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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Catalpa

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Harbor Tug:
  • Built by unknown builder, Brooklyn NY
  • Completed as tug Conqueror, 1864
  • Purchased by Navy from Stephen and James M. Flanagan at Philadelphia, PA, for $55,000, 29 June 1864
  • Commissioned USS Catalpa, 12 July 1864
  • Served in South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, 1864 - 1865
  • Decommissioned at New York Navy Yard, 01 September 1865
  • Served as yard tug at New York Navy Yard, 1865 - 1894
  • Condemned and stricken from Naval Register, 26 January 1894
  • Sold to M.H. Gregory, Great Neck, NY, for $351.00, 23 July 1894
  • Documented as merchant barge Catalpa (ON 34317), homeported Baltimore, MD, 1899
  • Final disposition, last in registers, 1910
    Specifications:
    Hull wood
    Displacement 191 tons
    Length 105' 2"
    Beam 22' 2"
    Draft 7' 2"
    Speed 10 knots
    Complement 37
    Armament two 24-pdr, one heavy 12-pdr smoothbore
    Propulsion one vertical direct-acting condensing engine (34" x 30"), one screw
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Namesake
    Catalpa
    140896001    		 187k Catalpa, commonly called catalpa or catawba, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. Most Catalpa are deciduous trees; they typically grow to 40–60 feet tall, with branches spreading to a diameter of about 20–40 feet. They are fast growers and a 10-year-old sapling may stand about 20 feet tall. They have characteristic large, heart-shaped leaves, which in some species are three-lobed. Catalpa species bear broad panicles of showy flowers, generally in summer. The flower color generally is white to yellow. In late summer or autumn the fruit appear; they are siliques about 8–20 inches long, full of small flat seeds, each with two thin wings to aid in wind dispersal. The large leaves and dense foliage of Catalpa species provide good shelter from rain and wind, making the trees an attractive habitat for many species of birds. They do not present many threats of falling limbs, but the dark-brown fruit husks that they drop in late summer may be a nuisance. Though Catalpa wood is quite soft, it is popular for turning and for furniture when well seasoned, being attractive, stable and easy to work
    Catalpa bignonioides flowers, Saratov, Russia. Photo by Le Loup Gris via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0    		 Dave Wright
    Commanding Officers
    01Acting Ensign John A. Edgren12 July 1864 - ????
    Catalpa
    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 18 July 2022