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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Henry Janes

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Mortar Schooner:
  • Laid in 1854 as the schooner Henry Janes at Bayles Shipyard, Port jefferson, N.Y.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased by the Navy, 27 September 1861, at New York City from her owners, Van Brunt and Slaght
  • Commissioned, USS Henry Janes, 30 January 1862, at New York Navy Yard, Acting Master L. W. Pennington in command
  • Assigned to CDR. David Dixon Porter's Mortar Flotilla at Key West, FL.
  • Sailed with the flotilla joining the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, 18 March 1862, for the Mississippi River operations specifically aimed at the capture of New Orleans, LA.
  • On 18 April, Henry Janes participated in the the attack on Forts Jackson and St. Phillip below New Orleans
  • Henry Janes returned with the flotilla to Ship Island, MS., 6 May were they remained until they were called upon to aid in the bombardment Vicksburg, MS.
  • The schooner arrived below Vicksburg on 20 June with the rest of the flotilla in support of Flag Officer David Farragut's attempt to pass the Confederate batteries 28 June to join with Commodore C. H. Davis farther up river
  • Remaining off Vicksburg in to July Henry Janes bombarded the city's defenses on the 15th, before proceeding downriver
  • Henry Janes was reassigned to the blockading forces off the coast of Texas
  • At Sabine Pass Henry Janes helped to suppress Confederate batteries near Sabine City allowing the Union vessels to enter the pass on 21 September
  • Henry Janes returned to blockading duties for the next 18 months, with occasional boat expeditions into the innumerable passes and inlets of the Texas coast
  • Detailed to the ordnance department 8 August 1864, and assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as an ordnance vessel
  • Henry Janes sailed from New York 30 August to report in the sounds of North Carolina on ordnance duty
  • Sent north in June 1865, decommissioned 12 July 1865, and was sold to George Burnham, Jr., 20 July 1865 at Portsmouth, N,H.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 260 t
    Length 109'9"
    Beam 28'8"
    Draft unknown
    Depth of Hold 9'
    Speed unknown
    Complementunknown
    Armament
    one 13" mortar
    two 32-pdrs
    Propulsion steam/sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Westfield 103k "Commander Porter's Mortar Flotilla".
    Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862, depicting the mortar schooner flotilla commanded by David Dixon Porter during the April 1862 attack on the forts below New Orleans.
    Vessels shown are (from left to right):
    USS Westfield,
    USS Adolph Hugel,
    USS Para,
    USS William Bacon,
    USS Oliver H. Lee,
    USS C.P. Williams,
    USS Henry Janes,
    USS George Mangham,
    USS Racer,
    USS Horace Beals,
    USS Sarah Bruen,
    USS Samuel Rotan,
    USS John Griffith,
    USS Rachel Seaman,
    USS Maria J. Carlton,
    USS Sidney C. Jones,
    USS T.A. Ward,
    USS Sea Foam,
    USS Maria A. Wood,
    USS Octorara (Porter's flagship) and
    USS Matthew Vassar.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 59061    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Henry Janes
    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 28 March 2023