Marblehead (1862-1865)
USS Marblehead, a 691-ton Unadilla class screw steam gunboat, was built at Newburyport, Massachusetts. Commissioned in March 1862, she initially served on Virginia's York and Pamunkey Rivers in support of the Army's Peninsular campaign. In mid-1862, Marblehead was transferred to the blockade of the Georgia and South Carolina coasts, where she participated in engagements with the Confederates on the Stono River, S.C., in July and December 1863 and the bombardment of Fort Wagner in Charleston harbor in August 1863.
Damaged by enemy gunfire during an intense 25 December 1863 battle on the Stono River, Marblehead went north for repairs. From June 1864 until September 1866 she was a practice ship at the Naval Academy, taking time off from that employment to conduct coastal patrols during the last part of 1864. As a unit of the North Atlantic Squadron, the gunboat operated in the Caribbean from late 1866 until mid-1868. USS Marblehead decommissioned and was sold in September 1868. She was subsequently converted to a sailing bark for civilian use.
This page features all the views we have related to USS Marblehead (1862-1865).
For an image of a Marblehead crewman who was awarded
the Medal of Honor for
courageous conduct, see:
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Photo #: NH 46630 USS Marblehead (1862-1868) Photographed by Byron, New York, probably in 1864-68 after she was rearmed with all guns mounted on the broadside. Note rowing launch amidships, with a flag flying from its stern. |
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Photo #: NH 79920 USS Marblehead engages a Confederate Battery on John's Island, Stono River, South Carolina, 25 December 1863 Halftone image, copied from "Deeds of Valor", Volume II, page 51, published by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907. It shows one of Marblehead's gun crews returning the Confederate fire. The man at left, wearing a nightshirt and holding a sword, is the ship's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Richard W. Meade, Jr., who had been suddenly awakened when the enemy opened fire. |
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For an image of a Marblehead crewman who was awarded
the Medal of Honor for
courageous conduct, see:
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