U.S.S. Saratoga (1842)
Seen here in the 1880s when serving as a training ship, Saratoga was already a historic vessel of some distinction by the time she was called upon to join the Union blockade. Built at Kittery, Maine in 1841-43, she had been part of Commodore Perry's squadron that landed at Tokyo in 1851 to compel the opening of Japan to foreign trade and ideas. A 150-foot, 900-ton sloop of war, the Saratoga mounted 22 guns in much the style of a Napoleonic era corvette. Later, in 1860, she was part of the U.S. anti-slavery patrol when she captured the Boston-owned slaver Nightingale off the mouth of the Congo, loaded with almost 2,000 slaves, men, women, and children. The human cargo were taken to Liberia and released, and the ship siezed. Later when the Saratoga was on blockade duty, her squadron was supplied in part by Nightingale: surely a case of turn-about.
Specifications for the Saratoga:
Dimensions: 146'4" OA x 35'3" x 17'7". Displacement: 882 tons. Armament: (18) 32-pdr smoothbores; (4) 8" shell guns. Rating: First rate sloop. Rig: Full ship rig. Top speed: 11 kts. Crew: 210.
Metric specifications:
Dimensions: 44.6m OA x 10.75m x 5.43m Displacement: 882 tons. Armament: (18) 32-pdr smoothbores; (4) 203 mm shell guns. Rating: First rate sloop. Rig: Full ship rig. Top speed: 20.4 km/hr. Crew: 210.
Saratoga was part of a beefy Union fleet of wooden cruisers and steam frigates which the Confederates could not match; at right, the Union steam sloop Monongahela under full sail and stuns'ls (extra canvas rigged out to the sides to capture extra push in light airs). In order to keep its cotton economy afloat, the South invested in fast blockade runners. These slender steamers brought the contraband cotton crop out to the Bahamas and Caribbean islands where it could be sold and transshipped via European-flag vessels to the ravenous cotton mills of Lancashire. There was a good deal of sympathy in Britain and France for the Confederate cause in the first years of the war, not least because the British economy depended in large part on a ready supply of Southern cotton; and despite the efforts of the Union blockaders, fast steamers departed regularly from Southern ports right until the final months of the war. Incentives were great; the pay on a blockade runner could make a captain rich after only 2 or 3 successful voyages. Crews were largely British, and enthusiastic about their risky profession for much the same reason.
Of course, in the inland waters, with their shifting shoals and fluky winds, a deep-draft sail-powered cruiser like the Saratoga was at a significant disadvantage. Her role was to patrol offshore, where wind and water conditions were more in her favor; and to join in bombardments of fortifications. Shallow-draft steam-powered vessels such as the 13-knot Santiago de Cuba, the paddle steamer Rhode Island, or some of the blockade runners themselves after capture, were used to chase down the elusive craft. Owners often painted the contraband carriers mist grey, and supplied them with telescoping funnels and muffled paddle wheels to escape detection on entering or leaving port; masters and crews resorted to all the wiles and ruses that have attended smuggling over the centuries.
Above is the Robert E. Lee, a typical blockade runner, showing the lean, wiry build and low profile of the type. Many fortunes were made by lucky captains and investors. It was a risky business, though. A number blockade runners ended up like this, littering the sandy coast of the South from Galveston to the Carolina Sounds. Others, like the Lee, were captured by the Union and turned against their kind: the Lee was one such, the photo above being taken after her acquisition by the North. This "take a thief to catch a thief" scenario was played out with many variations over along the barrier beaches and hidden coves of the eastern seaboard. One by one, the rebel ports were closed and captured by the Union military, strangling the South so effectively that food staples and simple items like sewing needles were unobtainable in the last year of the conflict. Charleston, S.C. and Wilmington, N.C. were the last seaports captured, holding out until January and February 1865, respectively.
Relevant Weblinks
- USS Constellation: Sailing Corvette of 1854 - Page and Video
- Civil War Ship Types (Other Than Ironclads) - Scroll Down in Nav Panel at Left.
- The Napoléon - French Steam Battleship of 1850
- Back to Civil War Home Port
