USS Kearsarge

Type

Sloop of War

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: USS Kearsarge was a Mohican-class steam sloop-of-war of the U.S. Navy, famous for sinking the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France on 19 June 1864, one of the most celebrated single-ship actions of the American Civil War. She was the only U.S. Navy ship named directly for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire, though several later vessels bore the name in her honor. Specifications: Kearsarge displaced about 1,550 long tons, measured roughly 201 ft (some sources cite 214 ft) in length with a 33 ft 8 in beam and 14 ft 3 in draft. She was a three-masted, steam-and-sail vessel capable of about 11 knots, armed with two 11-inch smoothbore Dahlgren guns, four 32-pounders, and a 30-pounder Parrott rifle — a modest but powerful battery that proved decisive against Alabama's guns. Service History: Built at Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, under the 1861 emergency wartime shipbuilding program, she was launched on 11 September 1861 and commissioned 24 January 1862. She spent much of the war hunting Confederate commerce raiders in European waters, most notably blockading and then destroying CSS Alabama off Cherbourg after Captain John A. Winslow drew the raider into open water to respect French neutrality. She remained in active and reserve service for three decades afterward before wrecking on Roncador Reef off Central America in 1894. Notable Facts: The famous 1864 battle was witnessed by crowds ashore and several observing vessels, and was memorialized in period art, including a well-known painting by Édouard Manet of Kearsarge at Boulogne. Her chain-draped hull sides (used to protect boilers) and paired pivot-mounted 11-inch Dahlgrens are distinctive recognition features for modelers depicting her in her Civil War configuration.