| Oregon, a wooden steamer, was built at New York City in
1846 for the Mobile Mail Line, 60 percent owned at the end of April 1861
by the Geddes family of New Orleans and Cincinnati, the remainder by R. A.
Heirn and Samuel Wolff of Mobile. Described as having "one deck, one mast,
no galleries and a billethead," she was permanently enrolled (coastwise)
at New Orleans, 20 June 1858. Seized by Louisiana's Governor Moore sometime
in 1861, she was an early and successful blockade runner, apparently only
in the Gulf. Under Capt. A. P. Boardman she had somehow contrived to make
92 "entrances and clearances" at blockaded ports before being picked for
arming as a man-of-war; how much of this coastal service was under Confederate
Army auspices is not altogether clear. Capt. A. L. Myers succeeded to her
command. |
| After being converted into a gunboat, Oregon operated in
Mississippi Sound on various assignments. On 13 July 1861 she steamed in
company with Arrow to the vicinity of Ship Island Light where they
vainly attempted to lure USS
Massachusetts
within range of shore batteries -- Massachusetts finally forced
Arrow and Oregon to withdraw. During September 1861
Oregon evacuated Confederate property and troops from Ship Island,
Mississippi. On 19 December, at Mississippi Sound, Oregon again encountered
the USS Massachusetts and was turned back. When Confederate forces
evacuated New Orleans in April 1862, Oregon was destroyed to prevent
capture. |
Tonnage, 532; Length, 216'10"; Beam, 26'6"; Depth of hold, 9'6";
Armament, one 8", one 32-pdr., two howitzers. |
|
Bibliography
 |
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1963, reprint 1977), Vol.2 -- Part C-F, p. 553 |
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