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

USS Gettysburg (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Gunboat:

Built as the Two-masted Iron Paddle Passenger Steamer Douglas in 1858 by Robert Napier & Co., Govan, Scotland

Launched, 28 May 1858

Delivered to Isle of Man Packet Co., Douglas

Sold in 1862 to Cunard, Wilson and Co., acting as brokers for Confederate Agents, Fraser, Trenholm and Co.

Renamed Margaret and Jessie in 1863

Captured as a blockade runner, 5 November 1863

Purchased from the New York Prize Court by the US Navy

Commissioned, USS Gettysburg, 2 May 1864, at New York Navy Yard, LT. Roswell H. Lamson in command

During the Civil War USS Gettysburg was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron

24 August 1864 in company with USS Keystone State she captured SS Lilian

In addition to capturing blockade runners also participated in the following action;

First attack on Fort Fisher 24-25 December 1864

Second attack on Fort Fisher, 15 January 1865, Gettysburg suffered two men killed and six wounded in this assault

Decommissioned, 23 June 1865 at New York Navy Yard

Recommissioned, 3 December 1866, for a cruise to the Caribbean Sea

Decommissioned, 1 March 1867, Washington, D.C.

Recommissioned, 3 March 1868, at Norfolk, special service in the Caribbean, protecting American interests, assisting in laying telegraph cable and hydrographic work

Decommissioned, 8 October 1869, at New York Navy Yard, for repairs and lay up in ordinary

Recommissioned, 6 November 1873, at Washington Navy Yard

Decommissioned, 9 April 1875, at Washington Navy Yard

Recommissioned, 21 September 1875, to assist in the important Hydrographic Office expeditions in the Caribbean

Decommissioned, 26 June 1876, at Washington Navy Yard

Recommissioned, 20 September 1876, for special duty to the Mediterranean surveying coasts and islands

Decommissioned, 6 May 1879

Final Disposition, sold, 8 May 1879, scrapped in Naples Italy

Specifications:
Displacement 950 t.
Length 221'
Beam 26' 3"
Depth of Hold 13' 6"
Speed 15 kts
Complement 96

Armament

one 30-pdr Parrott rifle

two 12-pdr rifles

four 24-pdr howitzers

Propulsion Side lever steam engine driving twin paddlewheels

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
Merchant Service Isle of Man Steam Packet Co.
	140k	RMS Douglas under way in the colors of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. on one of her scheduled runs between Douglas, Isle of Man and Liverpool. Photo from Wikimedia Commons	K. Sutton
USS Gettysburg
	321k	USS Gettysburg at Key West, FL., circa 1868. Glass slide from the Haffenreffer Collection, courtesy of Florida Keys Libraries, Photo # MM00047503x.	Robert Hurst
	61k	Painting by De Simone, depicting USS Gettysburg under way in the Bay of Naples, Italy, in 1878. This view is cropped from US Naval History and Heritage command Photo # NH 53730. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 53730-A.	Robert Hurst
	98k	Montage featuring a painting of USS Gettysburg, by De Simone, Naples, 1878, and views of four officers who served in her in 1864-1865. The officers are, clockwise from upper right: LT. Roswell H. Lamson., Commanding Officer; Henry S. Hutchings, Paymaster's Clerk; Acting Master's Mate H.J. ("I" ?) Derbyshire; and Acting 3rd Assistant Engineer Enoch B. Carter (probably -- there is no Engineer named "William Carter" in contemporary Navy Registers). US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 53730	Tommy Trampp

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

Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page

Back To The "Old Navy" Ship Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.

This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 5 January 2018