USSLioness

History
Laid down	1859 atBrownsville, Pennsylvania
Commissioned	1862
Decommissioned	1865
In service	1862-1863
Stricken	sold, September 1865
Fate	civilian use until 1869
General characteristics
Displacement	198 tons
Propulsion	stern-wheel steamer

Built inBrownsville, Pennsylvania,in 1857, the steam shipLionesswas purchased by theWar Departmentand converted to aram shipfor ColonelCharles Ellet, Jr.'sUnited States Ram Fleet.Commissioned in 1862, Lieutenant Warren D. Crandall in command, she joined the UnionMississippi River Squadronon the western rivers.

Service

After fitting out atPittsburghin April 1862, Lioness departedNew AlbanyforCairo, Illinois12 May. ScoutingFort Pillowwith other rams on 1 June, she participated on 6 June in theFirst Battle of Memphis,a one-sided, Union victory.Lionessthen joined other rams and three gunboats, convoying and covering army troops under Colonel Woods in a joint expedition fromHelenato theYazoo River,capturing the USSFairplay,and destroying newly constructedConfederatebatteries 20 miles up the Yazoo. The expedition also dispersed Confederate troops atGreenville, Mississippi,before retiring 27 August.

In December,Lionesswas atMound City, Illinois,preparing for further efforts againstVicksburg.On 6 February, she formed part of the expedition to Yazoo Pass and Greenville, operating there until 12 April. Then she and three other rams supported ColonelCharles R. Ellet's marine brigade in theTennessee.

After Southern naval power on the rivers had been wiped out,Lionesswas laid up at Mound City until sold in 1865. She served American commerce until sold abroad in 1873.

References

This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere. Lioness article at US Naval Historical Center

Joiner, Gary D. (2007).Mr. Lincoln's Brown Water Navy – The Mississippi Squadron.Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.ISBN 978-0-7425-5097-1.

Service

See also

References