USS Tecumseh (1863)

Tecumseh strikes a mine and sinks
History
United States
Name	USS Tecumseh
Namesake	Tecumseh
Ordered	15 September 1862
Builder	Charles Secor & Co., Jersey City, New Jersey
Laid down	1862
Launched	12 September 1863
Commissioned	19 April 1864
Fate	Sunk during the Battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864
General characteristics
Type	Canonicus-class monitor
Displacement	2,100 long tons (2,134 t)
Tons burthen	1,034 tons (bm)
Length	223 ft (68.0 m)
Beam	43 ft 4 in (13.2 m)
Draft	13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Installed power	320 ihp (240 kW) 2 × Stimers fire-tube boilers
Propulsion	1 × Propeller 1 × Vibrating-lever steam engine
Speed	8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement	100 officers and enlisted men
Armament	2 × 15-inch (381 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns
Armor	Gun turret: 10 in (254 mm) Waterline belt: 5 in (127 mm) Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) Pilot house: 10 in (254 mm)
U.S.S. Tecumseh
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Nearest city	Fort Morgan, Alabama
Coordinates	30°13′54″N 88°1′33″W / 30.23167°N 88.02583°W / 30.23167; -88.02583
Area	0 acres (0 ha)
Built	1862
Architect	Charles A. Secor & Co.
NRHP reference No.	75000306[1]
Added to NRHP	14 May 1975

USS Tecumseh was a Canonicus-class monitor built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Although intended for forthcoming operations against Confederate fortifications guarding Mobile Bay with Rear Admiral David Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Tecumseh was temporarily assigned to the James River Flotilla in April 1864. The ship helped to plant obstacles in the river and engaged Confederate artillery batteries in June.

Tecumseh was sunk on 5 August during the Battle of Mobile Bay when she struck a mine. The ship capsized and rests upside down northwest of Fort Morgan. The Smithsonian Institution surveyed her wreck in 1967 with the intent of raising it, but ultimately decided against the project when proffered funding was withdrawn. Several other plans to raise the wreck have been made, but all have fallen through.