Original page can be found at the Naval Historical Center homepage
USS Oneida
Counties
in Idaho, New
York
and Wisconsin. Name originates from an
Iroquoian Indian tribe (Oneida)
living in New York
state and its environs.
II
(Screw Sloop: displacement
1,488 tons; length 201 feet 5 inches; beam 33 feet 10 inches; draft 8 feet 11
inches; speed 12 knots; complement 186; armament 3 30-pounders, 2 9-inch, 4
32-pounders, 1 12-pounder)
Oneida, a
three-masted screw sloop of war, was authorized by Act of Congress, February
1861, and built at the New York Navy Yard; launched 20 November 1861; and
commissioned 28 February 1862, Capt. Samuel P. Lee in command.
Shortly after commissioning Oneida
sailed from New
York and joined the West Gulf Blockading
Squadron commanded by Flag officer David G. Farragut. On 24 April she
participated in the attacks on Forts Jackson and St. Philip below New
Orleans, and drove off the
confederate ram which sank steam gunboat Varuna. Oneida
destroyed CSS Governor Moore in a following
engagement, the same date.
On 27 April Oneida
destroyed obstructions in the Mississippi
River above Carrollton,
Miss.,
helping prepare the way for the Vicksburg
campaign. In both passages of the Confederate works at Vicksburg,
28 June 1862,
and 15 July
1862, by the Union Fleet under Admiral
Farragut, Oneida
was second in line.
In August 1862, under command of Comdr.
George H. Preble, Oneida
sank the steamer Lewis Whitman loaded with wounded troops.
Early in the following month she failed in an attempt to stop the passage of
CSS Florida
into Mobile.
From 15 October 1863
to 23 August 1864,
Oneida
served in blockade operations off Mobile,
where on 5 August she participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay and the
subsequent capture of CSS Tennessee.
At a later date she witnessed the surrender of Fort
Morgan
at Mobile.
Oneida
decommissioned 11 August 1865 at New
York. Recommissioned in May 1867,
she was attached to the Asiatic Squadron and continued in that capacity until
January 1870.
Sailing out from Yokohama,
Japan
on 24 January 1870,
Oneida
was struck by the British
Peninsula & Oriental
steamer
City
of Bombay,
at 6:30
pm near Saratoga Spit. The starboard
quarter was cut off Oneida
and she was left to sink, as the City of Bombay steamed
on without rendering assistance. Oneida
sank at 6:45
pin in 20 fathoms of water with the loss of 125 men, 61 sailors being saved in
two Japanese fishing boats. The British captain of City of Bombay
was apparently suspended and the ship itself was libelled, meaning that steamer
and other ships of the P.&O. Line kept away from
American ports.
The wreck of the Oneida
was sold at public auction at Yokohama
9 October 1872,
to Mr. Tatchobonaiya. Two Japanese salvage efforts in 1905 and 1955 recovered
some gold coins and artifacts from the wreck.
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Submissions, corrections or
suggestions kindly
received by the editor at
kaighin@iname.com
Copyright 2004, 2005, Gregory D.
Kaighin, All rights reserved
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