USS Patapsco, a 1335-ton Passaic class Union Navy monitor
built at Wilmington, Delaware, was commissioned in early
January 1863. Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading
Squadron, she took part in a bombardment of Fort McAllister,
on Georgia's Ogeechee River, on 3 March. On the 7th of
April Patapsco joined eight other ironclads in a vigorous
attack on Fort Sumter, off Charleston, South Carolina,
and received 47 hits from Confederate gunfire during that
day. Beginning in mid-July, she began her participation
in a lengthy bombardment campaign against Charleston's
defending fortifications. This led to the capture of Fort
Wagner, on Morris Island, in early September. Fort Sumter
was reduced to a pile of rubble, but remained a formidable
opponent.
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Officers
of the Patapsco
(click to enlarge)
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Federal
Ironclads in the
James River, Virginia
(click to enlarge) |
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Bombardment
of Ft. McAllister
Georgia, March 3, 1963
(click to enlarge) |
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Panoramic
View of
Charleston Harbor
(click to enlarge) |
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Charleston
Campaign,
1863 - 1865
(click to enlarge) |
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In November 1863, Patapsco tested a large obstruction-clearing
explosive device that had been devised by John Ericsson.
Remaining off South Carolina and Georgia during much
of 1864 and into 1865, the monitor, or her boat crews,
took part in a reconnaissance of the Wilmington River,
Georgia, in January 1864 and helped capture or destroy
enemy sailing vessels in February and November of that
year. The Patapsco fought throughout the siege of Charleston.
On 14 January 1865, while participating in obstruction
clearance operations in Charleston Harbor, USS Patapsco
struck a Confederate mine and sank in the channel off
Fort Moultrie in 1865. Sixty two of her crew were lost.
While the location of Patapsco was thought to be known,
no one had certified the remains until NUMA documented
the location.
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