LARGE ANTIQUE PRE CIVIL WAR LITHOGRAPH of US AUXILLARY STEAM FRIGATE MERRIMACK

Description

circa 1854 - LARGE ANTIQUE PRE CIVIL WAR LITHOGRAPH of US AUXILLARY STEAM FRIGATE  MERRIMACK
This large antique lithograph measures approx. 20 x 28 inches with borders.
The lithograph is by L.H. Bradford and Co. after a drawing by G.G. Pook.
There are some light stains and a 3 1/2 inch long tear in the top center.
Overall Good Condition!
NO RESERVE!
USS
Merrimack
(1855)
USS Merrimack; Engraving by L.H. Bradford & Co., after a drawing by G.G. Pook
History
United States
Name
Merrimack
Ordered
6 April 1854
Launched
15 June 1855
Commissioned
20 February 1856
Decommissioned
16 February 1860
Fate
Burned and sunk in dock, 20 April 1861
Raised and converted into ironclad
CSS
Virginia
General characteristics
Tonnage
3,200
Length
275 ft (84 m)
Beam
38.5 ft (11.7 m)
Draft
24 ft (7.3 m)
Propulsion
sail, steam engine
Speed
12 knots
Armament
14 × 8-inch guns,
2 × 10-inch guns,
24 × 9-inch guns
USS
Merrimack
, also improperly
Merrimac
, was a
steam frigate
, best known as the
hull
upon which the
ironclad warship
CSS
Virginia
was constructed during the
American Civil War
. The CSS
Virginia
then took part in the
Battle of Hampton Roads
(also known as "the Battle of the
Monitor
and the
Merrimack
") in the first engagement between ironclad warships.
Merrimack
was the first of six
screw frigates
(steam frigates powered by screw propellers) begun in 1854. Like others of her class (
Wabash
,
Roanoke
,
Niagara
,
Minnesota
and
Colorado
), she was named after a river. The
Merrimack
originates in
New Hampshire
and flows through the town of
Merrimac, Massachusetts
, often considered an older spelling which has sometimes caused confusion of the name.
[1]
History
USS
Merrimack
sectional view
Creation
Merrimack
was launched by the
Boston Navy Yard
15 June 1855; sponsored by Miss Mary E. Simmons; and commissioned 20 February 1856, Captain Garrett J. Pendergrast in command. She was the second ship of the Navy to be named for the
Merrimack River
.
Service
Shakedown cruises
took the new screw frigate to the
Caribbean
and to Western Europe.
Merrimack
visited
Southampton
,
Brest
,
Lisbon
, and
Toulon
before returning to
Boston
and decommissioning 22 April 1857 for repairs. Recommissioning 1 September 1857,
Merrimack
got underway from
Boston Harbor
17 October as flagship for the
Pacific Squadron
. She rounded
Cape Horn
and cruised the Pacific coast of
South
and Central America until heading for home 14 November 1859. Upon returning to
Norfolk
, she decommissioned 16 February 1860.
Merrimack
was still
in ordinary
during the crisis preceding
Lincoln
's inauguration. Soon after becoming
Secretary of the Navy
,
Gideon Welles
took action to prepare the frigate for sea, planning to move her to
Philadelphia
. The day before the firing on
Fort Sumter
, Welles directed that "great vigilance be exercised in guarding and protecting" Norfolk Navy Yard and her ships. On the afternoon of 17 April 1861, the day
Virginia
seceded, Engineer in Chief
B. F. Isherwood
managed to get the frigate's engines lit off; but the previous night secessionists had sunk light boats in the channel between
Craney Island
and
Sewell's Point
, blocking
Merrimack
. On the 20 April, before evacuating the Navy Yard, the U.S. Navy burned
Merrimack
to the waterline and sank her to preclude capture.
USS
Merrimack
aflame during the burning of the Norfolk Navy Yard, 20 April 1861
The
Confederacy
, in desperate need of ships, raised
Merrimack
and rebuilt her as an
ironclad
ram
, according to a design prepared by
Lt. John Mercer Brooke, CSN
. Commissioned as
CSS
Virginia
17 February 1862, the ironclad was the hope of the Confederacy to destroy the wooden ships in
Hampton Roads
, and to end the Union blockade which had already seriously impeded the Confederate war effort.