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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Sumpter

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Screw Steam:
  • Built in 1853 by Hillman & Streaker, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Entered merchant service in 1853 as SS Atlanta
  • Renamed SS Parker Vein, date unknown
  • Chartered by the Navy, 13 September 1858, to take part in the expedition against Paraguay, CDR. Daniel R. Ridgely, in command
  • Purchased, 26 May 1859, renamed USS Sumpter
  • Re-assigned to cruise the coasts of Africa and Cuba to suppress slave trade
  • During the Civil War USS Sumpter was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron
    Participated in the capture of British blockade runner Emil St. Pierre off Charleston, 18 March 1862
    Re-assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Hampton Roads, VA.
  • Final Disposition, sunk by collision, 24 June 1863, with the Army transport General Meigs, off Smith Island in Chesapeake Bay
    Specifications:
    Displacement 464 t.
    Length 163'
    Beam 24' 4"
    Depth unknown
    Draft 11' 9"
    Speed unknown
    Complement 64
    Armament
    four 32-pdrs
    one 12-pdr smoothbore
    one 20-pdr Parrott rifle
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Wyandotte 157k Right half of a line engraving published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", 1861, depicting the scene off Pensacola in mid-April 1861. Features identified in text immediately below the image are (left to right): USS Sabine, USS St. Louis, USS Supply, USS Wyandotte (incorrectly depicted as a side-wheel steamer), Pensacola Navy Yard, and the chartered steamship SS Atlanta (USS Sumpter).
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 73743    		 Bill Gonyo
    Sumpter 17k Watercolor by Jim Christley of USS Sumpter making up her tow of Alligator in May 1862. Sumpter towed Alligator Hampton Roads. Tommy Trampp
    Alligator 720k USS Sumpter with Alligator in tow. Drawing by Jim Christley.
    Alligator 831k
    USS Sumpter
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) also see
    USS Atalanta
    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 3 November 2023