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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Arthur

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Campaign Medal

Bark:

Built in 1855 as the bark Arthur at Amesburg, MA.

Launched, date unknown

Purchased, 1 August 1861, by Union Navy at New York City

Fitted out at New York Navy Yard

Commissioned, 11 December 1861, as USS Arthur, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant John W. Kittredge in command

USS Arthur was assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron at Key West, FL., where she was assigned to patrol off the coast of Texas between Matagorda and Corpus Christi

Arthur reached station off Matagorda on the morning of 25 January 1862 Later that day, some 17 miles northeast of the bar at Pass Cavallo, she sighted and captured a schooner, the Confederate blockade runner J.J. McNeil

13 February, Arthur exchanged fire with a cavalry troop on shore near Aransas, TX.

21 April, LT. Kittredge led an expedition of three boats into Cedar Bayou, TX., where they chased the schooner Burkhart which escaped

22 April they captured three small sloops, but were forced to abandon their prizes, along with two of their own boats, to escape attacks by a numerically superior Confederate force.

During the spring of 1862, Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut, the squadron commander, reinforced Kittredge with the yacht USS Corypheus, the screw gunboat USS Sachem and the lugger General Butler for operations in the shallow inlets, bays, and bayous found in Arthur's sector

9 July, Kittredge's tiny force captured Confederate blockade runner schooner Reindeer

12 August, Arthur took the armed schooner Breaker at Aransas and at Corpus Christi, forced the Confederates to burn the armed schooner Elma and sloop Hannah to prevent their capture

15 August, Arthur captured and burned steamer A. B. (sometimes spelled A. Bee) near Corpus Christi

Early in September, Farragut asked Kittredge to attempt to arrange the release of the family of Judge Edmund Jackson Davis, a prominent political leader in Texas who had remained loyal to the Union and had left his home to serve the Federal cause

12 September, Kittredge proceeded under a flag of truce to Corpus Christi where the Confederate commanding officer there refused to allow Mrs. Davis to leave Texas, but promised to refer the matter to the Confederate commander in Texas.

Specifications:
Displacement 554 tons
Length 133'
Beam 31'2"
Depth of Hold 7'3"
Draft 14'1"
Speed 10 kts
Complement 86

Armament

six 32-pdr smoothbores

Propulsion sail

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source
	197k	Preparing Merchant Vessels for the Blockade", Harper's Weekly, September 7, 1861. Merchant ships Arthur, *Braziliera* (sic Brazelero), *Amanda* and *Gem of the Sea* being fitted out for naval service at New York Navy Yard.		Tommy Trampp

USS Arthur
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Last Updated 10 May 2019