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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 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

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
US Army Ram Queen of the West
	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
	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.
	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
	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
	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
	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
	192k	Illustration of USS Queen of the West underway. From "The History of the Confederate States Navy" by J. Thomas Scharf.	Tommy Trampp
	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
	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
	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