USS Nipsic

On April 9th, I posted about William L. Churchill, executive officer on the USS Nipsic who headed an early search for the Hunley.


The USS Nipsic was built for the US Navy at Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was commissioned September 2, 1863.

Stats: 592 tons, 179.6 feet long, 30 foot beam, 11.6 foot draft, 11 knots.
Armament-- 1 X 150 pdr. rifle, 1 X 30 pdr. rifle, 2 X 9 inch Dahlgren smoothbores, 2 X 24 pdr. howitzers, 2 X 12 pdr guns.

Arrived South Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Charleston, SC on Nov. 5th. On June 27, 1864, captured the schooner Julia running the blockade.

After the war, it was stationed off Latin America. In 1870, the Nipsic, USS Gurad and USS Nyack began the Darien Expedition under the command of Commander Thomas O. Selfridge at Darien, Panama. This was to look into a possible canal across that area.

In 1873, the Nipsic was off Brazil. After that, it was decommissioned and broken up. It was rebuilt larger as an Adams-class gunboat. It was recommissioned in 1879 and served in the Mediterranean 1880-1873.

In 1889, it was in the Apia Hurricane and survived by grounding itself. In 1890, it was completely rebuilt again and served in the Pacific. From 1892 to 1913 it was the receiving ship at the Puget Sound Navy Yard before being sold in 1913.

The History of a Ship. --Old B-Runner