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USS Ashuelot
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USS Ashuelot
USS Ashuelot was an iron-hulled, double-ended, side-wheel Mohongo-class gunboat in the United States Navy. She was named for a river in New Hampshire.
The contract for the construction of Ashuelot was awarded in June or July 1863 to Donald McKay. Her keel was laid down at his shipyard in East Boston, Massachusetts, sometime in 1864; and the ship was launched on 22 July 1865. She was delivered to the Boston Navy Yard on 30 November of that year; but, since the American Civil War had recently ended, the Navy's need for her services had diminished. As a result, Ashuelot — which had been designed for operations in the shallow rivers and coastal waters of the Confederacy — was not placed in commission until 4 April 1866, Commander John C. Febiger in command.
About this time, the new gunboat was chosen to join Augusta in escorting the double-ended monitor Miantonomoh to Europe. On the 11th, Ashuelot got underway to test her machinery and to assess her sailing qualities before joining her future consorts at New York. The three ships stood out from that port on 6 May and headed for Canadian waters. However, two days out, Commander Alexander Murray of Augusta—who commanded the little task force—dispatched Ashuelot to Boston, Massachusetts, to await the arrival of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Vasa Fox, President Andrew Johnson's personal representative in carrying to Saint Petersburg the Joint Resolution of Congress congratulating Tsar Alexander II on having escaped unscathed from a recent assassination attempt. After embarking her distinguished passenger, Ashuelot got underway again, threaded her way through a field of icebergs that obstructed the approaches to the coast of Nova Scotia; and rejoined the flotilla at Halifax on 3 June. There, Fox—who wished to demonstrate the seaworthiness of monitors which, up to that time, had never crossed the Atlantic—moved to Miantonomoh for the voyage.
The trio put to sea two days later and reached Queenstown, Ireland, on the 16th. At this port, Ashuelot—which had long been slated for duty in the Far East—was detached from her companions and proceeded via the Cape of Good Hope, the Indian Ocean, and the Straits of Malacca to the western Pacific. She finally joined the Asiatic Squadron at Hong Kong on 15 January 1867 and served in Oriental waters throughout her career.
The double-ender's first memorable mission began at Amoy early in April of that year when the captain of the Royal Navy's HMS Cormorant informed Rear Admiral Henry H. Bell, the commander of the United States Squadron, that "aboriginals" had murdered the survivors from Rover after that American merchant bark had been wrecked on rocks just off the southern coast of Taiwan (Formosa). Bell ordered Febiger—then at Fuzhou—to proceed in Ashuelot to that island to investigate. When the gunboat returned from Formosa with evidence confirming the tragedy, Bell launched a punitive expedition against the guilty tribesmen (see Formosa Expedition), but left Ashuelot on the mainland coast to look after American interests in various Chinese treaty ports. The double-ender continued to perform this duty into the early spring of 1868.
In Japan at that time, civil disturbances followed the abolition of the shogunate and the assumption of supreme political power by the Emperor Meiji, drawing Ashuelot to the island empire. She reached Nagasaki on 6 April and, with her sister American warships, remained neutral while furnishing refuge to endangered American citizens and foreigners. She also offered asylum to Japanese officials of both sides who felt themselves to be imperiled.
However, late in the spring, unrest in northern China caused Ashuelot to return to the Asiatic mainland. She put to sea on 17 June and, six days later, reached Tianjin—then menaced by Chinese rebels. She worked along the coast of northern China until sailing for Japan late in August. She moved from port to port along the coast of Asia and among the nearby islands, reaffirming the American presence and power in that part of the world, frequently seeking out trouble spots so that she might be on hand as a haven for endangered Americans and for others in peril—native and foreign alike.
As the years passed, the squadron increasingly took advantage of Ashuelot's comparatively shallow draft and the great maneuverability which sprang from her double-ended configuration by using her more and more in riverine operations. Thus, after the massacre of 22 Europeans—including 10 nuns—in June 1870, she departed Shanghai and proceeded north to the mouth of the Hai River which she reached on 26 July. She then ascended that river to Tianjin where the atrocity had occurred and remained at that ancient city into the spring of the following year. She got underway again on 23 April 1871 when the ice of the river had thawed allowing her to put to sea once more. From that time on, Ashuelot and her sister warships of the Asiatic Squadron frequently spent the winter locked in by the frozen waters of a northern port.
