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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USLHT Geranium
ex
 USS Geranium (1863 - 1865)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Sidewheel Tug:
  • Built in 1863, as John A. Dix, at Newburgh, N.Y.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased by the Navy at New York City, 5 September 1863
  • Commissioned, USS Geranium, 15 October 1863, at New York Navy Yard, Acting Ens. G. A. Winsor in command
  • USS Geranium joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Charleston, S.C., 4 November 1863, serving as a picket boat, dispatch boat and light transport
  • Between 3 and 10 July 1864, Geranium participated in a diversionary expedition up the Stono and North Edisto Riversto divert Confederate attention from the Charleston blockade and to cut the Charleston and Savannah Railroad
  • Geranium supported the movement of troops to the North Edisto River, towing and transporting supplies for the expedition
  • On 3 July, She engaged a Confederate battery at the mouth of the Dawhoo River
  • Geranium continued her picket, dispatch, and transport duties from 12 to 17 February 1865
  • She participated in joint Army-Navy operations at Bull's Bay north of Charleston, supporting diversionary amphibious landings which hastened the Confederate evacuation of Charleston
  • At the mouth of the Santee River Geranium supported naval operations against Georgetown, S.C.
  • On 28 February 1865, she departed on a reconnaissance mission up the Santee gaining valuable information about the depth and navigability of the river
  • Geranium remained along the South Carolina coast until after the end of the war
  • Decommissioned, at Washington 15 July 1865, and was sold 18 October to the Treasury Department for use In the Lighthouse Service
  • Final Disposition, condemned on 29 November 1909 at Portland, Maine and sold 19 January 1910
    Specifications:
    Displacement 223 t.
    Length 128'6"
    Beam 23' 3"
    Depth of Hold 8'
    Speed 10 kts
    Complement 39
    Armament
    one 10-pdr Parrott rifle
    two 12-pdr rifles
    Propulsion steam, twin paddlewheels
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Geranium 89k US Light House Tender Geranium under way, circa the 1890s, by N.L. Stebbins, Boston, MA. This steamer served as USS Geranium in 1863-1865.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 96608. Courtesy of US Coast Guard Historian..
    		Robert Hurst
    USS Geranium
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 16 May 2023