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USS Casco

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Ship Information (from DANFS)1,2:

Name: USS Casco Type: Monitor (but converted to torpedo removal vessel) Tonnage: 614
Length: 208’9” Beam: 37’ Draught: Forward: 6’1”, Aft: 7’5.5”
Speed: 5.5 knots Complement: 69 men Class: Not Listed.
Armament: June 5, 1865: 1 11” Dahlgren Smoothbore in turret
Namesake: A bay on the coast of Maine.

Images:

02190v: U.S.S. Casco, light-draft monitor. 3

 

Captain(s):
Acting Master Charles A. Crooker
Captain Image

Captain 2
Captain Image

Captain 3
Captain Image

 

First Offensive Order of Battle (June 13-18, 1864):

  • Not Present. (refitting into a torpedo vessel due to flawed monitor design in Boston, MA)4

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

  • Not Present. (refitting into a torpedo vessel due to flawed monitor design in Boston, MA)5

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

  • Not Present. (refitting into a torpedo vessel due to flawed monitor design in Boston, MA)6

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

  • Not Present. (refitting into a torpedo vessel due to flawed monitor design in Boston, MA)7

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

  • Not Present. (refitting into a torpedo vessel due to flawed monitor design in Boston, MA)8

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

  • Not Present. (refitting into a torpedo vessel due to flawed monitor design in Boston, MA)9

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

  • Not Present. (refitting into a torpedo vessel due to flawed monitor design in Boston, MA)10

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

  • Not Present. (refitting into a torpedo vessel due to flawed monitor design in Boston, MA)11

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

Not Present (in Boston, MA and being towed to Hampton Roads)(March 1-March ??, 1865)12

James River, Va. | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (April 1, 1865)(at Trent’s Reach April 1)13

Ordered to Potomac Flotilla (on or before April 15, 1865)14

  • Captain: Acting Master Charles A. Crooker (April 1 & 15, 1865)15,16
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament:
    • 2 x “guns” (April 1, 1865)17
    • 1 x “gun” (April 15, 1865)18
  • Notes:
    • On April 1 & 15, 1865, this ship is noted as a “Screw Class” vessel.19,20
    • Casco was towed to Hampton Roads in March 1865 from Boston, Massachusetts.21
    • Casco, acting as a torpedo removal vessel, assisted in the removal of torpedoes in the James River which made possible the advance of naval forces to Richmond in early April 1865.22

 

Siege of Petersburg Battles:

  • TBD

 

Siege of Petersburg Involvement:23

Casco was launched May 1864 by Atlantic Works, Boston, Mass. Prononunced unseaworthy when nearly completed, on 25 June 1864 she was ordered to be converted to a torpedo vessel, without turret or heavy guns. Casco was commissioned 4 December 1864, Acting Master C. A. Crooker in command.

After completion of additional yard work, Casco was towed to Hampton Roads in March 1865. She assisted in the removal of torpedoes in the James River which made possible the advance of naval forces to Richmond. In mid-April she was transferred to the Potomac Flotilla, with whom she served until the end of May. Casco was decommissioned 10 June 1865 at Washington Navy Yard, where she was broken up in April 1875.

 

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

      Sources:

      1. “DANFS.” Naval History and Heritage Command, www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs.html.
      2. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Volume 1, p. 53
      3. James River, Va. U.S.S. Casco, light-draft monitor. (Between 1860 and 1865) Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2018666834/>.
      4. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      5. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      6. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      7. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      8. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      9. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      10. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      11. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      12. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      13. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 9394
      14. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116118
      15. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 9394
      16. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116118
      17. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 9394
      18. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116118
      19. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 9394
      20. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116118
      21. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      22. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
      23. “Casco I (Monitor).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/casco-i.html.
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