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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Galatea (I)

Screw Steamer:
  • Built, date unknown, at New York by J.B. and J. D. Van Dusen Master Builders
  • Launched, circa late March 1863
  • Purchased by the Navy, 31 July 1863, from the Neptune Steamship Co.
  • Commissioned USS Galatea, 29 January 1864, CDR. John Guest in command
  • During the Civil War USS Galatea joined the West Indies Squadron, 29 February 1864
    Galatea was assigned to convoy protection to California mail steamers between New York and Aspinwall, Panama
    Reassigned, 10 November 1864, to convoy California mail steamers from Cap Haitian through the Windward Passage
    Found unfit for convoy duty, Galatea was reassigned to Key West to provide protection for American citizens in Haiti
  • Decommissioned 12 July 1865, at New York
  • Sold, 15 August 1865, to the Haitian government
  • Renamed Alexandre Pétion, 20 September 1868
  • Alexandre Pétion, attacked the rebel ships Liberté and Sylvain at Petit-Goâve, sinking Liberté and Sylvain was set afire and abandoned by her crew
  • Alexandre Pétion ran aground off Cape Dame Maria, 20 May 1869, her guns were taken out and she was refloated
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,244 t.
    Length 209' 6"
    Beam 35' 6"
    Depth of Hold 20' 8"
    Draft unknown
    Speed 10 kts
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    eight 32-pdr guns
    one 100-pdr gun
    two 30-pdr guns
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Galatea (I)
    Galatea 101k Paymaster Albert W. Bacon was appointed Acting Assistant Paymaster 7 November 1863. He served aboard the USS Galatea in the West India Squadron from 1863 to 1865.
    Image from the collections of the US Library of Congress.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Alexandre Pétion
    Galatea
    098641802    		 367k Haitian gunboat Alexandre Pétion (ex-USS Galatea), bombarding Petit Goave,20 September 1868.
    Unknown author - Harper's Weekly. XII. No. 618. 31 October 1868. p. 692.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Galatea (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Guest, John29 January 1864 - 9 November 1864
    02CDR. Nicholson, Somerville9 November 1864 - 12 July 1865
    Courtesy Bill Gonyo
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 3 December 2021