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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Valley City

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Personal Awards

Quarter Gunner John Davis

Screw Steamer:

Laid down in 1859 as the wooden-hulled screw steamer Valley City at Philadelphia. PA.

Launched, date unknown

Purchased by the Navy at New York City, 26 July 1861

Commissioned, USS Valley City,13 September 1861, at New York City, LT. James C. Chaplin in command

USS Valley City joined the Potomac Flotilla, 17 September 1861, for patrol and reconnaissance duties exchanging gunfire with a Confederate battery at Freestone Point, Va., 25 September 1861

Reassigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in October 1861

USS Valley City participated in the amphibious assault upon Roanoke Island, N.C., 7 and 8 February 1862

Assisted in the capture of Elizabeth City, N.C., 10 February 1862

Assigned to protect Union troops stationed at Plymouth, N.C., 25 October 1862

Led a reconnaissance expedition, 2 November 1862, up the Roanoke River to Hamilton, N. C.

Re-deployed off Washington, N.C. early 1863, fired upon Confederate positions near Blount's Creek, N.C., on 15 April 1863

Assisted in the protection of Union forces ashore during a joint expedition up the Chowan River, N.C. 26 July 1863

Took as a war prize the schooner M. O'Neill, 5 May 1864

Assisted in the recapture of Plymouth, N. C. 29 October to 1 November 1864

Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register in the summer of 1865

Sold at public auction at New York, City, 15 August 1865, re-documented for merchant service, 28 December 1865

Final Disposition, lost at sea off Cape San Blas, FL., 30 January 1882

Specifications:
Displacement 190 t.
Length 127' 6"
Beam 21' 10"
Depth of Hold 7' 6"
Draft 8' 4"
Speed 10 kts
Complement unknown

Armament

four- 32-pdr guns

Propulsion steam

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
	139k	Preparing Merchant Vessels for the Blockade", Harper's Weekly, September 7, 1861. Merchant steamers Augusta, *James Adger, Florida* and *Valley City* being fitted out for naval service at New York Navy Yard.		Tommy Trampp
	73k	Halftone reproduction of an artwork, published in "Deeds of Valor," Volume II, page 14, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907. This image shows Quarter Gunner John Davis preventing a powder explosion aboard USS Valley City by sitting on an open powder cask to protect it from nearby flames, during the attack on Confederates at Elizabeth City, N. C. on 10 February 1862. Davis received the Medal of Honor for this courageous act. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 79905		Bill Gonyo

USS Valley City
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Chaplin, James C.	13 September 1861 - 27 May 1862
02	Act Vol. LT. Furniss, Hartman K.	28 May 1862 - 21 September 1863
03	Act Master Brooks, John A. J.	21 September 1863 - 1 June 1865


Courtesy Bill Gonyo

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Last Updated 10 May 2019