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USS Larkspur (I)
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons
Civil War Campaign Medal
Screw Steamer-Tug:
Built in 1863 as the wood steamer Pontiac at Wilmington, DE.
Launched, date unknown
Purchased for the Navy by COMO. C.K. Stribling at Wilmington, DE. from W. A. James & Co., 6 October 1863, for $31,000
Delivered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA., 12 October 1863
Commissioned USS Larkspur, 16 October 1863, at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Acting ENS. Francis B. Davis in command
USS Larkspur was assigned to the South Atlantic Blocking Squadron and had arrived Port Royal, S.C., by 1 November
She served there during most of the remainder of the Civil War towing and repairing the ships of the blockade, steaming along the Confederate coast gathering information about activity
ashore, carrying messages between ships of the squadron, and providing countless other services which helped the Union Navy to strangle the South
On 8 December she was ordered to St. Simon's Sound, GA., to seek word of General Sherman's army which was expected to emerge from the Georgia hinterland ending his famous march to the sea
Four days later she was sent to Savannah to assist the Union Army after it reached the sea
During the remainder of the war the tug operated at Charleston and Port Royal
She departed Port Royal, 27 June 1865, for Philadelphia, where she decommissioned 8 July 1865
Sold at public auction at Philadelphia 10 August for $8,100
Redocumented Larkspur, 5 September 1865
Renamed M. Vandercook 13 September 1883 and again renamed Somerville, 27 April 1898
Final Disposition, abandoned in 1905
Specifications:
Displacement 125 t.
Length 90'9"
Beam 19'2"
Depth of Hold 7'3"
Draft unknown
Speed 9kts
Complement 26
Armament
one 12-pdr howitzer
one 12-pdr rifle
Propulsion
one vertical steam engine; cylinder diameter 26" stroke 28"
one boiler
single screw
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Larkspur (I)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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Last Updated 15 July 2022