CSSEllis
 "The captured gunboatEllis"(fromThe Long Roll)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
  Confederate States | |
| Name | Ellis |
| Builder | Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware |
| Launched | 1860 |
| Commissioned | 1861 |
| Decommissioned | 1862 |
| Homeport | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 100 tons |
| Draft | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Installed power | steam |
| Propulsion | propeller |
| Complement | 28 officers and men |
| Armament | 1 32-pounder rifled cannon, 1 12-pounder howitzer |
CSSEllis(laterUSSEllis) was agunboatin theConfederate States Navyand theUnited States Navyduring theAmerican Civil War.It was lost during a raid while under command of famed Navy officer LieutenantWilliam B. Cushing.
Confederate Service[edit]
TheElliswas purchased atNorfolk,Virginiain 1861 by the State ofNorth Carolinaand turned over to theConfederacywhen that State became a member. WithCommanderW. T. Muse,CSN, in command, she played an important part in the defense ofFort HatterasandFort ClarkinHatteras Inlet,North Carolina on August 28–29, 1861, ofRoanoke Islandon February 7–8, 1862, and ofElizabeth City, North Carolinaon February 10, 1862; that day she was captured by theUnion Armyafter a desperate struggle in which her commander,LieutenantJames W. Cooke,CSN, was badly wounded.
[edit]
Elliswas taken into the U.S. Navy and assigned to theNorth Atlantic Blockading Squadron.She was placed under the command of Lieutenant C. L. Franklin, USN, and spent her entire U.S. Navy service in the sounds and rivers of North Carolina.
Ellistook part in a combined expedition which capturedFort Macon,nearBeaufort, North Carolina,on April 25, 1862. She had a brief engagement with ConfederatecavalryoffWinton, North Carolinaon June 27, 1862, and from August 15 to 19, 1862, she made an expedition toSwansboro, North Carolina,to destroy salt works and a battery. On October 14, 1862, she was detailed to the blockade ofBogue Inlet,and a week later, captured and burned theschoonerAdelaidewith a valuable cargo of turpentine, cotton, and tobacco.
Final Action[edit]
In November 1862,Ellis,under command of LieutenantWilliam B. Cushing,sailed up New River Inlet to captureJacksonville, North Carolina.The steamer captured two schooners, some arms and mail. On her way down river,Ellisran aground on November 24, 1862, and could not be re-floated. After dark, her commanding officer moved all the crew except six and all her equipment and supplies except her pivot gun, some ammunition, two tons of coal, and a few small arms to one of the captured schooners. While the schooners slipped down the river to wait, Cushing and five of his men remained to fight it out. Early on the morning of November 25, 1862, the Confederates opened fire onEllis,and in a short time, Cushing was forced to decide between surrender and a pull of a mile and a half to a waiting schooner. Cushing chose not to surrender, and before leaving his ship, set fire to her in five places, leaving the gun trained on the enemy to let the ship herself carry on the fight when flames would fire the cannon. Cushing and his men reached the schooner and made for the sea, getting the vessel over the bar just in time to escape several companies of cavalry trying to cut off the schooner at the mouth of the inlet.Elliswas blown to pieces by the explosion of her magazine on the morning of November 25, 1862.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- Charles F. Johnson,The Long Roll,New York, 1911, 1986.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entries can be foundConfederate service hereandUnion service here.
