USS Tritonia

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Ship Information (from DANFS)¹,²:

Name: USS Tritonia	Type: Sidewheel Gunboat	Tonnage: 202
Length: 178’	Beam: 22’4”	Draught: Not Listed.
Speed: Not Listed.	Complement: Not Listed.	Class: Not Listed.
Armament: September 30, 1864: 1 heavy 12-pdr., 1 light 12-pdr.
Namesake: A plant cultivated for its long, sharply-pointed leaves and yellow, red, and orange flowers.

Images:

Image Needed (Does One Exist?)

 

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 on “advance guard duty; Trent’s Reach” and “above Wilson’s Wharf” on the James River.⁴

Second Offensive Order of Battle (June 19-30, 1864):

• Captain:
• Crew Strength:
• Armament:
• Note: Eutaw, Tecumseh, Tritonia, Pink, Rose, and Althea were ordered to leave the front for Hampton Roads on June 23, 1864. The latter four vessels, all tugs, were to be repaired by Captain Gansevoort prior to being sent on to their destinations.⁵
• Note: On June 23, 1864, USS Tecumseh is ordered to sea with sealed orders, which will tell her to proceed to Admiral Farragut off of Mobile, Alabama.  She is to be accompanied by Tritonia and maybe Eutaw.⁶

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

• Captain:
• Crew Strength:
• Armament:
• Note: “On 26 July [1864], Tritonia left the division for duty with the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.”⁷

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

• Not Present

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

• Not Present
• Armament: 1 x heavy 12-pdr., 1 x light 12-pdr. (September 30, 1864)⁸

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

• Not Present

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

• Not Present

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:⁹

Tritonia, a side-wheel steamer built as Sarah S. B. Gary in 1863 at East Haddam, Conn., was purchased by the Navy at Hartford, Conn., on 1 December 1863; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 23 April 1864, Lt. Roswell H. Lamson in command.

With Stepping Stones and Delaware, Tritonia served in a special torpedo and picket division established in the James River, Va., on 12 May 1864. The division patrolled the river to keep it clear of Confederate vessels, torpedoes, and fire rafts.

On 26 July [1864], Tritonia left the division for duty with the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. She arrived in Mississippi Sound on 5 August, the day of Admiral Farragut’s victory in Mobile Bay…

[SOPO Editor’s Note: The ship would never return to the Siege of Petersburg.]

Tritonia was sold at public auction at New York on 5 October 1866; redocumented as Belle Brown on 19 November; and lost at sea in 1880.

 

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 1: Farrar’s Island to Bermuda Hundred
• ORN Series 1, Vol. X: Union Telegrams to and from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, June 1864
• ORN Series 1, Vol. X: Union Orders in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, June 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

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