< John L. Lockwood SwStr

John L. Lockwood SwStr

 

John L. Lockwood

(SwStr: t. 180; 1. 114'; b. 24'; dr. 6'6"; s. 11 k.; cpb 30;
a. 1 80-pdr. rifle, 1 12-pdr. rifle; 1 12-pdr.sb)

John L. Lockwood built at Athens, N.Y., in 1854; was purchased at New York City 1 September 1861, and commissioned at Washington 21 September, Acting Master William F. North in command.

John L. Lockwood was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron 25 September with whom she steadfastly served throughout the war. She took station off the New York River 30 September and remained there on blockade duty until ordered to Hampton Roads to guard Congress and Cumberland. With Shawsheen she shelled Virginia infantry on Yorktown Road a few miles above Camp Butler 23 November.

The following day , John L. Lockwood departed Hampton Roads for repairs at Baltimore, and she decommissioned upon arrival 25 November. Back in fighting trim, she recommissioned 6 December and returned to Hampton Roads. Assisted by Morse, she engaged three Confederate batteries on Sewell's Point 29 December.

John L. Lockwood was ordered to Hatteras Inlet 2 February 1862 to take part in combined operations which struck the Confederacy with heavy and costly blows wherever water reached within the North Carolina Sounds. She was with Flag Offlcer Goldsborough during operations against Roanoke Island 7 February bombarding Confederate positions with deadly effective Sre. The next day with eight other ships she cut the chain connecting two vessels which obstructed the channel, thus clearing a passage for the Union ships into Albemarle Sound. This victory and the follow-up operations in the sounds severed Norfolk's main supply lines, secured the North Carolina coast, diverted important strength from the main Confederate Armies, and weakened the South's ability to resist at sea. At the end of the fighting, Captain Alex Murray who commanded Goldborough's second column praised John L. Lockwood for being "conspicuously in the foreground throughout the bombardment."

With Roanoak Island secure, the fleet moved on to Elizabeth City, N.C., to destroy Confederate gunboats and interrupt the South's canal communications to the north of Albermarle Sound. The next major amphihious operation, the attack on Confederate batteries on the Neuse River 13 March, resulted in Union occupation of New Bern, N.C., on the 14th. On 23 April, with Whitehead and Putnam, John L. Lockwood blocked the mouth of the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal near Elizabeth City, N.C., sinking a schooner and other obstructions inside the waterway.

She remained in North Carolina's inland waters patrolling the innumerable inlets and streams and assisting Army units ashore until sailing from Hatteras Inlet for repairs at Hampton Roads 3 September 1863. Refitting completed, John L. Lockwood departed Norfolk Navy Yard 8 January 1864 and arrived New Bern 14 January to resume duty in the sounds. She captured sloop Twiligh't at Elizabeth City, N.C. During most of her further service she was stationed at New Bern where after the war she decommissioned 23 May 1865. She was towed to Baltimore late in May and thence taken to Washington 27 July. John L. Lockwood was sold at Washington to Mr. Crosset of New York 15 September 1865 and redocumented Henr1y Smit7' 3 April 1866. The Army purchased and renamed her Chester A. Arthur 30 June 1876.