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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Merrimac (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sidewheel Steamer:
  • Laid down, date and location unknown
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased in England for the Confederate government in 1862
  • Captured by USS Iroquois off the coast of Cape Fear River, N.C., 24 July 1863
  • Purchased by the Navy from New York Prize Court, 10 March 1864
  • Commissioned USS Merrimac at New York, 1 May 1864, Acting Master William P. Rogers in command
  • Merrimac joined the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in June 1864
  • Captured Cuban sloop Henretta
  • In February 1864 a Yellow Fever outbreak among Merrimac's crew caused her to sail north to New York to allow her crew to recover
  • Early in 1865 Merrimac was reassigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron
  • Merrimac departed New York in February, encountering a series of extremely bad storms
  • Merrimac was abandoned by her crew, 15 February after its tiller had broken, two boilers given out and the pumps failed to slow the rising water
    Specifications:
    Displacement 635 t.
    Length 230'
    Beam 30'
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft 8'6"
    Speed 11.5 kts
    Complement 116
    Armament
    two 30-pdr Parrott rifles
    four 24-pdrs
    two 12-pdrs
    Propulsion steam
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Merrimack
    091903729    		 229k
    Namesake
    Merrimac - The Merrimac River (or Merrimack) is a 117-mile-long river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Gulf of Maine at Newburyport.
    The Merrimack River at Pembroke, New Hampshire
    Map of the Merrimack River watershed. created based on USGS data by ©Karl Musser.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Merrimac 104k USS Merrimac in northeastern U.S. or Canadian waters, circa the summer of 1864.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 46242. Courtesy of Mrs. A. Hopkins, 1927.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Merrimac (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 4 December 2020