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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Swatara (II)

Screw Sloop :
  • Laid down, date unknown, at New York Navy Yard
  • Launched, 17 September 1873
  • Commissioned USS Swatara, 11 May 1874, CAPT. Ralph Chandler in command
  • Departed New York, 8 June 1874, with a scientific party to the South Pacific
  • Returned to New York, 31 May 1875, reassigned to the North Atlantic Squadron
  • Decommissioned and placed in reserve at Boston Navy Yard, 1 August 1878
  • Recommissioned, 24 December 1879, at Boston Navy Yard for duty with the Asiatic Squadron
  • Returning to Hampton Roads, 4 December 1882 for overhaul
  • Reassigned to the North Atlantic Squadron in January 1883
  • Reassigned to Hydrographic duty in 1886
  • Decommissioned, 27 October 1886, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
  • Recommissioned, at Portsmouth, 1 March 1888 and assigned to the South Atlantic Squadron
  • Reassigned to the Asiatic Squadron in 1889
  • Returned to Mare Island Navy Yard, 6 December 1890
  • Decommissioned, 7 February 1891, at Mare Island Navy Yard and placed in ordinary
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 29 July 1896
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 2 November 1896, to Johnson Wrecking Co., San Francisco, CA.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,900 t.
    Length 216'
    Beam 37'
    Draft 16' 6" (mean)
    Speed 10.2 kts
    Complement 230
    Armament
    six 9 inch smooth boor guns
    one 8 inch riffle
    one 30-pdr gun
    Propulsion Sails/Steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Swatara
    098601725    		 175k USS Swatara photo album, circa 1884. The following twenty-two photos were taken from the album and are now in the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command. Darryl Baker
    Swatara
    098601723    		 163k USS Swatara on stocks, circa 1874 at Navy Yard New York. Building 28 (background) building 17, 18, 19, 20 (center) building #114 (bending shed) building #42, 10 ship house "E" (Roof lower right)
    US National Archives photo # 80-G--1B-22 now in the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command.    		  
    Swatara
    098601701    		 133k USS Swatara at New York Navy Yard, 14 May 1874, three days after she was commissioned. Ship under construction behind Swatara is the future USS Trenton. Note the distinctive waterfront crane.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 44611, courtesy of the Bethlehem Steel Company Archives. Skerret Collection.    		 Robert Hurst
    Swatara
    098601719    		 309k USS Swatara at the New York Navy Yard, in 1876. Note crane at right.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 1826    		  
    Swatara
    098601721    		 192k USS Swatara at at anchor, 1874. From Bennett, "Steam Navy of the U.S.".
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 44612    		  
    Swatara
    098601722    		 217k Detailed view of USS Swatara's stern. Note boats, quarter galleries and Dahlgren saluting Howitzers, date unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 44613    		  
    Swatara
    098601726    		 313k USS Swatara at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert Hensen
    Swatara
    098601702    		 288k USS Swatara crew on parade, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 121.    		  
    Swatara
    098601703    		 232k USS Swatara crew participating in sword exercises, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119221.    		  
    Swatara
    098601704    		 205k USS Swatara crew group photo, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119203.    		  
    Swatara
    098601705    		 211k USS Swatara commanding officer CAPT. Gilbert C. Wiltse, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119555.    		  
    Swatara
    098601706    		 246k USS Swatara apprentices, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119209.    		  
    Swatara
    098601707    		 234k USS Swatara second company, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119211.    		  
    Swatara
    098601708    		 252k USS Swatara crew group photo, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119212.    		  
    Swatara
    098601709    		 237k USS Swatara ship's company, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119207.    		  
    Swatara
    098601710    		 274k USS Swatara battalion drill, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119218.    		  
    Swatara
    098601711    		 245k USS Swatara crew member performing a sword dance, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 118938.    		  
    Swatara
    098601712    		 203k USS Swatara, officers, 1884. Identified are: William S. Sims (third from right, back row; bearded) and Captain Gilbert C. Wiltse (front row; bearded).
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 120.    		  
    Swatara
    098601713    		 243k USS Swatara berth deck cooks, 1884
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119213.    		  
    Swatara
    098601714    		 294k USS Swatara 3" rifle and crew 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119208.    		  
    Swatara
    098601715    		 187k USS Swatara 3" rifle and crew. Sailor third from right is holding breech handle, 1884.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 119210.    		  
    Swatara
    098601716    		 191k USS Swatara Chief Engineer and Assistant, 1884
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 120208    		  
    Swatara
    098601717    		 184k USS Swatara Steerage Mess. William S. Sims in center, 1884
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 120209    		  
    Swatara
    098601720    		 209k USS Swatara Marine guard in formation, date unknown
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58901    		  
    Alliance
    098601404    		 177k Warships rigged for mourning in the Hudson River, New York, seen from Manhattan Island, probably during the funeral of ex-President Ulysses S. Grant in August 1885. Ship at the far right is USS Powhatan. If the event is actually Grant's funeral, the three sloops of war in the center are (from left to right) USS Alliance, USS Swatara and USS Omaha. The Revenue Cutter at left may be USRC U.S. Grant.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 95874, courtesy of Paul H. Silverstone, 1986    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Swatara
    098601718    		 296k Sketch by by A. M'Callum off gunboat USS Swatara leaving United States, date unknown
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 108867    		  
    Swatara
    098601724    		 440k General Philip H. Sheridan, USA in a roll compensating bed aboard USS Swatara while being taken to his summer home "Nonquit" Buzzard's Bay, MA., during his final illness, July 1888. He died soon thereafter.
    Copied from "The Life of General Philip H. Sheridan" by F.A. Burr and R.J. Hinton, 1888, page 377. Courtesy of Hull Maintenance Technician First Class J.T. Thompson Jr., USN, 1977
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 85602    		  
    USS Swatara
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    Last Updated 22 January 2021