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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive
USS Onward (I)
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons
Civil War Campaign Medal
Clipper Ship:
Built in 1852 as the clipper ship Onward by J. O Curtis at Medford, MA. for Reed, Wade, and Co., Boston, MA.
Launched, 3 July 1852
Operated in merchant service between New York, Boston and San Francisco
Purchased by the Navy at New York from John Ogden, 9 September 1861
Commissioned, 11 January 1862, at New York Navy Yard, Acting Vol. LT. J. Frederick Nickels in command
USS Onward was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, arriving at Port Royal, S.C. 28 January
She operated along the coasts of Georgia and Florida before taking station off Charleston
On 12 March, with four other Union ships, she captured blockade running ship Emily St. Pierre attempting to slip into Charleston Harbor laden with gunny cloth from Calcutta
needed for baling Southern cotton
On 26 April, she forced schooner Chase aground on Raccoon Key near Cape Romain, S.C., and destroyed her
On 1 May, she drove schooner Sarah aground at Bull's Bay, S. C., where she was destroyed by her own crew to prevent capture
Twelve days later off Charleston, she accepted Planter from Robert Smalls, an escaped slave, who had slipped out of Charleston Harbor with the Confederate steamer while her
officers were ashore
In September, USS Onward sailed north for repairs and, when back in fighting trim, she sailed 30 March 1863 for the South Atlantic and was used for the rest of the war as a
cruiser on the high seas hunting Confederate commerce raiders
In May Onward and USS Mohican cornered Confederate tenders Agrippina and
Castor which supplied coal, gunpowder, and provisions
for Southern raiders Alabama and Georgia, in Bahia, Brazil and hemmed them in port until they were forced to sell their fuel and munitions to obtain
clearance from port. This delay prevented the tenders from fulfilling their mission.
With the end of the war, Onward decommissioned at New York 20 June 1865
Recommissioned, 5 September 1865, and was used as a storeship at Callao, Peru until decommissioned 13 November 1884
Final Disposition, sold date unknown at Callao, Peru., fate unknown.
Specifications:
Displacement 1,000 t.
Length 175 ft
Beam 34.5 ft
Depth of Hold unknown
Draft 20.5 ft
Speed unknown
Complement 103
Armament
8 January 1863 - one 12-pdr rifle
31 December 1863 - two 12-pdr rifles, two 32-pdrs 42 cwt
1 November 1864 - two 32-pdrs 42 cwt
31 March 1865 - two 32-pdrs 42 cwt, two heavy 12-pdrs
Propulsion
steam engine(s)
boiler(s)
two sidewheels
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Onward
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
This page is created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Michael Junge
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Last Updated 9 January 2024