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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Essex (II)
ex
USS New Era


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Ironclad steamer (Tinclad No.7):
  • Built in 1856 as the steamer New Era at St Louis, MO. for the Wiggins Ferry Co.
  • Purchased by the War Department, 20 September 1861
  • Converted into a timberclad gunboat by James B. Eads of St. Louis, MO.
  • Commissioned USS New Era, 4 October 1861, CDR. William D. Porter in command
  • USS New Era initially operated on the Ohio, Mississippi and Cumberland rivers in October
  • Converted to a partial ironclad in November, renamed USS Essex
  • During the Civil War USS Essex participated in the following engagements:
  • Engagement of Confederate gunboats at Lucas Bend MO. in the Tennessee River, 7 to 11 January 1862
  • Capture of Fort Henry, TN., 6 February, suffering 11 KIA and 23 WIA
  • After extensive overhaul including heavier armor USS Essex participated in the assault on Vicksburg on 13 July 1862
  • Attacked the Confederate ram, CSS Arkansas below Vicksburg, inflicting considerable damage
  • Steaming south to Baton Rouge, LA. she joined with the Army in repelling a Confederate attack, 5 August
  • Again attacked CSS Arkansas on 6 August when Arkansas broke down and drifted ashore where she was destroyed by her crew
  • Refitted at New Orleans, operational control turned over to the Navy, 1 October 1862
  • Following refit USS Essex participated in the capture of Port Hudson, LA., 8 May to 8 July 1863
  • Engagement at Donaldsonville, 9 July and although damaged in the battle, carried out her patrol duty at this point through 6 March 1864
  • Assisted in the capture of Fort de Russy on 15 and 16 March
  • USS Essex was assigned on 4 May as guardship at Memphis, TN. for the duration of the war
  • Decommissioned at Mound City, IL., 20 July 1865
  • Final Disposition, sold 29 November 1865, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 614 t.
    Length 159'
    Beam 47' 6"
    Draft 6'
    Speed unknown
    Complement 124
    Armament
    one 32-pdr
    three 9" smoothbore
    one 10" smoothbore
    Propulsion steam

    Click On Image
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    Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS New Era
    Essex 501k The Gunboat USS New Era being built at St. Louis. Tommy Trampp and
    Robert Hurst
    Essex 163k USS New Era under way on the Mississippi River. Tommy Trampp
    USS Essex (II)
    St. Louis 179k "Battle of Fort Henry, 6 February 1862."
    Line engraving after a drawing by Rear Admiral Henry Walke, published in the "History of the Great Rebellion", by Harper. The print depicts the Federal gunboats USS Saint Louis, USS Carondelet, USS Essex and USS Cincinnati bombarding Fort Henry.
    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Photo #: NH 42336. Courtesy of Paul H. Silverstone, 1981.
    Robert Hurst
    Essex 84k Wash drawing by R.G. Skerrett, 1904, depicting USS Essex with Farragut's fleet on the lower Mississippi River, in 1862-63. The ship in the left background is USS Mississippi. A "90-day" gunboat is in the right distance.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 75621. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.
    Robert Hurst
    Essex 48k Sketches by William M.C. Philbrick, Carpenter's Mate, USS Portsmouth, showing USS Essex as she appeared on the morning of 1 November 1862, on the Mississippi River.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 54284. From the Private Papers of William M.C. Philbrick.
    Robert Hurst
    Essex 161k "Recapture of Baton Rouge, La., December 17th, 1862 -- Federal troops under General Grover driving off the Confederates and occupying the city."
    Line engraving, after a sketch by F. H. Schell, published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War", Volume I. The ironclad gunboat USS Essex is depicted at right, just off shore.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59043.
    Robert Hurst
    Essex 109k USS Essex moored at Memphis, TN. with her awnings up, during the Civil War. Note mortar boats alongside Essex, also with awnings deployed, and small building atop the bluff, toward the left, marked "Pittsburgh COAL", with the Pittsburgh Coal Company's castle symbol between "CO" and "AL".
    US Navy photo # NH 54286 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Aryeh Wetherhorn
    Essex 156k USS Essex at a Mississippi River area port, circa 1862-65. Note: The original caption identified location and date as Baton Rouge, LA., in July 1862. However, the presence of a mortar boat (at right) indicates that either the date is later or the location is above Vicksburg if the photo was taken in 1862. The original photograph accompanied a claim filed by James A. Payne.
    US Navy photo # NH 61567 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Aryeh Wetherhorn
    Essex 131k USS Essex coaling at Baton Rouge, LA., in late July 1862, just after she reached the lower Mississippi. Ships of Farragut's fleet are in the background. The original photograph accompanied a claim filed by James A. Payne.
    US Navy photo # NH 54289 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Aryeh Wetherhorn
    Benton 80k "Commodore Foote's Gun-boat Flotilla on the Mississippi". Line engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in Harper's Weekly, 1862. Ships are identified below the image as (from left to right):
    USS Mound City,
    USS Essex,
    USS Cairo,
    USS Saint Louis,
    USS Louisville,
    USS Benton,
    USS Pittsburgh. and
    USS Lexington.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo #: NH 59002
    Robert Hurst
    Arkansas 436k Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862 depicting the Union gunboat USS Essex, destroying the Rebel Iron-clad Ram CSS Arkansas, on the Mississippi River. Arkansas had been run ashore and burned to prevent capture when her engines failed during this encounter with Essex, 6 August 1862.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59042
    Robert Hurst
    Essex 79k Post card image of USS Essex moored in front of Vicksburg, MS., date unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Essex 56k An engraving of USS Essex after a photograph taken in 1864.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 54285.
    Robert Hurst

    USS New Era / USS Essex (II)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Pook's Turtles by Aryeh Wetherhorn
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    Last Updated 17 March 2017