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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 63883:  Steamship Montgomery.  Artwork by Erik Heyl

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Montgomery (1861-1865).
Originally, and later, the civilian steamship Montgomery (1858)

Montgomery, a 787-ton (burden) wooden screw steamship, was built at New York City in 1858. She was chartered by the Navy in May 1861, soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, and placed in commission as USS Montgomery. The Navy purchased her in August. During June-November 1861, she served in the Gulf of Mexico, enforcing the blockade of western Florida. Later in the year, Montgomery was shifted to the northern Gulf coast. On 4 December 1861, in Mississippi Sound, she engaged the Confederate steamers Florida and Pamlico.

Remaining in the Gulf, during 1862 Montgomery captured or destroyed a half-dozen blockade runners, mainly sailing vessels. Following her return to the Atlantic in 1863, she took part in the search for the Confederate raider Tacony in June. Later assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in January 1864 she helped to destroy the blockade runners Bendigo and Dare. The next month, Montgomery captured the steamer Pet and in October took the Bat. She also participated in the two assaults on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, during December 1864 and January 1865, operations that finally eliminated the nearby city of Wilmington as a blockade running port.

For the remainder of the Civil War, Montgomery served along the Carolina coast and participated in operations in North Carolina's Cape Fear River. Decommissioned in June 1865 and sold in August, Montgomery retained her name when she reentered commercial service in 1866. She was active for nearly eleven more years, until she was sunk in a collision off Cape Hatteras, N.C., on 7 January 1877.

This page features all the views we have related to USS Montgomery and the civilian steamship Montgomery.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 63883

Montgomery
(American Steamship, 1858-1877)

Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1950, painted for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume I.
This steamer served as USS Montgomery in 1861-65.

Courtesy of Erik Heyl.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 57KB; 740 x 410 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59308

"The Navy-Yard at Brooklyn, New York, June, 1861"


Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861, pages 456-457, depicting a large number of Navy ships off the New York Navy Yard, early in the Civil War.
Vessels shown include (from left to right): USS Montgomery; USS Vandalia; USSBrandywine; USS North Carolina; USS Potomac; USS Savannah; USS R.R. Cuyler; USS Mount Vernon; USS Roanoke; USS Resolute and USS Wabash.
A rowing launch is underway in the foreground.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 155KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59170

"Second Attack upon Fort Fisher, showing the positions of the vessels, and the lines of fire", 13-15 January 1865


Chart by Walter A. Lane, published in "The Soldier in our Civil War", Volume II.
The positions of 58 ships are represented on the chart.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 216KB; 825 x 1225 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 15 September 2002
Link added 3 November 2002