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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Keokuk (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Ironclad Steamer :

An experimental ironclad steamer, the Whitney Battery, designed by Charles W. Whitney

Laid down, date unknown, as Moodna at Jeronemus S. Underhill Dry Dock & Iron Works, New York City

Launched, 6 December 1862

Commissioned USS Keokuk in March 1863, LCDR. Alexander Colden Rhind in command

Keokuk joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, 26 March 1863 and participated in the attack on Charleston in April 1863

Final Disposition, sank as a result of enemy action, 8 April 1863

Specifications:
Displacement 6677 t.
Length 159' 6"
Beam 36'
Draft 8' 6"
Speed 9 Kts
Complement 92

Armament

two 11" Dahlgren smoothbore

Propulsion steam

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
	50k	*Namesake* Keokuk (1767–1848) was a chief of the Sauk or Sac tribe in central North America noted for his cooperation with the U.S. government which led to war with Black Hawk, who led part of their band into the Black Hawk War. Keokuk County, Iowa and the town of Keokuk, Iowa, where he is buried, are named for him.	Tommy Trampp
	119k	Lithograph by T. Bonar, New York, depicting Keokuk while she was under construction at the Jeronemus S. Underhill Dry Dock & Iron Works, New York City, shortly before her 6 December 1862 launching. . US Navy photo # NH 52050.	US Navy History and Heritage Command
	75k	Hand-tinted copy of a line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting *Keokuk* on the building ways at the J.S. Underhill shipyard, New York City, at about the time of her 6 December 1862 launching. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. US Navy photo # NH 82386-KN (color).	US Navy History and Heritage Command
098604115	81k	Sketch of the launching of *Keokuk* at the 11th street East River shipyard of Jeronemus S. Underhill, New York City, 6 December 1862. from a 1862 Frank Leslie newspaper.	Tommy Trampp
098604114	68k	USS Keokuk (Whitney Battery) illustration from "Harper's Weekly" 28 August 1862.	Tommy Trampp
	72k	USS Keokuk underway. Watercolor by Oscar Parkes. Courtesy of Dr. Oscar Parkes, London, England, 1936. US Navy photo # NH 59546.	US Navy History and Heritage Command
	68k	USS Keokuk underway. Engraved reproduction of an artwork by R.G. Skerrett, 1901. US Navy photo # NH 61998.	US Navy History and Heritage Command
	56k	USS Keokuk underway. Drawing by Fred S. Cozzens, published in "Our Navy -- Its Growth and Achievements", 1897, depicting the ship at sea during the Civil War. US Navy photo # NH 74555.	US Navy History and Heritage Command
	181k	1863 black and white in-text wood engraving of Union Navy Ironclad Steamers USS Keokuk and USS New Ironsides in company with monitors; USS Weehawken, USS Passaic, USS Patapsco, USS Catskill, USS Nantucket and USS Nahant, bombarding Confederate held Fort Sumter, South Carolina at the First Battle of Charleston Harbor, 7 April 1863	Tommy Trampp
	147k	"Charleston Harbor, Looking towards the City." Line engraving published in Harper's Weekly, January-June 1863, pages 264-65, depicting the Federal fleet off the harbor mouth at the time of the ironclads' attack on Fort Sumter, 7 April 1863. U.S. Navy ships specifically identified include USS New Ironsides (second from left in the ironclad formation) and USS Keokuk (ironclad furthest to the right). US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 59298	Robert Hurst
	109k	"A Panoramic View of Charleston Harbor. -- Advance of Ironclads to the Attack, April 7th, 1863". Line engraving published in "The Soldier in our Civil War", Volume II, page 172, with a key to individual ships and land features shown. U.S. Navy ships present are (from left to center): USS Keokuk, USS Nahant, USS Nantucket, USS Catskill, USS New Ironsides, USS Patapsco, USS Montauk, USS Passaic and USS Weehawken US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 59269	Tommy Trampp
098604116	137k	Sketch of Charleston Harbor, showing placement of US Navy Ironclads during the attack in April 1863 (from top bottom): USS Keokuk, USS Weehawken, USS Passaic, USS Montauk, USS Patapsco, USS Catskill, USS Nantucket, USS Nahant, "Ironclads in Action"	Tommy Trampp
	94k	Chromolithograph by Armstrong & Company, after an 1893 watercolor by Fred S. Cozzens, published in "Our Navy -- Its Growth and Achievements", 1897. Ships depicted are (from left to right): Monadnock class twin-turret monitor; Passaic class single-turret monitor (in foreground); USS Naugatuck; USS Keokuk USS New Ironsides and USS Nantucket. Collection of Captain Glenn Howell, USN, 1974 US Navy photo # NH 464-KN (color).	US Navy History and Heritage Command
	174k	Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting USS Keokuk as she sank off Charleston, South Carolina, on 8 April 1863, the morning after she received heavy damage from Confederate guns during the Union ironclads' attack on Fort Sumter. US Navy photo # NH 58751.	US Navy History and Heritage Command
	54k	A Recovered 11-inch Dahlgren gun from USS Keokuk, Charleston East Batter, 1 January 1890. Image courtesy Detroit Publishing Company. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a27447	Robert Hurst
	138k	An 11-inch Dahlgren smooth-bore gun. Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken at Charleston, South Carolina, during the late 19th Century or early 20th Century. The gun is mounted on an iron seacoast artillery carriage. This gun was salvaged from USS Keokuk after she sank as a result of battle damage received during the 7 April 1863 ironclad attack on Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. It was subsequently employed by the Confederates. Copied from the book "The Battery, Charleston, S.C." US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 1978	Robert Hurst
patapsco1g	283k	Location of shipwrecks on the naval battlefield at Charleston, S.C. South Carolina Institute for Archeology and Anthropology	Tommy Trampp