Essex (Gunboat, 1861-1870)

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Recess wheel
• BOAT TYPE: Gunboat
• BUILT: 1861 at St. Louis, Missouri
• FINAL DISPOSITION: Hull was burned near Mound City, Illinois in December 1870
• OWNERS: U.S.
• OFFICERS & CREW: William D. Porter (1861); James McBride (pilot)
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - 1897; She was converted to a Civil War gunboat by enlarging the hull of the snagboat New Era (built in 1856). During an engagement at Fort Henry, a shot exploded in the center boiler which resulted in 32 casualties. Pilot McBride was found dead at the wheel, his right hand clutching the stopping bell pull. At the end of the war the Essex was sold, lay around Cincinnati in the fall of 1866 and in December 1870 her hull was burned at Mound City to recover scrap