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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Crusader (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Screw Steam:

Laid down, date unknown, as Chowan by John K. Kirkman at Murfeesboro, N.C.

Launched in 1857

Delivered to the North Carolina and New York, Steamship Co., date unknown

Sold at auction in May 1858 to John W. Southall and CAPT. Thomas W. Badger, renamed Southern Star

In early 1858 she was towed to Delaware and fitted with engines

SS Southern Star was chartered by the Navy in October 1858

Commissioned, USS Southern Star, 27 October 1858, CDR. A. M. Pennock in command

Southern Star sailed, 2 November 1858, as part of the military-diplomatic punitive expedition to Paraguay

Purchased by the Navy at Norfolk in April 1859, renamed Crusader

Fitted out at Philadelphia Navy Yard

Entered naval service as USS Crusader under the command of LT. J. N. Maffitt

Assigned to the Home Squadron, to suppress the slave trade in the West Indies

While patrolling in the Gulf of Mexico, captured two vessels to prevent their sale for use as Confederate privateers.

Decommissioned, 17 September 1861 for repairs

During the Civil War USS Crusader was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron

Participated in capture of a Confederate battery on the South Edisto River, 28 April and destroyed a Confederate camp at Simmons Bluff, South Carolina, 21 June 1862

Reassigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in September 1862

Captured five vessels and cargos on the Chesapeake Bay and inland waters of Virginia between September 1862 and the end of the war

Decommissioned, 13 June 1865, at Washington Navy Yard

Sold, 20 July 1865, renamed SS Kalorama, entered commercial service

Final Disposition, wrecked, 25 February 1876

Specifications:
Displacement 545 t.
Length 169'
Beam 28'
Depth unknown
Draft 12' 6"
Speed 8 kts
Complement 92

Armament

four 32-pdrs

one 12-pdr

eight 24-pdrs

Propulsion steam and sail

Size	Image Description	Source
124k	USS Crusader in a harbor during the Civil War. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 66399. Donation of Mrs. George W.S. Musgrave, 1968.	Bill Gonyo
140k	Line engraving, based on "a sketch by a correspondent", published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", 1861. It depicts one of the measures taken by the Federal Government to reinforce positions in the Gulf of Mexico as the secession crisis deepened. SS Joseph Whitney is shown in the center, with USS Crusader at right. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 73755. Donation of Mrs. George W.S. Musgrave, 1968.	Bill Gonyo
140k	"The United States Fleet off Fort Pickens, Florida" A line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861, depicting U.S. Navy ships off Pensacola, Florida, in April 1861. Federal troops were landed at Fort Pickens on 12 April. Ships identified in the title line are (left to right): USS Wyandotte (partially visible); USS Supply (in the distance); USS Sabine; USS Brooklyn and USS Crusader (partially visible). US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59121	Bill Gonyo

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

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 5 February 2023