USS Hydrangea

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Ship Information (from DANFS)¹,²:

Name: USS Hydrangea	Type: Screw Tug	Tonnage: 224
Length: 120’	Beam: 20’3”	Draught: Not listed.
Speed: 10-11 knots	Complement: Not Listed.	Class: Not Listed.
Armament: December 31, 1864: 1 20-pdr. Parrott rifle, 2 12-pdr. howitzers
Namesake: Not Listed.

Images:

Image Needed

 

Captain(s):
Captain 1
Captain Image

Captain 2
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Captain 3
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First Offensive Order of Battle (June 13-18, 1864): James River, Va. | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (June 17, 1864)³

• Captain:
• Crew Strength:
• Armament:
• Note: On June 17, 1864, this ship is noted as a “tug; mail boat” and on the James River “above Wilson’s Wharf.”⁴

Second Offensive Order of Battle (June 19-30, 1864): James River | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (June 21 and 29, 1864)⁵,⁶

• Captain:
• Crew Strength:
• Armament:

Third Offensive Order of Battle (July 1-31, 1864):

James River | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (July 1, 1864)⁷

Transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (July 23, 1864)⁸

• Captain:
• Crew Strength:
• Armament:
• Note: Hydrangea was transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron 23 July 1864.⁹

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle (August 1-31, 1864):

• Not Present.

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle (September 1-October 13, 1864):

• Not Present.

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle (October 14-31, 1864):

• Not Present.

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle (November 1-December 31, 1864):

• Not Present.
• Armament: 1 x 20-pdr. Parrott rifle, 2 x 12-pdr. howitzers (December 31, 1864)¹⁰

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle (January 1-February 28, 1865):

• Not Present.

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle (March 1-April 2, 1865):

• Not Present.

 

Siege of Petersburg Battles:

• TBD

 

Siege of Petersburg Involvement:¹¹

Hydrangea, a wooden steam tug, was built as Hippodame in 1862 at Buffalo, N.Y., and purchased by the Navy at New York, from her owner, C. TV. Copeland, 16 October 1863. She commissioned at New York Navy Yard 18 April 1864, Ens. C. W. Rogers in command.

Reporting to Hampton Roads for duty with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Hydrangea spent May towing monitors and acting as tender to Onondaga. She then took up station in the James River, where she acted as a tug and mail boat. Making two trips a day from Deep Bottom, near the front lines, to the large supply base at City Point, she helped support the Union efforts to break the military stalemate around Richmond. Hydrangea was then transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron 23 July 1864…

Hydrangea decommissioned at New York 1 September 1865, and was sold 25 October to S. and J. M. Flanagan. Redocumented Norman 4 January 1866, she returned to private service and was stranded and lost off Cape May, N.J., 17 November 1886.

Bibliography:

Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

• MAP: Ship Locations of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron on the James River, June 17, 1864
• MAP: Ship Locations on the James River, June 17, 1864, Part 2: Bermuda Hundred to Coggins Point
• MAP: Ship Locations on the James River, June 17, 1864, Part 3: Coggins Point to Wilson’s Wharf
• NP: July 10, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): USS Hydrangea and the Action at Howlett’s Bluff, June 21, 1864
• ORN Series 1, Vol. X: Report of Acting Rear-Admiral S. P. Lee giving Stations of Vessels in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, June 17, 1864
• ORN Series 1, Vol. X: Letter from Lieutenant Commander Jonathan S. Barnes, Fleet Captain on the James River, June 21, 1864

Sources: