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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Kate


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Gunboat (Tinclad No.55):
  • Built as Kate B. Porter 1864 at Belle Vernon, PA.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased, 23 December 1864, by the Navy at Cincinnati, OH., from J. B. Porter & Son
  • Converted into a gunboat at Mound City, IL.
  • Commissioned at Mound City, IL., circa January 1865, Acting Volunteer Lt. W. R. Wells in command.
  • Kate was initially assigned to patrol duty on the Mississippi River from Mound City to Memphis
  • She was ordered downstream, 28 April 1865, to intercept Confederate President Jefferson Davis in his flight toward freedom in exile.
  • After his capture, she returned up the river to assist in the demobilization of the squadron.
  • The Gunboat was sent to the Tennessee River to clear away the hulks of a number of sunken gunboats and barges
  • In August she was ordered to Jefferson Barracks Reserve to discharge her ordnance and to assist in disarming other vessels
  • One of the last vessels in the Mississippi to remain on naval duty, Kate decommissioned at Mound City, 25 March 1866
  • Sold at public auction, 16 April 1866
  • Redocumented as James J. Trover, 12 April 1866
  • Final Disposition, stranded 300 miles below Fort Benton, Mont., 21 June 1867
    Specifications:
    Displacement 242 t.
    Length 160ft
    Beam 31ft
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft 5'6"
    Speed 5 kts
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    two 20-pdr Parrott rifles
    two 12-pdr howitzers
    six 24-pdr howitzers
    Propulsion
    steam engine

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    USS Kate
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 30 April 2024