USS Tecumseh (1863)
Canonicus-class monitor / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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USS Tecumseh was a Canonicus-class monitor built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Although intended for forthcoming operations against Confederate fortifications guarding Mobile Bay with Rear Admiral David Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Tecumseh was temporarily assigned to the James River Flotilla in April 1864. The ship helped to plant obstacles in the river and engaged Confederate artillery batteries in June.
Tecumseh strikes a mine and sinks | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Tecumseh |
Namesake | Tecumseh |
Ordered | 15 September 1862 |
Builder | Charles Secor & Co., Jersey City, New Jersey |
Laid down | 1862 |
Launched | 12 September 1863 |
Commissioned | 19 April 1864 |
Fate | Sunk during the Battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Canonicus-class monitor |
Displacement | 2,100 long tons (2,134 t) |
Tons burthen | 1,034 tons (bm) |
Length | 223 ft (68.0 m) |
Beam | 43 ft 4 in (13.2 m) |
Draft | 13 ft 6 in (4.1 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | |
Speed | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
Complement | 100 officers and enlisted men |
Armament | 2 × 15-inch (381 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns |
Armor |
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U.S.S. Tecumseh | |
Nearest city | Fort Morgan, Alabama |
Coordinates | 30°13′54″N 88°1′33″W |
Area | 0 acres (0 ha) |
Built | 1862 |
Architect | Charles A. Secor & Co. |
NRHP reference No. | 75000306[1] |
Added to NRHP | 14 May 1975 |
Tecumseh was sunk on 5 August during the Battle of Mobile Bay when she struck a mine. The ship capsized and rests upside down northwest of Fort Morgan. The Smithsonian Institution surveyed her wreck in 1967 with the intent of raising it, but ultimately decided against the project when proffered funding was withdrawn. Several other plans to raise the wreck have been made, but all have fallen through.