With the advent of the Civil War, the United States hastened the end of the sailing Navy and April 20,1861 the Union set fire to all ships in dock at the Norfolk Navy Yard to prevent them form being captured by the Confederates, however not all ships were completely destroyed.
As was written in the first segment of these articles, blockading the southern ports was a major role for the ships flying the Union flag. One such was the USS Chenango. This side-wheelsteamer was first launched March 19, 1863 by J. Simonson of Greenport, New York. The USS Chenango (so named for the river and county in central New York and the reasoning for this designated name is not known) was outfitted at the New York Navy Yard and formally commissioned Feb. 29, 1864 with Lieutenant Commander T.S. Fillebrown in command.
Leaving New York for Hampton Roads, Virginia April 15,1864 she was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The photo of the map (taken from the American Heritage book “Civil War” by Bruce Catton) illustrated the slow strangling effect of the Northern Blockade in closing Confederate ports. This photo is the strangulation of Fort Fisher in South Carolina in which the USS Chenango participated in.
Before the Chenango reached the open sea, one of the boilers exploded, scalding 88 men fatally. The resulting raging fire was brought under control, extinguished by the courageous work of the ship’s crew and consequently was towed back to New York for repairs. The Chenango was placed out of commission April 21, 1864 and repaired, refitted and recommissioned February 1, 1865.
Regarding the USS Chenango Boiler Explosion, April 15, 1864, a lengthy documentary was written by Terry Foenander and a portion of his documentation is quoted in this article.
“Leaving Friday, April 15, 1864 the ‘Chenango’ steamed out of the Navy Yard in New York for Hampton Roads and was to drop anchor at the buoy at Sandy Hook till the next day when she would be accompanied by the double turreted monitor, USS Onondaga, assigned to her destination in the south.”
Lt. Com. Thomas Scott Fillebrown was in command, a veteran of over twenty years of service, entering the United States Navy in October of 1841. He had only recently been assigned to the ship and her complement of about two dozen officers included several engineers, controlling the engine room, under the eye of their first assistant engineer, Joseph N. Cahill.
Starting her journey coming abreast of Fort Richmond in New York harbor, the port boiler exploded, tearing the decks and causing chaos amongst the engineers and firemen. Two of the personnel were killed instantly, fireman John Murphy and coal heaver John Maher. The New York Tribune reported “One poor fellow was blown overboard, and picked up in a most deplorable condition.”
Several vessels, seeing and hearing the explosion quickly came to the assistance which included the C.W. Cheney, revenue cutter Bronx, and Navy vessel, the USS Rose. A portion of these vessels took a number of the wounded aboard, transported them to the city, where they were taken, in hacks and wagons to the United States Marine Hospital. The Bronx took the Chenango in tow and headed back to the Navy yard.
A newspaper report praised the prompt attention paid by the medical staff and others in giving immediate aid to the victims of the tragedy, but it was also noted that “Many of the poor fellows were literally flayed alive, some of them being quite blind from the effects of the steam. Their shrieks and groans were painful beyond expression; great stalwart men implored the surgeons to give them something to ease their pain. It was evident that several of them were beyond human aid and would find in death a speedy easement of their suffering.” [NYT]
This tragedy appeared to have little impact on the Naval authorities and the Navy Department as no report of the disaster is included in the pages of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion as Mr. Foenander found in his extensive research of his article.
The aftermath of this tragedy the Navy conducted an investigation and found negligence on the part of the second assistant engineer S. Wilkins Cragg, dismissed him from Naval service and possibly of new revelations regarding the accident Cragg was re-appointed to a higher grade and was appointed as first assistant engineer, July 25, 1866 [Callahan].
Returning to the participation of the USS Chenango, after being re-commissioned she sailed February 17, 1865 and joined her squadron in Charleston, South Carolina and had an important role in the long and successful efforts of cutting off supplies to the Confederacy. Operating along the Georgia coast as well as from Charleston, she successfully captured the blockade runner Elvira, containing cotton and tobacco. The USS Chenango on March 9th performed reconnaissance was engaged with the Confederate forces at Brown’s Ferry on the Big Black River.
As a final action of her participation, May l6,1865, towing the Cambridge, she reached Philadelphia on May 20th. Here the USS Chenango would be once again decommissioned on July 1 and on finally sold on October 28, 1868.
Closing this segment of the first USS Chenango’s participation, a photo of the North and South Carolina coasts will enable readers to visualize the blockade efforts of the North against the South.