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USS Peterhoff

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The Russian yacht Peterhoff, later the Peterhoff blockade runner, and USS Peterhoff.
History
Russia
NamePeterhoff
NamesakePeterhof Palace
OwnerImperial Russian Government
OperatorImperial Russian Navy
BuilderC.J. Mare & Co., Blackwall, London
Launched1850
FateSold to United Kingdom
History
United Kingdom
NamePeterhoff
FateSold to United States
History
Union Navy Jack United States
NameUSS Peterhoff
Acquiredby Union Navy forces, 25 February 1863
CommissionedFebruary 1864
Stricken1864 (est.)
FateRammed and sunk, 6 March 1864
General characteristics
Tons burthen412 tons
Length210 ft (64 m)
Beam28 ft (8.5 m)
Depth of hold15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion140 hp (100 kW) steam engine, screw-propelled
USS Peterhoff
Nearest cityFort Fisher, North Carolina
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built1863
NRHP reference No.75001283[1]
Added to NRHP6 August 1975

USS Peterhoff was a British ship captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Condemned as a blockade runner, she served the Union Navy's struggle against the Confederate States of America as a gunboat.

Ship history

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Construction

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The Peterhoff was a 416-ton iron-hulled yacht originally built for the Tsar of Russia by C. J. Mare & Co. of Blackwall, London, with 140 hp steam engines by J & G. Rennie.[2] Launched in 1850,[3]

Early history

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During her delivery voyage to Saint Petersburg, Peterhoff was driven ashore on Saaremaa on 1 November 1850.[4] She was abandoned by the crew and her insurers made a payment of £15,000 to the Imperial Russian Government. She was later refloated and sank to preserve her from damage from the waves. Peterhoff was refloated in the spring of 1851 and taken in to Riga, where temporary repairs were made. Departing in early July, she reached London on 17 July.[5] The ship was acquired by British interests and fitted out as a cargo ship.[6]

Seizure

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Peterhoff sailed from Falmouth, Cornwall on 27 January 1863. On 20 February 1863, she was boarded and searched by the USS Alabama off the island of Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies. Alabama found her papers in order and released her. Peterhoff then entered the harbour at St. Thomas where two U.S. Navy ships commanded by Acting Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes were at anchor. Wilkes, already notorious for his part in the "Trent Affair", ordered that the Peterhoff be boarded by the USS Vanderbilt just after she had left harbour on 25 February.[6]

Peterhoff had papers that stated that she was bound for Matamoros in Mexico, but then a sailor aboard let slip that she was really bound for Brownsville, Texas, just across the Rio Grande. This comment was taken as sufficient justification for Vanderbilt to seize the ship as a blockade runner, and she was sent to Key West. Both the Danish and British governments vigorously protested the seizure, but the ship was eventually condemned by the New York prize court and bought by the Union Navy.[6] She was commissioned in February 1864 with Acting-Volunteer Lieutenant Thomas Pickering in command,[7] and assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.[6]

Sinking

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The ship departed Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 28 February to blockade Wilmington, North Carolina.[7] However, early on the morning of 6 March 1864, the Peterhoff was rammed by the gunboat Monticello who mistook her for a blockade runner. Although Peterhoff sank within half an hour, all of her crew were saved. On the night of 7 March 1864, men from Mount Vernon and Niphon boarded the wreck at low tide and destroyed as much as they could, cutting down the masts and spiking all the guns that they could reach.[6]

Post-war

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After the Civil War, the Supreme Court overturned the prize court's decision, and the owners of the Peterhoff received compensation for their loss.[6]

The wreck of Peterhoff was rediscovered by divers in 1963[8] in 30 ft (9.1 m) of water off Kure Beach, North Carolina.[9] Three 32-pounder smoothbore cannon were later salvaged.[8] In 1974, a 30-pounder Parrott rifle was raised, and is now on display at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Other guns from the ship are on display at Fort Fisher State Historic Site and the Carteret County Museum of History at Morehead City, North Carolina.[6] The wreck site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 9 July 2010.
  2. ^ "George Rennie". craig-telescope.co.uk. 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Ships 1849-1851". Illustrated London News Archive. 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Ship News". The Times. No. 20645. London. 13 November 1850. col E, p. 8.
  5. ^ "Arrival of the Imperial Russian Yacht Peterhoff, in London". The Standard. No. 8403. London. 17 July 1851.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Norris, David (2012). "USS Peterhoff and UNC-W's Civil War Cannon". Cape Fear Civil War Round Table. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  7. ^ a b "USS Peterhoff". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 2004. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck Register" (PDF). North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  9. ^ "NPS Archeology Program: Abandoned Shipwreck Act Guidelines". nps.gov. 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
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