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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

US Army Ram Lancaster

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Sidewheel Ram:

Laid down as the sidewheel steamer Lancaster No. 3 in 1855 at Cincinnati, OH.

Launched, date unknown

Lt. Col. Charles Ellet purchased her for the War Department early in April 1862

Fitted out as a ram at Cincinnati

Joined Ellet's fleet of rams which was being organized to counter Confederate rams on the Mississippi

Lancaster participated in the defeat of the Confederacies River Defense Fleet at Memphis in June

On 19 June Lancaster and four sister rams got underway downstream from Memphis. Two days later she captured and sank a ferryboat used to transport Confederate troops across the river

Lancaster participated in the siege of Vicksburg where on 15 July while attempting to ram CSS Arkansas she was met with a broadside from the Confederate ironclad opening her steamlines and making her unmanageable

Lancaster was towed to Memphis for repairs

Following repairs Lancaster resumed operations on the Mississippi towing other ships against the swift current, performing reconnaissance work, and escorting Union supply ships and transports up and down the river

On 23 March 1863 Lancaster was participating in the blockade of the Red River when she was struck by a Confederate shell that exploded in her steam drum and solid shot which hit her stern and tore a huge hole in her bottom, sinking the ship.

Specifications:
Displacement 257 T.
Length 176'
Beam 30'
Draft 5'5"
Depth of Hold unknown
Speed unknown
Complement unknown

Armament unknown

Propulsion two sidewheels

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
Merchant Service
301800101	83k	Packet No 3 *Lancaster* underway above Cincinnati, Ohio in 1858 Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library	John Spivey
US Army Ram Lancaster
098661402	502k	"The [Army] Rams *Switzerland* and *Lancaster* operating as part of th Red River blockading fleet below Vicksburg, 25 March 1863". Line engraving after a sketch by Theodore R. Davis, published in Harper's Weekly, 1863. In this operation, *Switzerland* (depicted here in the foreground) was disabled by gunfire from shore batteries at the mouth of the Red River. *Lancaster* (in the left center distance) was fatally damaged and sank. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59103	US Naval History and Heritage Command

Lancaster
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Last Updated 8 March 2024