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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Mohawk (II)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Screw Steamer:
  • Laid down, date unknown, as Caledonia by Teas & Birely, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Launched, 11 June 1853
  • Chartered by the Navy, 13 September 1858, entered service soon after, CDR. Augustus L. Case in command
  • Assigned to the expedition against Paraguay, arriving Asuncion, 25 January 1859
  • Purchased by the Navy, 14 June 1859, renamed Mohawk
  • Commissioned, USS Mohawk, 19 September 1859, at New York Navy Yard, LT. T. A. M. Craven in command
  • USS Mohawk operated against pirates and slavers off the east coast and in the Caribbean through 1861, capturing slave ship Wildfire, 26 April 1860
  • Defended Forts Jefferson and Taylor at Key West, FL. from actions of “bands of lawless men”, enabling the Union to retain the forts as bases during the forthcoming Civil War
  • With the advent of the Civil War USS Mohawk took up blockade duties off Pensacola
    Captured sloop George B. Sloat, 5 July 1861, off St. Marks, FL.
    Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in September 1861, after a period of repair at New York
    Stationed as guardship at Port Royal in June 1863
    Ordered North to Philadelphia Navy Yard, 27 June 1864, because of poor general condition, found unfit for further service
    Decommissioned and sold 12 July 1864, for commercial service, renamed SS Alliance
  • Final Disposition, wrecked at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, 4 March 1869
    Specifications:
    Displacement 464 t.
    Length 162' 4"
    Beam 24' 4"
    Depth unknown
    Draft 14'
    Speed 9 kts
    Complement 90
    Armament
    four 32-pdrs
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Mohawk 53k Watercolor by Erik Heyl, of SS Caledonia prepared for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume III. Built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Caledonia was chartered by the Navy in 1858 and purchased in 1859. She served as USS Mohawk in 1859-1864 and later became the civilian steamer SS Alliance
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 66950. Courtesy of Erik Heyl.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Mohawk 129k Image of USS Mohawk from "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", p.709 pub. 1 January 1877, being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon the "Century War Series", volume 1,by Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Buel. Image courtesy of the British Library from its digital collections. Robert Hurst
    USS Mohawk (II)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 31 March 2017