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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Seneca (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Unadilla Class Screw Gunboat:
  • Laid down, date unknown, at Jeremiah Simonson shipyard, New York City
  • Launched, 27 August 1861
  • Commissioned, USS Seneca, 14 October 1861, at New York Navy Yard, LT. Daniel Ammen in command
  • During the Civil War USS Seneca was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron
    Participated in the capture of Port Royal, 7 November 1861
    Took part in the expedition at Beaufort, S.C., 9 to 12 November 1861
    Participated in the operations about Tybee Sound, 5 December 1861 sealing off Savannah, GA.
    From January 1862 to January 1863 Seneca's area of operations extended from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Florida
    Captured blockade runner sloop Annie Dees off Charleston, S.C., 20 November 1862
    Participated in the attacks on Fort McAllister, GA., 27 January and 1 February 1863
    Supported USS Montauk in the destruction of privateer Rattlesnake, 28 February 1863, on the Ogeechee River
    Participated in the attack on Fort Wagner in July 1863
    Decommissioned, 15 January 1864, at New York Navy Yard
    Recommissioned, 3 October 1864, CDR. George E. Belknap in command for assignment to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
    Participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher at Wilmington, N.C., 24 and 25 December 1864 and 13 to 15 January 1865
    Took part in the attack on Fort Anderson, 17 February 1865
  • Decommissioned, 24 June 1865, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Sold, 10 September 1868 at Norfolk to Purvis and Co.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 507 t.
    Length 158' 8"
    Beam 28'
    Depth of Hold 12'
    Draft 10' 6"
    Speed 9 kts
    Complement 114 officers and enlisted
    Armament
    one 11" Dahlgren smoothbore
    one 20-pdr ParrotT rifle
    two 24-pdr howitzers
    Propulsion
    rigged as a two masted schooner
    two 200 imp 30" stroke horizontal back-acting engines
    single screw
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description
    Senica 167k Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861, depicting Seneca under construction at the Jeremiah Simonson shipyard, New York City. Seneca was launched on 27 August 1861.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59372    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Unadilla 82k Line engraving published in Harper's Weekly, July-December 1861 volume. depicting the ten "90-Day Gunboats" constructed for the U.S. Navy in 1861-62. Ships, as identified in the image are from left to right;
    USS Chippewa
    USS Sciota
    USS Itasca
    USS Winona
    USS Huron
    USS Ottawa
    USS Pembina
    USS Seneca
    USS Unadilla and
    USS Sagamore. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Photo #: NH 59367    		 Robert Hurst
    Senica 52k USS Seneca underway. Captain Daniel Ammen's Civil War sketch from a Century Co. New York Publication in 1888. Tommy Trampp
    Wabash 170k "Portion of the Naval Expedition, as it appeared on the night of October 16, sailing to Hampton Roads. -- Sketched by an Officer on Board. 1861".
    Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume, pages 712. It depicts Flag Officer DuPont's squadron en route to capture Port Royal, South Carolina. Ships, all U.S. Navy, as identified below the image bottom, are (from left):
    USS Wabash,
    USS Florida,
    USS Augusta,,
    USS Alabama,,
    USS Ottawa,,
    USS Seneca,
    and USS Pembina.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59316    		 Robert Hurst
    Wabash 100k "The Great Naval Expedition" to capture Port Royal, South Carolina, November 1861. Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume, pages 696-697, depicts Federal warships and transports, under Flag Officer Samuel F. DuPont, USN, departing Hampton Roads, Virginia, en route to Port Royal. Ships, as identified below the image bottom, are (from left): (illegible),
    Oriental,
    Baltic,
    USS O.M. Pettit,
    USS Gem of the Sea,
    Great Republic,
    USS Wabash (DuPont's flagship),
    USS Seneca,
    USS Pembina,
    USS Connecticut,
    USS Mercury,
    USS Unadilla,
    USS Augusta,
    USS Alabama and (illegible).
