USS Pittsburgh (1861) (often Pittsburg) was a City class ironclad

City class ironclad

The Pook Turtles, or City class gunboats to use their semi-official name, were war vessels intended for service on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. They were also sometimes referred to as "Eads gunboats." The labels are applied to seven vessels of uniform design built from...

 gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 constructed for the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 by James B. Eads during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, and transferred to the Union Navy

Union Navy

The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...

 in October 1862. She was commissioned in January 1862, Commander Egbert Thompson in command.

Operational history

Joining Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote

Andrew Hull Foote

Andrew Hull Foote was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war came, he was appointed to command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla, predecessor of the...

's Western Gunboat Flotilla in river patrol duty, Pittsburgh attacked Fort Donelson

Battle of Fort Donelson

The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11 to February 16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The capture of the fort by Union forces opened the Cumberland River as an avenue for the invasion of the South. The success elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S...

 February 14, 1862, and was damaged by counter-fire. The support from the gunboats contributed greatly to the capture of the strategic fort two days later.

Repaired, she attacked Island No. 10

Battle of Island Number Ten

The Battle of Island Number Ten was an engagement at the New Madrid or Kentucky Bend on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War, lasting from February 28 to April 8, 1862. The position, an island at the base of a tight double turn in the course of the river, was held by the Confederates...

 on April 3, then ran its batteries by dark April 7, being lashed by a heavy thunderstorm as well as the island's 73 guns. This daring feat made it possible for her and Carondelet

USS Carondelet

There have been two ships of the United States Navy named Carondelet:*The USS Carondelet was a gunboat on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War.*The USS Carondelet was a tanker that served during World War II....

 to demolish batteries below New Madrid, Missouri

New Madrid, Missouri

New Madrid is a city in New Madrid County, Missouri, 42 miles south by west of Cairo, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. New Madrid was founded in 1788 by American frontiersmen. In 1900, 1,489 people lived in New Madrid, Missouri; in 1910, the population was 1,882. The population was 3,334 at...

 that same day, clearing the way for the Army to cross the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

.

Pittsburgh gave continued service in the lengthy series of operations which wrested control of the lower Mississippi from the Confederacy. Her flotilla, previously under Army control, came under naval command October 1, 1862. Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 William R. Hoel

William R. Hoel

William R. Hoel was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. A native of Butler County, Ohio, Hoel was a Mississippi River steamboat pilot when he entered the United States Navy 19 October 1861....

 U.S.N. took command of the Pittsburgh at this time. Highlights of her service were the operations against Plum Point Bend

Battle of Fort Pillow (Naval)

The naval battle at Fort Pillow, Tennessee took place on the Mississippi River between ships of the Confederate River Defense Fleet, which consisted of a number of wooden sidewheel paddleboats converted to naval rams, and ships of the Union Mississippi River Squadron, which consisted of a number...

, Fort Pillow and Memphis

Battle of Memphis

The First Battle of Memphis was a naval battle fought on the Mississippi River immediately above the city of Memphis on June 6, 1862, during the American Civil War. The engagement was witnessed by many of the citizens of Memphis. It resulted in a crushing defeat for the Rebels, and marked the...

 in April, May and June 1862; the Steele's Bayou Expedition

Steele's Bayou Expedition

The Steele's Bayou Expedition was a joint operation of Major General Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee and Rear Admiral David D. Porter's Mississippi River Squadron, conducted as a part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Its aim was to move Union forces from the...

 of March 1863; and the passing of the Vicksburg

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

 batteries April 16, 1863. She led the attack on the batteries at Grand Gulf

Battle of Grand Gulf

The Battle of Grand Gulf was fought on April 29, 1863, during the American Civil War. In the Vicksburg Campaign of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Union naval forces under Rear Adm. David D. Porter led seven ironclads in an attack on the Confederate fortifications and batteries at Grand Gulf, downriver...

 April 29, and was heavily damaged during the five-and-a-half hour engagement which secured Union control of an important stretch of the river, making it possible for Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 to cross the river and attack Vicksburg from the rear. The strong Confederate river fortress surrendered July 4, allowing President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 at last to report, “The Father of Waters flows unvexed to the sea.”

Patrol and bombardment missions on the Mississippi were interrupted the following year when Pittsburgh joined in the Red River Expedition

Red River Campaign

The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....

 from March to May 1864. On March 1, 1865 Hoel was detached from Pittsburgh, to take command of USS Vindicator

USS Vindicator (1864)

USS Vindicator was a 750-ton steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy and put to use by the Union during the American Civil War.Vindicator served the Union Navy primarily as a ram on the Mississippi River and its tributaries as part of the Union effort to control the Mississippi River and, essentially,...

; Acting Master Morgan commanded the Pittsburgh until her decommissioning at Mound City, Illinois

Mound City, Illinois

Mound City is a city located along the Ohio River in Pulaski County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 692. It is the county seat of Pulaski County.-Geography:Mound City is located at ....

 at close of the war. Pittsburgh was sold there November 29, 1865.

Armament

Like many of the Mississippi theatre ironclads, Pittsburgh had its armament changed multiple times over life of the vessel. To expedite the entrance of Pittsburgh into service, she and the other City-class ships were fitted with whatever weapons were available; then had their weapons upgraded as new pieces became available. Though the 8 in (203.2 mm) Dahlgren

Dahlgren gun

Dahlgren guns were muzzle loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN, mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental explosion in 1849 of a 32-pounder being tested for accuracy, killing a gunner...

smoothbore cannons were fairly modern most of the other original armaments were antiquated; such as the 32-pounders, or modified; such as the 42-pounder "rifles" which were in fact, old smoothbores that had been gouged out to give them rifling. These 42-pounder weapons were of particular concern to military commanders because they were structurally weaker and more prone to exploding than purpose-built rifled cannons. Additionally, the close confines of riverine combat greatly increased the threat of boarding parties. The 12-pounder howitzer was equipped to address that concern and was not used in regular combat.

Ordinance characteristics
January 1862	May 1863	December 1863	September 1864
• 3 × 8-inch smoothbores • 2 × 42-pounder rifles • 6 × 32-pounder rifles • 2 × 30-pounder rifles • 1 × 12-pounder smoothbore	• 2 × 9-inch smoothbores • 3 × 8-inch smoothbores • 2 × 42-pounder rifles • 4 × 32-pounder rifles • 2 × 30-pounder rifles • 1 × 12-pounder smoothbore	• 2 × 9-inch smoothbores • 2 × 9-inch rifles • 2 × 8-inch smoothbores • 1 × 100-pounder rifle • 4 × 32-pounder rifles • 2 × 30-pounder rifles • 1 × 12-pounder smoothbore	• 2 × 9-inch smoothbores • 2 × 9-inch rifles • 2 × 8-inch smoothbores • 1 × 100-pounder rifle • 2 × 32-pounder rifles • 2 × 30-pounder rifles • 1 × 12-pounder smoothbore