View source for USS Essex (1856)

{{other ships|USS Essex}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=1s02823u (17290054285).jpg
|Ship caption=''Essex'' at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 1862
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1865}}
|Ship name=''New Era''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=
|Ship original cost=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=1856
|Ship acquired=20 September 1861
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=20 July 1865
|Ship renamed=''Essex'' in late 1861
|Ship refit=as an ironclad late 1861
|Ship struck=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=sold on 29 November 1865; scrapped 1870
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship type=Ironclad
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=640 tons
|Ship tons burthen=
|Ship length={{convert|202|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|60|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draft={{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship power=
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|Ship speed=5.5 knots
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=124
|Ship armament=1 × 32-pounder; 3 × 11-inch [[Dahlgren gun|Dahlgren smooth bore]]s;1 × 10-inch Dahlgren smoothbore;1 × 12-pounder [[howitzer]]
|Ship armor=1 ¾" forward casemate, ¾" sides
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
[[File:USS New Era.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A contemporary illustration of the 1861 conversion of the [[Steamboat|steamer]] ''New Era'' into the [[gunboat]] USS ''Essex''.]]
'''USS ''Essex''''' was a 1000-ton [[ironclad]] river [[gunboat]] of the [[United States Army]] and later [[United States Navy]] during the [[American Civil War]]. It was named by her captain, William Porter, for his father's old sailing frigate, the USS Essex. This ''Essex'' was originally constructed in 1856 at [[New Albany, Indiana]] as a [[steam-powered]] ferry named ''New Era''.

==Service in Tennessee==
In September 1861 ''New Era'' was purchased by the [[United States Army]] for use in its [[Western Gunboat Flotilla]] and was modified into a 355-ton [[timberclad]] [[gunboat]]. In November 1861 USS ''New Era'' took part in an expedition up the [[Cumberland River]]. Shortly thereafter she was renamed USS ''Essex'' and received an upgrade to iron armor and various other alterations. On 11 January 1862, USS ''Essex'' engaged [[Confederate States Navy]] gunboats near [[Battle of Lucas Bend|Lucas Bend, Missouri]].  On 6 February 1862, she took part in the attack on [[Battle of Fort Henry|Fort Henry, Tennessee]] and was badly damaged by [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] gunfire.

==Battling the CSS ''Arkansas''==
[[Image:CSS Arkansas h73378.jpg|thumb|left|300px|CSS ''Arkansas'' running through the Union fleet above Vicksburg, Mississippi, 15 July 1862]]
Commanding officer [[William D. Porter]] upgraded his ship without official authorization into an [[ironclad]] [[gunboat]].  Under his orders she was lengthened, widened, and completely reengineered, and her appearance was changed drastically.  New, more powerful, engines were put in place and she was rearmored. After her upgrade ''Essex'' took part in operations near [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]].  On 15 July 1862, USS ''Essex'' was engaged with [[CSS Arkansas|CSS ''Arkansas'']] as that ship successfully ran past the Union fleets in front of the city.  On 23 July, ''Essex'' unsuccessfully attacked the ''Arkansas'' at her moorings but was repelled by the ''Arkansas'' and the shore guns under whose protection the ''Arkansas'' lay.  Federal forces withdrew from Vicksburg shortly thereafter. After withdrawing, ''Essex'' joined Admiral [[David Farragut]]'s squadron and was the only Federal ironclad on the lower [[Mississippi River]]. On 5 August 1862, ''Essex'' helped repel a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] attack on [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]].

On 6 August, the ''Essex'' once again engaged CSS ''Arkansas'' as that vessel attempted to relieve the beleaguered [[Confederate States of America|Confederates]] attacking Baton Rouge. As ''Essex'' approached, the steering mechanism of the ''Arkansas'' jammed and her crew was forced to scuttle her due to the presence of the ''Essex''.

==Transfer to the Navy==
In October 1862 the ''Essex'' was transferred from the [[United States Army|Army]] to the [[United States Navy]]. She was involved in the bombardment of [[Port Hudson, Louisiana]] and assisted during the occupation of Baton Rouge. In May–July 1863 under the command of [[Robert Townsend (Captain)|Robert Townsend]] she participated in the siege and capture of Port Hudson. USS ''Essex'' took part in the [[Red River Campaign]] of March–May 1864.

In December 1864, the USS ''Essex'' was in Memphis, Tennessee. According to David Redrick, the Rear Admiral's cook, some of the boat's crew "slipped ashore at night" and "got on a spree".  Boatswain William Bernard Dolen, age 33, was part of a detail sent ashore to "arrest the boys".  During the arrest, he was stabbed in the right chest by a fellow seaman, and was honorably discharged for disability due to the chronicity of the wound, from which he later died in 1878.

==After the war==
''Essex'' was decommissioned in July 1865. She was sold in November 1865 and reverted to the civilian name ''New Era''. She was scrapped in 1870. USS ''Essex'' had the reputation as one of the most active gunboats on the [[Mississippi River]], despite her relatively weak armor. It often was damaged in actions.

==References==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/essex-ii.html}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Essex (ship, 1856)}}
*[http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-e/essex2.htm Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships USS Essex (1861-1865)]
*[http://historical.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=6074&lotNo=52011 Civil War Era albumen view of USS Essex]
*[http://thisweekinthecivilwar.com/?p=928/ Bombardment of Fort Henry (Feb. 2-6, 1862)]

{{Union ironclads}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essex}}
[[Category:Ships built in New Albany, Indiana]]
[[Category:Ships of the Union Navy|Essex (1856)]]
[[Category:Massachusetts in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:1856 ships]]