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #: NH 59315    		 Robert Hurst
    Issac Smith 78k "Army & Navy Reconnaissance. Tuesday Morning Nov. 5" 1861 Line engraving published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War", Volume I, page 189, depicting Federal ships investigating Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, prior to their successful attack on Confederate fortifications there. Ships and other items identified across the bottom of the print include (from left to right):
    USS Mercury, with Generals Sherman and Stevens & staff on board;
    USS Penguin, with Hilton Head Battery beyond;
    USS Pawnee; Broad River (in distance);
    CSS Huntress (distance);
    USS Seneca; Steamer Screamer (distance);
    USS Ottawa with Capt. Rogers & General Wright on board;
    Steamer Everglades (distance, beyond Ottawa;
    USS Pembina;
    CSS Lady Davis (distance); Beaufort River (distance); Bay Point Battery (distance); USS Curlew; (probably misidentified as no record exists that USS Curlew served with South Atlantic Blockading Squadron) Confederate camp (distance);
    USS Isaac Smith.
    US Navy photo # NH 59319    		 Tommy Trampp
    Issac Smith 75k "Bombardment and Capture of Port Royal, South Carolina, 7 November 1861" Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume, pages 760-761. It depicts Federal warships, under Flag Officer Samuel F. DuPont, USN, bombarding Fort Beauregard (at right) and Fort Walker (at left). The Confederate squadron commanded by Commodore Josiah Tattnall is in the left center distance. Subjects identified below the image bottom are (from left): tug Mercury,
    Fort Walker,
    USS Wabash (DuPont's flagship),
    steamer Screamer (?),
    USS Susquehanna,
    CSS Huntsville, Commo. Tattnall, (probably misidentified as no record exists that CSS Huntsville served in the defenses of Port Royal, S.C.
    USS Bienville,
    USS Pembina,
    USS Seneca,
    USS Ottawa,
    USS Unadilla,
    USS Pawnee,
    USS Mohican,
    USS Isaac Smith,
    USS Curlew; (probably misidentified as no record exists that USS Curlew served with South Atlantic Blockading Squadron),
    USS Vandalia,
    USS Penguin,
    USS Pocahontas,
    USS Seminole,
    Fort Beauregard,
    USS R.B. Forbes
    and "Rebel Camp".
    US Navy photo # NH 59256    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Senica 105k "Reconnaissance of Vernon River, Ossabaw Sound, Georgia, Discovery of a Rebel Battery and Camp, 11 December 1861".
    Line engraving published in Harper's Weekly, January 1862. It depicts Federal warships engaging the Confederate battery, shown in the far left distance. Ships, as identified below the image bottom, are (from left): USS Seneca, USS Pembina, USS Ottawa and Steamer Mary Andrew. For the original sketch from which this engraving was made, see Photo # NH 59310.
    US Naval Historical Center Photo #: NH 59309    		 Robert Hurst
    Senica 96k "Discovery of a Rebel Battery and Camp on Vernon River, Georgia, 11 December 1861".
    Sketch by William Crane, artist for Harper's Weekly, presented by the artist to LT, Thomas H. Stevens, Commanding Officer of USS Ottawa. It depicts the US Navy gunboats USS Seneca, USS Pembina, USS Ottawa and steamer Mary Andrew, at the time of Rebel Battery opening fire. The Federal ships were under the command of CDR. C.R.P. Rodgers of USS Wabash. This sketch apparently served as the basis for the engraving seen in Photo # NH 59309. US Naval Historical Center Photo #: NH 59310    		 Robert Hurst
    Senica 78k 1861 Civil War Engraving - Black Americana - from the Original "Frank Leslie's Pictorial History of the War" #15
    No. 413 - Negroes Escaping from Beaufort, SC with Plunder from the Abandoned Residences of their Masters, Stopped by the U.S. Gunboat Seneca.    		 Tommy Trampp
    CSS Nashville 170k Line engraving published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War", Volume II, page 41, showing Rattlesnake (ex-CSS Nashville) burning after being shelled by the monitor USS Montauk commanded by CAPT. John L. Worden, USN, in the Ogeechee River, Georgia, 28 February 1863. Fort McAllister is in the right-center background, and the U.S. Navy gunboats USS Wissahickon, USS Seneca and USS Dawn are providing supporting fire in the left distance.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59286     		US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Wissachickon 103k "The Line Of Battle, Ogeechee River"
    The second battle of Ogeechee River, 13 December 1864. A sketch from "Harpers Weekly" showing:
    USS C.P. Williams
    USS Dawn
    Daffodil
    USS Wissahickon
    USS Seneca
    USS Montauk on the river.    		 Tommy Trampp
    USS Seneca (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 27 October 2017