Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

CSS Queen of the West
ex
 USS Queen of the West (1862-1863)
US Army Ram Queen of the West (1862)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sidewheel Ram:
  • Built in 1862 as a sidewheel steamer at Cincinnati in 1854
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased by the War Department in 1862, fitted out as a ram
  • During the Civil War Queen of the West was assigned to the Col. Charles Ellet, Jr. USA, Western Flotilla on the Mississippi River and participated in the following actions;
    Engaged Confederate River Defense Fleet at Memphis, 6 June 1862, Col. Ellet mortally wounded
  • Taken over by the Navy and commissioned USS Queen of the West in 1862
    Participated in the engagement against Confederate ironclad ram CSS Arkansas, 15 July 1862 on the Yazoo River and Mississippi Rivers
    Continuous support of operations against Vicksburg and surrounding area
    Rammed but did not sink Confederate steamer Vicksburg, 2 February 1863
    Captured Confederate steamers O.W. Baker, Moro and Berwick Bay, 3 February
    Landed troops on the banks of the Atchafalaya River to destroy Confederate Army wagons, 12 February
    Captured Confederate steamer Era No. 5, 14 February, on the Black River
    Abandoned by her crew after sustaining heavy Confederate gun fire on the Black River the same day
    Commissioned CSS Queen of the West and participated in the forcing USS Indianola off the Red River, 24 February 1863
  • Final Disposition, attacked, 14 April 1863, on the Atchafalaya River, LA, by Union ships, left burning and adrift, grounded and exploded
    Specifications:
    Displacement 460 t.
    Length 180'
    Beam 37' 6"
    Depth 8'
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement 120
    Armament
    USN - 1862 one 30-pdr, three 12-pdr howitzers
    CSN - 24 February 1863 - one 30-pdr Parrott rifle, one 20-pdr Parrott rifle, three 12-pdr howitzers
    Propulsion
    steam engine(s)
    boiler(s)
    two sidewheels
    By
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    US Army Ram Queen of the West
    Vicksburg 199k "The Federal Ram 'Queen of the West' attacking the Rebel Gun-boat 'Vicksburg' off Vicksburg"
    Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting the 2 February 1863 attack by the US Ram USS Queen of the West on the Confederate steamer Vicksburg at Vicksburg, MS.
    US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59106.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Queen of the West 89k Watercolor, initialed "T.C.R.", of US Ram Queen of the West operating on the Western Rivers during the Civil War.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 61917-KN, courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.    		  
    General Beauregard 177k "The Great Naval Battle before Memphis, June 6, 1862". Engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", depicting the action between the Confederate River Defense Fleet and Federal warships off Memphis, Tennessee. In the foreground, the print depicts the Confederate ships (from left to right):
    CSS General M. Jeff Thompson (shown sinking);
    CSS Little Rebel (shown burning);
    CSS General Sterling Price;
    CSS General Beauregard (shown being jammed by the Ellet Ram
    USS Monarch;
    CSS General Bragg (shown aground) and
    CSS Colonel Lovell (shown sinking). In the background are the Federal warships (from left to right):
    US Ram Queen of the West;
    USS Cairo;
    USS Carondelet;
    USS Louisville;
    USS Saint Louis; a tug; and
    USS Benton. The city of Memphis is in the right distance, with a wharf boat by the shore. Harpers Weekly, 28 June 1862.
    Sons of the South - Memphis Naval Battle
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58891    		 Robert Hurst
    Col. Lovell 132k "Photo Caption "The Queen of the West and the Monarch steamed past the Confederate ironclads at full speed an charged the vessels, the Queen of the West selecting the [Colonel] Lovell near the middle of the enemy's line of battle. The [Colonel] Lovell advanced to meet her, and a mutually destructive collision seemed inevitable; but suddenly the [Colonel] Lovell swerved and headed in shore. The Queen of the West smashed into her such terrific momentum the the Confederate was nearly cut in two, and disappeared in a few minutes." Tommy Trampp
    USS Queen of the West
    Queen of the West 197k Line engraving after a sketch by Mr. McCullagh, published in "Harper's Weekly", 21 March 1863, depicting the capture of the USS Queen of the West while she was operating on the Red River, LA., 14 February 1863.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58760 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command    		 Tommy Trampp
    Queen of the West 89k Annotated watercolor sketch of the USS Queen of the West.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 61918-KN (Color) from the Friends of Fort DuFort DeRussy, Inc.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Queen of the West 192k Illustration of USS Queen of the West underway.
    From "The History of the Confederate States Navy" by J. Thomas Scharf.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Queen of the West 53k USS Queen of the West sketch for publication for "Harpers Weekly". Measures 7.5x3 watercolor and pencil sketch captioned "The Ram Queen of the West". Tommy Trampp
    CSS Queen of the West
    Queen of the West 186k "Destruction of the 'Queen of the West' by Union Gun-Boats."
    Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting CSS Queen of the West being destroyed in Grand Lake, Louisiana, during an attack by USS Estrella (extreme left), USS Calhoun (extreme right) and USS Arizona (second from right), 14 April 1863.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 58759    		 Robert Hurst
    Queen of the West 143k Line engraving after a sketch by Theodore R. Davis, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting the 25 February 1863 operation in which a dummy ironclad (left) was floated down the Mississippi River by the U.S. Navy, causing the Confederates to destroy the captured ironclad USS Indianola. CSS Queen of the West is depicted at the right. Ship was sunk at the head of Palmyra island. Then adjacent to the plantation of Jefferson Davis, and "New Carthage". Shown on this map.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 59106    		 Robert Hurst
    USS / CSS Queen of the West
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The US Army Ship Index Back To The US Army Ram Photo Index Back To The Old Navy" Steam and Sail Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 27 October 2017