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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Sacramento (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sacramento Class Screw Sloop-of-War:
  • Built at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
  • Launched, 28 April 1862
  • Commissioned USS Sacramento, 7 January 1863, CDR. Andrew E. K. Benham in command
  • During the Civil War USS Sacramento was assigned to:
    Blockade duty off Wilmington , N.C.
    Captured the British blockade runner Wanderer, 1 May 1863
  • Reassigned to European waters in 1864 to search for Confederate vessels
    Assisted in the blockading of the Confederate CSS Rappahannock at Calais, France in early 1865
    In March 1865 joined USS Niagara off Ferrol, Spain, to observe the movements of the Confederate casemate turret ram CSS Stonewall bound for Cuba from Bordeaux, France
  • USS Sacramento departed Queenstown, Ireland, 25 July 1865, arriving at Boston, 12 August 1865
  • Decommissioned, 21 August 1865, at the Boston Navy Yard
  • Recommissioned, 17 September 1866, assigned to special service in Chinese and Japanese waters
  • Ran aground, 19 June 1867, on reefs at the mouth of the Godavari River after departing Madras, India while enroute to her assignment in the Far East
  • Final Disposition, total loss, all hands saved
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,100 t.
    Length 229' 6"
    Beam 38'
    Draft 8' 10"
    Speed 12.5 kts
    Complement 161
    Armament
    one 150-pdr rifle
    two 11" smoothbores
    one 30-pdr rifle
    two 24-pdr howitzers
    two 12-pdr rifles
    two 12-pdr smoothbores
    Propulsion steam and sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Sacramento 71k Wash drawing by Clary Ray, circa 1898 of USS Sacramento depicting the ship during the Civil War.
    US Navy photo # NH 57513    		 Bill Gonyo
    Sacramento 67k USS Sacramento at Kingstown, Ireland, in July 1865. Several local sailing vessels are nearby. This photograph shows Sacramento in her original configuration, with no bowsprit.
    US Navy photo # NH 57513    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Sacramento 137k The Tower of Belem, Lisbon Harbor, Portugal. Firing on USS Niagara and USS Sacramento, 28 March 1865.
    Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 13 May 1865, page 301.
    This incident resulted when Niagara was shifting her berth in the harbor and was briefly fired upon by the harbor fortification, on the presumption that she was trying to follow CSS Stonewall to sea before expiration of the 24-hour waiting period mandated by international law. Portugal later apologized for the incident.
    US Navy photo # NH 59345    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Sacramento 51k USS Sacramento in quarantine at Madeira in December 1866, while en route to the East Indies station by way of west Africa. Photo from the collection of Surgeon H.P. Babcock, USN; donated by his son, George R. Babcock, 1939.
    US Navy photo # NH 45378    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Sacramento 90k "Kroomen" from Monrovia, Liberia, on board, in January-February 1867, while USS Sacramento was cruising along the west African coast en route from the U.S. to the East Indies station. These men appear to be wearing Navy uniforms and may be members of Sacramento's crew.
    Photo from the collection of Surgeon H.P. Babcock, USN; donated by his son, George R. Babcock, 1939.
    US Navy photo # NH 45376    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Sacramento 45k USS Sacramento at Benguela, Angola, off Elephant's Bay, 7 March 1867, while cruising along the west African coast en route to the East Indies station. Her bowsprit was fitted during her 1865-66 refit.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #: NH 45377 Collection of Surgeon H.P. Babcock, USN; donated by his son, George R. Babcock, 1939.    		 Robert Hurst
    Sacramento 71k Pencil sketch by Midshipman M.S. Day of USS Sacramento, drawn 20 June 1867, the day after she was wrecked on a bar at the mouth of the Godavari River near Madras, India.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #: NH 45379    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Sacramento (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 12 August 2016