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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Lenapee

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Campaign Medal

Sassacus-class Gunboat:

Hull built in 1862-63 as the wood double-ended Sassacus-class Gunboat Lenapee by Edward Lupton, Brooklyn, N.Y. Engines by Washington Iron Works, Newburg, N.Y., Cost $175,000

Launched, 28 May 1863

Commissioned, 30 December 1864, LCDR. Samuel Magaw in command

USS Lenapee joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Beaufort, N.C., 23 January 1865 and was ordered to the Cape Fear River for final operations against Wilmington

In the weeks that followed she did reconnaissance and patrol work while RADM. Porter and MGEN. Terry marshalled their forces for an attack on Fort Anderson

On 7 February, as BGEN. Schofield advanced from Smithville with 8,000 men, Porter attacked Fort Anderson by water. USS Lenapee, USS Montauk, USS Pawtuxet, USS Unadilla, and USS Pequot shelled the defensive works

The next day the Union ships moved in closer and kept up a heavy fire until the dogged Confederate defenders were at last forced to evacuate the fort under cover of darkness

After Wilmington had fallen 22 February, USS Lenapee was one of three ships ordered to remain in the Cape Fear River to defend the town and to help clear the navigable waters around Wilmington of obstructions

There she served until after the end of the Civil War, retained at Wilmington through 1866 as protection against civil riots.

Decommissioned 17 October 1867 at Portsmouth, N.H.

Sold at public auction at Portsmouth, N.H., to E. Stannard 26 August 1868

Final Disposition, fate unknown.

Specifications:
Displacement 974 t.
Length 205'
Beam 35'
Depth of Hold 7'11"
Draft loaded forward 7'11", aft 7'7"
Speed 12kts
Complement 147

Armament

two 100-pdr Parrott rifles

four 9" Dahlgren smoothbores

two 24-pdr howitzers

two 20-pdr rifles

Propulsion

one inclined, direct-action, surface condenser steam engine; cylinder diameter 58" stroke 8'9"

two vertical tubular boilers

two sidewheels

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
098635505	85k	Generic lithograph representing the Sassacus-class gunboats. Wikipedia		John Spivey

Lenapee
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Last Updated 12 August 2022