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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Mount Vernon (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Screw Gunboat:
  • a Wooden-screw steamer, built at Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1859
  • Chartered by the Navy in May 1861 for 3 months
  • Purchased by the Navy and commissioned USS Mount Vernon, at New York 12 September 1861, CDR. Oliver S. Glisson in command
  • USS Mount Vernon convoyed two steamers and two sailing ships to the Gulf of Mexico in May taking the brigantine East
  • Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
    At Fort Monroe, VA. in July 1862, Mount Vernon gave refuge to Unionists preparing to travel north
    Patrolled the Rappahannock River, from 17 July 1862, taking the sloop Wild Pigeon, 20 July
    Off Beaufort, N.C. USS Mount Vernon fired a ship the Confederates were using as a beacon
    Captured British blockade runner schooners British Queen, 1 March 1863 and Mary Jane, 24 March 1863
    Chased schooner Kate ashore, 2 April 1863
    Captured blockade runner St. George later in April 1863
    Participated in the attack on Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point, VA, 2 May 1863
    Took blockade runner Constitution, 23 May 1863
    Between June and August 1863 at New Inlet and Little River Inlet participated in forcing several ships ashore
    Participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher in December 1864 and January 1865
  • Decommissioned, 27 June 1865, at New York
  • Sold at public auction 12 July 1865
  • Sold to foreign owners in 1869
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 625 t.
    Length 175' 7"
    Beam 22' 6"
    Depth unknown
    Draft 14'
    Speed 12 kts
    Complement 108
    Armament
    one 32-pdr (22 April 1861)
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Mount Vernon 131k "Cutting Out of the Southern Schooner 'Aid,' off Mobile, by the Boats of the U. S. Steam Frigate Niagara, assisted by the U.S. Steamer Mount Vernon, June 5, 1861".
    Line engraving published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1861. USS Niagara in in the far distance beyond the floundering schooner Aid. USS Mount Vernon is in the right foreground. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Photo #: NH 59145    		 Robert Hurst
    Alabama 186k "Merchant Steamers Converted into Gun-boats."
    Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume. Depicts thirteen merchant steamships acquired by the U.S. Navy between April and August 1861 and subsequently converted into warships, plus the steamer Nashville (far left), which became a Confederate cruiser. US Navy ships as identified below the image bottom, are (from left to right:
    USS Alabama,
    USS Quaker City,
    USS Santiago de Cuba, (listed as "St. Jago de Cuba")
    USS Mount Vernon,
    USS Massachusetts,
    USS South Carolina,
    USS Florida,
    USS De Soto,
    USS Augusta,
    USS James Adger,
    USS Monticello,
    USS Bienville and
    USS R.R. Cuyler.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59366.    		 Robert Hurst
    Montgomery (III) 158k Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861, pages 456-457, depicting a large number of Navy ships off the New York Navy Yard, early in the Civil War. Vessels shown include (from left to right): USS Montgomery;
    USS Vandalia;
    USS Brandywine;
    USS North Carolina;
    USS Potomac;
    USS Savannah;
    USS R.R. Cuyler;
    USS Mount Vernon;
    USS Roanoke;
    USS Resolute
    and USS Wabash. A rowing launch is underway in the foreground.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59308    		 Bill Gonyo
    Mount Vernon
    098634502    		 130k Gunboat USS Mount Vernon at Brooklyn Navy Yard in June 1861. Behind Mount Vernon, dwarfing the gunboat, is USS Roanoke, while in the background left is the gunboat USS R. R. Cuyler.
    Harper's Weekly. 1861-07-20    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Mount Vernon (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 22 October 2021