Career
Laid down:
Launched:	1 May 1862
Commissioned:	13 June 1862
Fate:	sunk 2 April 1863
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement:
Length:	47 ft
Beam:	4 ft 8 in
Draft:
Propulsion:	(1862) Hand-powered oars (16 men) (1863) Hand-cranked propeller Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1250x1260, 288 KB)The Alligator was the first submarine purchased by the U.S. Navy. ... The source for an SVG image of the United States Navy jack can be found at USN Jack. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 2 April is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...
Speed:	(1862) 3 to 4 kts (1863) 7 kts
Range:
Depth:	5 ft 6 in
Complement:	21
Armament:	2 torpedoes

The fourth USS Alligator is the first known US Navy submarine, though not of the United States. A Revolutionary War era submarine, the Turtle was the first submarine in the United States. The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... HMS Vanguard, a Vanguard-class nuclear ballistic missile (SSBN) submarine HMCS Windsor, a Victoria-class diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine HMAS Rankin, a Collins-class diesel-electric guided missile (SSG) submarine USS Virginia, a Virginia-class nuclear attack (SSN) submarine A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate... The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ... A cross-section sketch of Bushnells Turtle. ...

Construction

In the autumn of 1861, the Navy asked the firm of Neafie and Levy to construct a small submersible ship designed by the French engineer Brutus DeVilleroi, who also acted as a supervisor during the first phase of the construction. 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Brutus de Villeroi (1794-1874) was a French engineer of the 19th century, born in the city of Nantes, who developed some of the first operational submarines, and the first submarine of the United States Navy, the USS Alligator in 1862. ...

The ship was about 30' long and 6' or 8' in diameter. "It was made of iron, with the upper part pierced for small circular plates of glass, for light, and in it were several water tight compartments." For propulsion, she was equipped with sixteen hand-powered paddles protruding from the sides, but on July 3, 1862, the Washington Navy Yard had the paddles replaced by a hand-cranked propeller, which improved its speed up to seven knots. Air was to be supplied from the surface by two tubes with floats, connected to an air pump inside the submarine. The NOUN paddle is a tool, originally a boat propulsion implement for mixing or pushing against liquids, typically in order to propel a boat. ... July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Washington Navy Yard is the U.S. Navys oldest shore establishment. ...

The Navy wanted such a vessel to counter the threat posed to its wooden-hulled blockaders by the former screw frigate Merrimack which, according to intelligence reports, the Norfolk Navy Yard was rebuilding as an ironclad ram for the Confederacy. Since the Navy's agreement with the Philadelphia shipbuilder specified that the submarine was to be finished in not more than 40 days, her keel was laid down almost immediately following the signing on 1 November 1861 of the contract for her construction. Nevertheless, the work proceeded so slowly that more than 180 days had elapsed when the novel craft finally was launched on 1 May 1862. Ironclad warships, frequently shortened to just ironclads, were ships sheathed with thick iron plates for protection. ... Sharma Ram (disambiguation) Ram Sharma is an amazing, talented teenager that lives in Canada His talents include rapping, comedy, and cooking He is bound to success! ... A confederacy can refer to: A form of government formed as a union of political organizations, though it differs from a republic in that the separate political units retain a greater degree of sovereignty over themselves. ... Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Operational history

Soon after first entering the water, the new boat was towed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard to be fitted out and manned. A fortnight later, a civilian, Mr. Samuel Eakin, was placed in charge of her; and, on 13 June, the Navy formally accepted the small, but unique, ship. Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ...

Samuel Eakins, first and only commander of the USS Alligator.

Next, the steam tug Fred Kopp was engaged to tow the submarine to Hampton Roads, Virginia. The two vessels got underway on 19 June and proceeded down the Delaware River to the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal through which they entered the Chesapeake Bay for the last leg of the voyage. At Norfolk, the submarine was moored alongside the sidewheel steamer, Satellite, her tender during her duty with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. A short while after reaching Hampton Roads on the 23rd, the submarine picked up the name Alligator, a term which soon appeared in official correspondence. Image File history File links EakinsSamuel. ... Image File history File links EakinsSamuel. ... Hampton Roads, Virginia 1858 Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water and the land areas which surround it in southeastern Virginia in the United States. ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... Delaware River Watershed The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic coast of the United States. ... C&D Canal from Chesapeake City, Maryland. ... Chesapeake Bay - Landsat photo The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. ... Norfolk is a city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. ... Paddle steamer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Hampton Roads, from state map of pre-civil war Virginia circa 1858 Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water and the land areas which surround it in southeastern Virginia in the United States. ... (Redirected from 23 June) June 23 is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 191 days remaining. ...

