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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Galena (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Ironclad Screw Steamer:

Laid down, date unknown at C.S. and H.L. Bushnell, Mystic, CT.

Launched, 14 February 1862

Commissioned USS Galena, 21 April 1862, CDR. Alfred Taylor in command

Galena, one of the first three ironclads, each of a different design, built by the Union Navy during the Civil War

Towed from New York to arrive off Fortress Monroe, VA., 24 April, she joined Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron

Galena operated on the James River providing protection to the daily movement of Army transports and supply ships and attempted to reach Richmond and compel its surrender

Detached from James River Flotilla to do picket duty in Hampton Roads from September 1862 to May 1863

USS Galena arrived at Philadelphia and was decommissioned for repairs, 21 May 1863, during overhaul she was stripped of her iron plating allowing her to operate as a wooden-hulled ship

Recommissioned, 15 February 1864, for duty in the Gulf of Mexico, after a series of mishaps she finally joining the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, 20 May 1864, from duty at Mobile, AL.

USS Galena was a unit of Admiral Farragut's fleet in the Battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864

Returned to Philadelphia, 22 November 1864, for decommissioning and repairs

Recommissioned, 29 March 1865, for duty with the North Atlantic Squadron

Decommissioned, 17 June 1865, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.

Recommissioned, 9 April 1869, for movement to Hampton Roads

Decommissioned, 2 June 1869

Condemned by a board of survey in 1870, Galena was broken up in 1872 at the Norfolk Navy Yard

Specifications:
Displacement 730 t.
Length 210'
Beam 36'
Depth 12' 8"
Draft 11'
Speed 8kts
Complement 164 Armament (1862)

