| The first Kearsarge was launched 11 September 1861 by the
Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; sponsored by Mrs. McFarland,
wife of the editor of the Concord Statement; and commissioned 24 January
1862, Captain Charles W. Pickering in command. |
| Kearsarge departed Portsmouth 5 February 1862 for the
coast of Spain; thence sailed to Gibraltar to join the blockade of Confederate
raider Sumter, forcing her abandonment in December. But the commanding
captain of the Sumter, Raphael Semmes, soon commissioned the Confederate
raider
Alabama on
the high seas off the Azores. |
| Kearsarge prepared for her fight with
Alabama at Cadiz (November 1862 - March 1863), then searched for the
raider from along the coast of Northern Europe to the Canaries, Madeira,
and the Western Islands. Arriving at Cherbourg, France, 14 June 1864, she
found Alabama in port and took up patrol at the harbor's entrance
to await Semmes' next move. |
| On 19 June, Alabama stood out of Cherbourg Harbor for her
last action. Careful of French neutrality, Kearsarge's new commanding
officer, Capitan John A. Winslow, took the sloop-of-war well clear of territorial
waters, then turned to meet the Confederate cruiser. |
| Alabama opened fire first while
Kearsarge held her reply until she had closed to less than 1,000 yards.
Steaming on opposite courses, the ships moved around a circle as each commander
tried to cross his opponent's bow to deliver deadly raking fire. The battle
quickly turned against Alabama, for the quality of her long-stored
powder and shells had deteriorated. Kearsarge, on the other hand,
had been given added protection by chain cable triced in tiers along her
sides abreast vital spaces. One hour after she fired her first salvo,
Alabama had been reduced to a sinking wreck. Semmes struck his colors
and sent a boat to Kearsarge with a message of surrender and an appeal
for help. Kearsarge rescued the majority of Alabama's survivors;
but Semmes and 41 others were picked up by British yacht Deerhound
and escaped in her to England. |
| Kearsarge steamed along the French coast in an unsuccessful
search for CSS Florida, thence proceeded to the Caribbean before turning
northward for Boston where she decommissioned 26 November 1864 for repairs.
She recommissioned 1 April 1865 and sailed on the 14th for the coast of Spain
in an attempt to intercept Stonewall; but the Confederate ram eluded
Federal ships and surrendered to Spanish authorities at Havana, Cuba, 19.
May. After cruising the Mediterranean and the English Channel south to Monrovia,
Liberia, Kearsarge decommissioned 14 August 1866 in the Boston Navy
Yard. |
| Kearsarge recommissioned 16 January 1868 and sailed 12
February to serve in the South Pacific operating out of Valparaiso, Chile.
On 22 August she landed provisions for destitute earthquake victims at Africa,
Peru. She continued to watch over American commercial interests along the
coast of South America until 17 April 1869. Then she sailed to watch over
American interests among the Marquesas, Society, Navigators (Samoa), and
Fiji Islands. She also called at the ports of New South Wales and New Zealand
before returning to Calao, Peru, 31 October 1869. She resumed duties on the
South Pacific Station until 21 July 1870, then cruised to the Hawaiian Islands
before decommissioning in the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 11 October
1870. |
| Kearsarge recommissioned 8 December 1873 and departed
4 March 1874 for Yokohama, Japan, arriving 11 May. She cruised on Asiatic
Station for 3 years, protecting American citizens and commerce in China,
Japan, and the Philippines. From 4 September to 16 December 1874, she carried
Professor Hall's scientific party from Nagasaki, Japan, to Vladivostok, Russia,
to observe the transit of Venus. She departed Nagasaki 3 September 1877 and
returned to Boston 30 December via the Suez Canal and Mediterranean ports.
She decommissioned at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 15 January 1878. |
| Kearsarge recommissioned 15 May 1879 for 4 years of duty
in the North Atlantic ranging from Newfoundland to the Caribbean Sea and
the coast of Panama. She departed New York 21 August 1883 to cruise for 3
years in Mediterranean, Northern European waters, and along the coast of
Africa. She returned to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 12 November and decommissioned
in the Portsmouth Navy Yard 1 December 1886. |
| Kearsarge recommissioned 2 November 1888 and largely spent
her remaining years protecting American interests in the West Indies off
Venezuela, and along the Central Americas. She departed Haiti 30 January
1894 for Bluefields, Nicaragua, but was wrecked on Roncador Reef off Central
America 2 February 1894. Her officers and crew safely made it ashore. |
| Congress appropriated $45,000 to raise Kearsarge and tow
her home; but a salvage team of the Boston Towboat Co. found that she could
not be raised. |
| The name of Kearsarge was struck from the Navy List in
1894. |
Displacement, 1,550; Length, 201'4"; Beam, 33'10";
Draft, 14'3"; Speed, 11 knots; Complement, 163; Armament, two 11", four 32-pdrs.,
one 30-pdr. |
|
buy this book