Several tasks were considered for the strange vessel: destroying a bridge across the Appomattox River; clearing away the obstructions in the James River at Fort Darling which had prevented Union gunboats from steaming upstream to support General McClellan's drive up the peninsula toward Richmond; and blowing up Virginia II if that ironclad were completed and sent downstream to attack Union forces. Consequently, the submarine was sent up the James to City Point where she arrived on the 25th. Commander John Rodgers, the senior naval officer in that area, examined Alligator and reported that neither the James off Fort Darling nor the Appomattox near the bridge was deep enough to permit the submarine to submerge completely. Moreover, he feared that, while his theater of operation contained no targets accessible to the submarine, the Union gunboats under his command would be highly vulnerable to her attacks should Alligator fall into enemy hands. As a result, he requested permission to send the submarine back to Hampton Roads. The Appomattox River is a tributary of the United States. ... The James River is the name of at least two rivers in the United States. ... Fort Darling was a Confederate military installation during the American Civil War located at Drewry’s Bluff, a high point overlooking a bend in the James River south of Richmond in Chesterfield County, Virginia. ... ... Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States of America. ... CSS Virginia II, an ironclad ram, was laid down at the Confederate Navy Yard at Richmond, Virginia in 1863. ... City Point is the name of two places in the United States: City Point, Virginia an extinct town now a portion of Hopewell, Virginia City Point, Wisconsin a town located in Jackson County, Wisconsin This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 189 days remaining. ... Fort Darling was a Confederate military installation during the American Civil War located at Drewry’s Bluff, a high point overlooking a bend in the James River south of Richmond in Chesterfield County, Virginia. ...

The ship headed downriver on the 29th and then was ordered to proceed to the Washington Navy Yard for more experimentation and testing. In August, Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. was given command of Alligator and she was assigned a naval crew. The tests proved to be unsatisfactory, and Selfridge pronounced "the enterprise… a failure." ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (500x667, 51 KB) Summary http://www. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... The Washington Navy Yard is the U.S. Navys oldest shore establishment. ... Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. ...

The Navy Yard later removed Alligator's oars and installed a screw propeller in their stead. This change increased her speed to about four knots. On 18 March 1863, President Lincoln observed the submarine in operation. March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ...

About this time, Rear Admiral Samuel Francis du Pont—who had become interested in the submarine while in command of the Philadelphia Navy Yard early in the war—decided that Alligator might be useful in carrying out his plans to take Charleston, South Carolina, the birthplace of secession. Acting Master John F. Winchester, who then commanded the Sumpter, was ordered to tow the submarine to Port Royal, South Carolina. The odd pair got underway on 31 March. Samuel Francis du Pont by Daniel Huntington 1867-68, oil on canvas National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC Samuel Francis du Pont (September 27, 1803 – June 23, 1865) was an officer in the United States Navy who achieved the rank of rear admiral. ... Charleston, South Carolinas oldest city Motto: Aedes Mores Juraque Curat Nickname: The Holy City, The Palmetto City Founded 1670 Incorporated County Berkeley and Charleston Counties Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. ... USS Sumpter was a steamship in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. ... Port Royal is a town located in Beaufort County, South Carolina. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining, as the final day of March. ...

The next day, the two ships encountered bad weather which, on 2 April, forced Sumpter to cut Alligator adrift. She either immediately sank or drifted for awhile before sinking (no one knows which for sure), ending the career of the Navy's first submarine. 2 April is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ...

See USS Alligator for other ships of this name. Four vessels have been called USS Alligator. ...

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS for short) is the primary reference work for the basic facts about every ship ever used by the United States Navy. ...

External links

• history.navy.mil: USS Alligator
• navsource.org: USS Alligator
• NPR story on the hunt for the USS Alligator
• NOAA search for the Alligator