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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

CSS Water Witch
ex
USS Water Witch (III) (1852 - 1864)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Sidewheel Steamer Gunboat:

Built, date unknown, at Washington Navy Yard

Launched in 1851

Commissioned USS Water Witch in the winter of 1852-53, LT. Thomas Jefferson Page in command

From 1853 to 1856 USS Water Witch conducted surveys along the Atlantic coast of South America

Decommissioned, 12 May 1856, at Washington Navy Yard for repairs

Recommissioned, 17 September 1858, joining Flag Officer W. B. Shubricks' squadron to Paraguay seeking redress for firing on Water Witch and killing a crew member while the ship was surveying the La Plata River in February 1855

Water Witch returned to survey work following the expedition to Paraguay

Decommissioned, 1 November 1860, at Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs

Recommissioned, 10 April 1861

During the Civil War USS Water Witch participated in the following campaigns/actions:

Joined the Gulf Blockading Squadron at Pensacola, 2 May 1861, as dispatch boat and mail packet

Summer 1861 found Water Witch at the mouth of the Mississippi River were she conducted reconnaissance missions

Water Witch was assigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, 20 January 1862, where she again served as dispatch boat and mail packet

Captured the Confederate blockade runners, Cornucopia, 13 November 1861 and schooner William Mallory, 5 March 1862

Decommissioned, April to September 1862, for repairs

Recommissioned, 6 September 1862, joining the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Port Royal, S.C., 18 September

Participated in the taking of Confederate positions on the St John's River in October

USS Water Witch was boarded and captured by Confederate forces in Ossabaw Sound, 3 June 1864

Taken into the Confederate Navy, name retained, LT. W.W. Games CSN in command

Final Disposition, burned at White Bluff, GA., 19 December 1864, by the Confederates to prevent capture by Union forces

Specifications:
Displacement 378 t.
Length 150'
Beam 23'
Draft 9'
Depth 11' 6"
Speed 11.5 kts
Complement 55-64
Armament
As built
one 32-pdr
1862
four 32-pdr smoothbores
one 24-pdr howitzer
1864
one 30-pdr muzzle loading rifle
one 12-pdr muzzle loading rifle
two 12-pdr smoothbores

Propulsion

one inclined condensing engine (37 1/2" x 6') 180hp

two boilers

two sidewheels

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
358k	Ships of The Paraguay Squadron under way. Ships are from left to right: USS Water Witch next the flag-ship USS Sabine; next to USS Fulton; behind *Fulton* is USS Western Port (later USS Wyandotte); next is USS Harriet Lane; behind *Harriet Lane* is USS Supply; and next the bow of USS Memphis. Artist unknown. Image from Harper's Weekly, New York, 16 October 1858.	Robert Hurst
339k	Drawing of USS Water Witch under way. US Library of Congress photo.	Bill Gonyo
285k	Drawing of USS Water Witch under way. Courtesy the National Civil War Museum.	Bill Gonyo
485k	Sketch of USS Water Witch by Alfred Rudolph Waud, Inscribed "Gift, J.P. Morgan, 1919."	Tommy Trampp
343k	Illustration of USS Water Witch by an unknown artist. From the book "La Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay", by Thomas Jefferson Page. A part of AppleWood's Military History Series.	Robert Hurst
97k	Civil War collectors card with wash drawing of USS Water Witch underway, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
25k	Wash drawing of USS Water Witch underway. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 60353.	Tommy Trampp
251k	USS Water Witch at anchor, date and location unknown. Photo courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Salem. Photo from "Warships of the Civil War Navies" by Paul H. Silverstone.	Robert Hurst
101k	Historic marker recording the capture of USS Water Witch by Confederate forces, 19 December 1864. The marker is located on Dancey Ave 0.1 mile from Davidson Ave, Savannah, GA. Undated photo taken by David Seibert.	Robert Hurst
59k	Replica of USS Water Witch completed in 2009, sits outside the National Civil War Naval Museum. Photo courtesy of National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus, GA.	Tommy Trampp
63k	USS Water Witch reenactment crew during the replicas commissioning in 2009. Photo courtesy of National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus, GA.	Tommy Trampp