four 9" Dahlgren smooth bore guns

two 100-pdrs

Propulsion steam and sail

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
	156k	Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861, page 669, while USS Galena was under construction at Mystic, CT. Details of this depiction are inaccurate, especially the elongated gun ports shown fore and aft of the smokestack. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # 59305	Robert Hurst
	105k	Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861, page 670, depicting USS Galena's hull section amidships. She was then under construction at Mystic, Connecticut. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59306.	Robert Hurst
	66k	Line engraving, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862, depicting USS Galena's midship's hull section, the arrangement of her horizontally-laid interlocking side armor, and one of her armored gun ports. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58862.	Robert Hurst
	132k	Line engraving, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862, depicting USS Galena as she appeared when first completed, with a two-masted schooner rig. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58863	Robert Hurst
	127k	Line engraving, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862, depicting USS Galena's gun deck as it appeared when she was first completed. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58864	Robert Hurst
	143k	View of the Attack on Fort Darling, in the James River, by Commander Rogers's Gun-Boat Flotilla, 'Galena', 'Monitor', etc. Line engraving published in Harper's Weekly, January-June 1862, page 337, depicting USS Galena at the head of the attacking force with USS Monitor off her starboard quarter. Among the other ships, the gunboat USS Naugatuck is identifiable in the lower right. The city of Richmond, Virginia, is shown in the left center distance. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59336	Robert Hurst
	135k	Contemporary pencil sketch, with colors of flags and smoke lightly worked in, depicting the Union ships; USS Galena, USS Monitor, USS Aroostook, USS Port Royal and USS Naugatuck (listed as shown, left to right) bombarding the Confederate Fort Darling at Drewry's Bluff, VA., 15 May 1862. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 82580-KN (Color).	Tommy Trampp
	156k	Contemporary pencil sketch by F.H. Wilcke, depicting the Union ships; USS Galena, USS Monitor, USS Aroostook, USS Port Royal and USS Naugatuck (listed as shown, left to right) under the command of Commander John Rodgers bombarding the Confederate Fort Darling at Drewry's Bluff, VA., 15 May 1862. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 1998.	Tommy Trampp
	81k	"Rendezvous of Our Fleet in James River, off City Point, -- Drawn on the Spot, May 29, 1862" A line engraving, published in "Harper's Weekly", Volume of January-June 1862, page 390. depicting the U.S. Navy ships (listed as shown, from left to right) USS Maratanza (I), USS Wachusett (I), USS Aroostook (I), USS Monitor, USS Mahaska and USS Galena (I) operating on the James River in support of General McClellan's army. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59206	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	94k	"Bombardment of Fort Darling, Drewry's Bluff, Virginia, 15 May 1862". Artwork published in "Deeds of Valor", Volume II, page 27, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907, depicting USS Galena in action against the Confederate batteries at Drewry's Bluff. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 79910	Robert Hurst
	104k	"The Gun-boats 'Galena' and 'Mahaska' shelling the Rebels at Harrison's Landing, July 1, 1862" A line engraving, based on a sketch "by an officer of the Navy", published in "Harper's Weekly", Volume 6, July-December 1862, page 470. USS Galenais at left and USS Mahaska is at right. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59198	Robert Hurst
	143k	Wood-cut engraving/print titled "Balloon View of the Attack on Fort Darling, in the James River, by Commander Rodgers's Gun-Boat Flotilla, USS Galena], [USS Monitor], etc." published in "Harper's Weekly" May 1862.	Tommy Trampp
098603717	111k	"U.S. Gun Boats on James River covering the Retreat." Engraving after a drawing by C. Parsons, published by Virtue, Yorston & Co., N.Y., circa later 19th Century. It depicts the ironclads USS Monitor and USS Galena bombarding Confederate forces as General McClellan's army withdraws following the Battle of Malvern Hill, 2 July 1862. The other two ships visible are probably USS Aroostook (beyond Monitor's bow) and USS Jacob Bell (behind Monitor, at left). completed. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 1853	Robert Hurst
	70k	Wash drawing by R.G. Skerrett, 1898, depicting USS Galena as she appeared while serving on the James River, circa mid-1862. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # 57820	Robert Hurst
	58k	Watercolor by Oscar Parkes, depicting USS Galena as she appeared in mid-1862, while serving on the James River. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # 59541. Courtesy of Dr. Oscar Parkes, 1936.	Robert Hurst
	60k	Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862, depicting several contemporary U.S. Navy ironclad and conventional warships. They are (from left to right: USS Puritan (in the original twin-turret design); USS Catskill; USS Montauk, USS Keokuk (citing her original name, "Moodna"); USS Passaic; USS Galena (behind Roanoke, with name not cited); USS Roanoke; USS Winona; USS New Ironsides; USS Naugatuck; USS Brooklyn and USS Monitor. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # 59541. Courtesy of Dr. Oscar Parkes, 1936.	Robert Hurst
	308k	USS Galena, looking forward along the ship's port side, shortly after her 15 May 1862 action with Confederate batteries at Drewry's Bluff, on the James River Among the items visible are the muzzles of two of Galena's IX-inch Dahlgren smoothbore guns; her unique horizontally-laid interlocking iron side armor; armored gunport shutters; boat davits; members of her crew; and at least one plugged hole from enemy shot (near the waterline in bottom left center).	Robert Hurst
	111k	A Matthew Brady photograph taken aboard USS Galena shortly after the 15 May 1862 action with Confederate batteries at Drewry's Bluff, This view looks forward on the starboard side of the spar deck, and shows holes in *Galena's smokestack (in left center) made by Confederate cannon fire. Among the other items seen are boat davits, canvas wind sails, the elevated wooden conning platform and the lookout position on the foremast. Library of Congress photo # LC-B8171-652* from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command.	Robert Hurst
098603716	98k	Sketch of USS Galena in Mobile Bay after the conclusion of the fighting in August 1864. From a Century Company New York Publication in 1888.	Tommy Trampp
	179k	USS Brooklyn inside Mobile Bay after the action, "from a sketch made at the time", showing some of her battle damage. USS Galena is in the left background, and USS Itasca is at right. 19th Century reproduction of a pen and ink drawing by Xanthus Smith.	US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 56579
	120k	John F. Mackie, former Corporal, USMC. Halftone image published in "Deeds of Valor", Volume II, page 25, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907. Corporal Mackie was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in action on board USS Galena during her engagement with Confederate batteries at Drewry's Bluff, James River, VA., 15 May 1862. This view shows him in what appears to be a Grand Army of the Republic Uniform, circa 1900. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 79909	Robert Hurst
098603718	171k	Oil painting of the wooden screw steamer USS Galena, by the artist Antonio Jacobsen (1850-1921). Gift of the Gordon Freesman Family to the White House Historical Association (White House Collection). signed and dated lower right ANTONIO JACOBSEN. 1909. Accession number 991.1689.1.	Robert Hurst

USS Galena (I)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Taylor, Alfred	16 April 1862 - 24 April 1862
02	CDR. Rodgers, John	24 April 1862 - 15 November 1862
03	LCDR. Paulding, Leonard	15 November 1862 - 21 May 1863
	Decommissioned	21 May 1863 - 15 February 1864
04	LCDR. Wells, Clark H.	15 February 1864 - 2 June 1865


Courtesy Bill Gonyo

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Last Updated 19 October 2023