommissioned, 07 November 1865
  • Decomissioned at Philadelphia, 25 April 1866
  • Sold for F. Swift for $5,300, 08 December 1866
  • Documented as Martin Kalbfleisch, 10 January 1868
  • Abandoned, 1896
    Two men were lost in Althea's sinking and remain on duty

    First Class Boy G.D. Edwards
    Landsman J. Glen
    Specifications:
    Displacement 72 tons burden
    Length 70'
    Beam 16' 4"
    Draft 7'
    Speed 9 knots
    Complement 15
    Armament one 12-pdr SB, fitted to carry spar torpedo
    Propulsion steam, single screw
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Namesake
    Althea
    140895001    		 362k A variation of Althaea, a perennial herb native to river banks and salt marshes of Europe, North Africa and Asia. The most familiar of the genus is Althaea officinalis, better known as the marshmallow plant, and the original source of the familiar treat.
    Photo from Wikimedia Commons.    		 Dave Wright
    USS Althea
    Althea
    140895002    		 469k Althea, probably at New Brunswick or New York soon after completion as Alfred A. Wotkyns.
    Photo from "Warships of the Civil War Navies" by Paul Silverstone.    		 Dave Wright
    Commanding Officers
    01Acting Ensign Frederick A.G. Bacon??? - 12 April 1865
    02Acting Ensign William F. Kilgore07 November 1865 - ???
    Althea
    DANFS history entry located at the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Yard and District Craft Photo Index Back To The District Harbor Tug (YT) Photo Index
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    This page was created and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 14 July 2022