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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Tempest (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Campaign Medal
Sidewheel Steamer:
  • Built in 1862 as a wooden-hulled sidewheel steamer at Louisville, KY.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased for the Navy by Paymaster C.C. Jackson, 30 December 1864, at Cincinnati, OH. from Joseph Brown for $55,000
  • Fitted out at Cincinnati as a gunboat by Joseph Brown
  • Commissioned, USS Tempest, 26 April 1865, at Cairo, IL., Acting Volunteer LCDR. William G. Saltonstall in command
  • USS Tempest operated with the Union naval forces in the western rivers throughout her brief naval career
  • She served as flagship for Acting RADM. S. P. Lee, while he directed efforts on the Mississippi and its tributaries to prevent the escape of former Confederate President Jefferson F. Davis
  • Tempest continued in this role while Lee oversaw the demobilization of the Mississippi Squadron
  • Lee hauled down his flag from Tempest, 14 August
  • Decommissioned at Mound City, IL., 29 November 1865
  • Sold at public auction, 1 December 1865 at Mound City to Robert Cams for $12,300
  • Decommissioned at Mound City, IL., 30 November 1865
  • Redocumented, 11 December 1865 and remained in merchant service until 1870
  • Final Disposition, burned on the Ouachita River, 27 December 1869, at Tattoo Landing.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 161 t.
    Length unknown
    Beam unknown
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    31 March 1865 - two 30-pdr Parrott rifles, two 20-pdr Parrott rifles, two 24-pdr howitzers, two 12-pdrs
    29 April 1865 - two 30-pdr Parrot rifles - six 24-pdr howitzers
    8 May 1865 - two 30-pdr Parrot rifles - eight 24-pdr howitzers
    Propulsion
    steam engine(s)
    boiler(s)
    two sidewheels
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    Tempest (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
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    Last Updated 16 January 2024