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Steamship Caledonia (1853-1869)

(artwork done by Eric Heyl in 1950)

Caledonia (1853) / renamed USS Mohawk (1859) / renamed Alliance (1864)
(5 yrs of service on Cromwell Portland Line, from 1854 to June 1859)

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Built in 1853 by Teas & Birely Shipbuilders, Philadelphia PA
wooden hulled, three-masted, steam-powered screw
459 gross tons, 162 x 24.4 x 14
length of 162.4 feet, beam of 24.4, and depth of hold of 12.1feet.
launched on June 11th, 1853 for her 1st owner, the Parker Vein Steam Ship Co.
top speed 9kts

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HB Cromwell bought the Parker Vein Fleet which included Caledonia
Caledonia was sold for $13,000 to Amasa C. Hall, and then immediately sold to
Wm Cromwell and Assoc. In 1856 she began service as a freight and passenger
carrier between NY and Portland, Maine.


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Caledonia received new machinery (boilers and engine) in the fall of 1856 at Pusey, Jones & Betts in Wilmington, DE
new engine was a single 36" cylinder x 42" stroke

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HB Cromwell offers Secretary of the Navy to lease or sell Caledonia.
Chartered by the US Navy September 13, 1858 and entered service soon after, Cmdr. Augustus L. Chase
in command. The Caledonia sailed at once for South America to take part in Flag Officer William B.
Shubrick's 18-ship expedition against Paraguay, attempting to gain satisfactory apology for the
1855 firing upon survey steamer Water Witch. Arriving Asuncion with the squadron January 25, 1859,
Caledonia took position above Rosario in La Plata River, ready for operation while negotiations
were conducted. Paraguay agreed to apologize for the incident and pay an indemnity.

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The steamer returned to the United States in February and was purchased by the US Navy
June 14, 1859, for $23,459.08 and renamed USS Mohawk on that date. She commissioned at New York Navy
Yard Sept 19, 1859 with a complement 90; armed with (4) 32-pounders.

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Served as USS Mohawk in 1859-1864
The USS Mohawk operated along the East Coast and in the Caribbean area into 1861, capturing
the slave ship Wildfire in April 1860 and helping to secure U.S. Government properties in Florida
waters as the secession crisis grew in late 1860 and early 1861.

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During the first year of the Civil War Mohawk was assigned to the Gulf of Mexico, where she captured
one sailing blockade runner in July 1861. Departing the Gulf in April 1862, she was next sent to the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which operated along the eastern shores of Florida, Georgia and
South Carolina.

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Mohawk was employed as guardship at Port Royal, S.C., after June 1863. Sent north for
repairs a year later, she was found to be not worth the expense and was sold in July 1864.
Sold out July 12, 1864 and subsequently renamed SS Alliance.

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While in commercial service, the Alliances was wrecked at Hatteras Inlet, North
Carolina, on 4 March 1869.



U S S M o h a w k
The US Navy Steamer Mohawk was built in 1853, originally as Caledonia, by the Teas and Birely Yard of
Philadelphia. The vessel was rated at 459 tons, with a length of 162.4 feet, beam of 24.4, and depth
of hold of 12.1feet. She was launched on June 11th, 1853 for her 1st owner, the Parker Vein Steam Ship Co.
Caledonia was sold for $13,000 to Amasa C. Hall, and then immediately sold to Wm. Cromwell and Assoc.
In 1856 she began service as a freight and passenger carrier between NY and Portland, Maine.
On September 13, 1858 Caledonia was leased to the US Navy. Fitted with five guns – a 30-pounder,
two 32-pounders of 33 cwt, and two 32-pounders of 57 cwt, she was sent to South America as part of
an 18 ship fleet whose mission was to elicit an apology from Paraguay for hostile actions taken
against the Steamer Water Witch in 1855. The mission was successful. An option to buy was exercised,
and Caledonia became the US Steamer Mohawk on May 26th, 1859.

USS Mohawk was commissioned at New York Navy Yard, under the command of Lt. T.A.M. Craven, with
orders to patrol the north coast of Cuba for the suppression of the Slave Trade. Over the next 14
months she captured four slavers, the most notable being the Wildfire with 530 Africans on board.
On November 15th, 1860, with secessionist sentiments rising, Lt. Craven put Mohawk in position to
defend Ft. Jefferson at the Dry Tortugas against potential seizure. She maintained this stance until
the end of January, 1861.

Mohawk was sent New York, and then sailed as a supply escort to the Caribbean, returning to Florida
to participate in the Union blockade of the South until April of 1862. Her station was later changed
to South Carolina, again to participate in the blockade, and she held this duty until being sent to
Philadelphia for repair on July 6th, 1864. Being in a poor condition, Mohawk was declared unfit for
service, and sold at auction on July 12, 1864.

Given a new name, Alliance, the ship spent the rest of her days as a freight carrier sailing out of
Boston and Philadelphia. On the night of March 4th, 1869 Alliance met her demise near Hatteras Inlet,
N.C. The account of her loss reported the Norfolk Virginian, “By the arrival of the wrecking steamer
Resolute…we learn that the iron steamer Alliance, Captain Simms, from Boston for Charleston…had
broken up in a southeast gale on the night of the 4th inst., and was settling fast in the sand.
The Captain had abandoned her to the wrecking commissioners who had ordered for the benefit of all
concerned, the sale at auction on the 8th inst., upon the beach, all materials saved from the wreck,
consisting of boots and shoes, bales of hay, and a portion of her machinery.”...(1)


Sources:
(1)....Civilian Ship Steamship Caledonia (1853-1869)
....steamship Caledonia, which was USS Mohawk in 1859-1864. ...
www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-civil/ civsh-c/caledna.htm

US Navy -The Last Slave Ships
... hold of 12.1feet. She was launched on June 11th,1853 for her 1st owner, the Parker Vein Steam Ship Co.
Caledonia was sold for ...
www.melfisher.org/lastslaveships/usnavy.htm

..Photo #: NH 66950 Steamship Caledonia (1853)
Watercolor by Erik Heyl, prepared for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume III.
Built at Philadephia, Pennsylvania, Caledonia was chartered by the Navy in 1858 and purchased in 1859.
She served as USS Mohawk in 1859-1864 and later became the civilian steamer Alliance.
Courtesy of Erik Heyl. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Caledonia shown on Maine Steamship Company (1868-1912) ship roster
Maine Steamships predecessors were H B Cromwell and Co. and Portland and New York Steamship Company


Copyright 2004 Bill Medford
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