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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Banshee (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sidewheel Steamer:
  • Built 1862 by Jones, Quiggin and Co., Liverpool, England
  • Captured off Wilmington, N.C., 21 November 1863, while attempting to run the blockade
  • Purchased, 12 March 1864, from the New York Prize Court, fitted out as a gunboat
  • Commissioned USS Banshee, 14 June 1864, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant W. H. Garfield in command
  • During the Civil War USS Banshee was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Wilmington, N.C.
  • Participated in the attack on Fort Fisher, 24 December 1864
  • Joined the Potomac Flotilla, 16 January 1865
  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Sold at New York, 30 November 1865, placed in commercial service as PS (Paddle Steamer) I. L. Smallwood
  • Sold 1867 to Charles M. Burns in New Orleans, renamed PS Irene remaining in service until the 1890s
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 325 t.
    Length 214'
    Beam 20'
    Depth unknown
    Draft 11.3'
    Speed 15 kts
    Complement 89
    Armament
    one 30-pdr rifle
    two 12-pdr smoothbores
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Banshee (I) 105k Halftone reproduction of an artwork by R.G. Skerrett, 1899 of blockade runner PS Banshee.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 54434    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Banshee (I) 59k PS Banshee U.S. CIVIL WAR CARD Ship Boat Card is from 1993-1996 Atlas Editions American Civil War Cards Tommy Trampp
    Banshee (I) 56k Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1951, of PS Banshee, painted for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume I. Courtesy of Erik Heyl.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 63867    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Banshee (I)
    098636304    		 61k Painting of the paddle steamer (blockade runner) PS Banshee (later USS Banshee), by Samuel Walters.
    Liverpool Echo    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Banshee (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Michael Junge
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    Last Updated 16 January 2024