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USS Ashuelot
USS Ashuelot was an iron-hulled, double-ended, side-wheel Mohongo-class gunboat in the United States Navy. She was named for a river in New Hampshire.
The contract for the construction of Ashuelot was awarded in June or July 1863 to Donald McKay. Her keel was laid down at his shipyard in East Boston, Massachusetts, sometime in 1864; and the ship was launched on 22 July 1865. She was delivered to the Boston Navy Yard on 30 November of that year; but, since the American Civil War had recently ended, the Navy's need for her services had diminished. As a result, Ashuelot — which had been designed for operations in the shallow rivers and coastal waters of the Confederacy — was not placed in commission until 4 April 1866, Commander John C. Febiger in command.
About this time, the new gunboat was chosen to join Augusta in escorting the double-ended monitor Miantonomoh to Europe. On the 11th, Ashuelot got underway to test her machinery and to assess her sailing qualities before joining her future consorts at New York. The three ships stood out from that port on 6 May and headed for Canadian waters. However, two days out, Commander Alexander Murray of Augusta—who commanded the little task force—dispatched Ashuelot to Boston, Massachusetts, to await the arrival of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Vasa Fox, President Andrew Johnson's personal representative in carrying to Saint Petersburg the Joint Resolution of Congress congratulating Tsar Alexander II on having escaped unscathed from a recent assassination attempt. After embarking her distinguished passenger, Ashuelot got underway again, threaded her way through a field of icebergs that obstructed the approaches to the coast of Nova Scotia; and rejoined the flotilla at Halifax on 3 June. There, Fox—who wished to demonstrate the seaworthiness of monitors which, up to that time, had never crossed the Atlantic—moved to Miantonomoh for the voyage.
The trio put to sea two days later and reached Queenstown, Ireland, on the 16th. At this port, Ashuelot—which had long been slated for duty in the Far East—was detached from her companions and proceeded via the Cape of Good Hope, the Indian Ocean, and the Straits of Malacca to the western Pacific. She finally joined the Asiatic Squadron at Hong Kong on 15 January 1867 and served in Oriental waters throughout her career.
The double-ender's first memorable mission began at Amoy early in April of that year when the captain of the Royal Navy's HMS Cormorant informed Rear Admiral Henry H. Bell, the commander of the United States Squadron, that "aboriginals" had murdered the survivors from Rover after that American merchant bark had been wrecked on rocks just off the southern coast of Taiwan (Formosa). Bell ordered Febiger—then at Fuzhou—to proceed in Ashuelot to that island to investigate. When the gunboat returned from Formosa with evidence confirming the tragedy, Bell launched a punitive expedition against the guilty tribesmen (see Formosa Expedition), but left Ashuelot on the mainland coast to look after American interests in various Chinese treaty ports. The double-ender continued to perform this duty into the early spring of 1868.
In Japan at that time, civil disturbances followed the abolition of the shogunate and the assumption of supreme political power by the Emperor Meiji, drawing Ashuelot to the island empire. She reached Nagasaki on 6 April and, with her sister American warships, remained neutral while furnishing refuge to endangered American citizens and foreigners. She also offered asylum to Japanese officials of both sides who felt themselves to be imperiled.
However, late in the spring, unrest in northern China caused Ashuelot to return to the Asiatic mainland. She put to sea on 17 June and, six days later, reached Tianjin—then menaced by Chinese rebels. She worked along the coast of northern China until sailing for Japan late in August. She moved from port to port along the coast of Asia and among the nearby islands, reaffirming the American presence and power in that part of the world, frequently seeking out trouble spots so that she might be on hand as a haven for endangered Americans and for others in peril—native and foreign alike.
As the years passed, the squadron increasingly took advantage of Ashuelot's comparatively shallow draft and the great maneuverability which sprang from her double-ended configuration by using her more and more in riverine operations. Thus, after the massacre of 22 Europeans—including 10 nuns—in June 1870, she departed Shanghai and proceeded north to the mouth of the Hai River which she reached on 26 July. She then ascended that river to Tianjin where the atrocity had occurred and remained at that ancient city into the spring of the following year. She got underway again on 23 April 1871 when the ice of the river had thawed allowing her to put to sea once more. From that time on, Ashuelot and her sister warships of the Asiatic Squadron frequently spent the winter locked in by the frozen waters of a northern port.
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