USS Varuna (1861)

USS ''Varuna'' was a screw steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Early in the war, the Union Navy was tasked with blockading the Confederate coastline. In order to complete the goal, the purchase of a number of additional ships was necessary. One of the vessels purchased was ''Varuna'', which was still under construction when the sale occurred on 31 December 1861. Commissioned in February 1862, she traveled to join the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. The squadron was under the command of Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut and was tasked with the capture of New Orleans, Louisiana.

In order to reach New Orleans, the Confederate positions at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip had to be passed. On the morning of 24 April, Farragut led his ships in an attempt to pass the forts. During the ensuing action, ''Varuna'' ran ahead of the other Union ships, and she was engaged in a chase with the Louisiana gunboat ''Governor Moore''. The two ships exchanged cannon fire before ''Governor Moore'' rammed ''Varuna'' twice. Another Confederate vessel added a third ramming blow. ''Varuna'' sank within 15 minutes, but Farragut was able to capture the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Construction and characteristics

When the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, the Union adopted the Anaconda Plan. This involved blockading the Confederate coastline and taking control of the Mississippi River. At the beginning of the war, the Union Navy had only 42 ships still considered active, with others mothballed and in poor condition. Many of the existing active ships were too large to enter ports that would need to be blockaded. The Union found itself needing a number of new ships in order to fulfill the new operation's goals.

''Varuna'', which was named after a Vedic deity associated with the skies and seas, was laid down at the Mallory Yard of Mystic, Connecticut, in late January or early February 1861. Launched in September 1861, she was intended to be used as a merchant ship on the trade route between New York City and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Union Navy purchased ''Varuna'' on 31 December, at New York City, before her construction had been completed.

According to naval historian Paul H. Silverstone, she had a tonnage of 1,247 tons burthen, while the ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' (DANFS) places her tonnage at 1,300 tons. ''Varuna'' was long, and had a beam of . Her depth of hold was . She was a steamship and used a single screw propeller for propulsion. Her crew numbered 157. She was armed with eight Dahlgren guns and two Parrott rifles. The naval historian W. Craig Gaines describes ''Varuna'' as either a sloop or a corvette, while the DANFS describes her as a screw gunboat.

Service history

''Varuna'' was commissioned in February 1862. On 10 February, she was briefly ordered to wait in New York City while the ironclad USS ''Monitor'' was completed, so that she could escort ''Monitor'' to Hampton Roads. By the end of the day, the order had been revoked, and ''Varuna'' became part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. On her way to join the squadron, ''Varuna'' called at the port of Port Royal, South Carolina. As the Union commander at Port Royal, Flag Officer Samuel Du Pont, was absent on an expedition south along the Confederate coastline, ''Varuna''s captain, Commander Charles S. Boggs, temporarily took command of the area. ''Varuna'' would not reach the West Gulf Blockading Squadron until 6 March.

In January, the commander of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut, had been tasked with capturing New Orleans for the Union. Farragut would have both a fleet of warships and the Mortar Flotilla. In late February, he arrived at Ship Island, a strategic island off the coast of Mississippi, and after preparations, the advance up the Mississippi towards New Orleans began on 15 April. The mortars of the Mortar Flotilla began bombarding two Confederate forts downriver from New Orleans Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip on 18 April, with the shelling continuing for another five days. Union vessels were able to breach a barricade erected in the river on 20 April, and at 02:00 on 24 April, Farragut's ships began moving against the two forts, bringing on the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip.

''Varuna'' sunk in action

Farragut assigned 17 warships for the attack on the forts, dividing them into three groups. ''Varuna'' was one of eight ships in the first group, which was tasked with moving up the eastern side of the river to engage Fort St. Philip. Confederate fire opened at around 03:40. The lead Union ship was the ''Unadilla''-class gunboat USS ''Cayuga'', which moved towards Fort St. Philip and engaged the ironclads CSS ''Louisiana'' and CSS ''Manassas''. ''Varuna'' fired into the duel, damaging both the Union and Confederate vessels, and the screw sloop USS ''Oneida'' came to the aid of ''Cayuga'' as well. While ''Oneida'' held position and fired at the forts, ''Varuna'' then broke formation and continued upriver at full steam, despite having engine trouble that resulted in low boiler pressure. The crew of ''Varuna'' burned barrels of pork in an attempt to raise additional steam. Encountering three Confederate gunboats, ''Varuna'' fired at them and continued upriver. In the chaos, projectiles from ''Varuna'' caused friendly fire casualties on ''Cayuga''. ''Varuna'' was now the leading Union ship, and she was spotted by the State of Louisiana gunboat ''Governor Moore''. The Union ship could be identified by the color of light she showed on her masthead, as Confederate vessels carried a different color of light.

The two ships then began a chase upriver. The commander of ''Governor Moore'' ordered lights similar to those ''Varuna'' displayed on his ship as a ruse. When the Confederate vessel caught up with ''Varuna'' shortly before daylight, the decoy lights were taken down and ''Governor Moore'' opened fire. ''Governor Moore'' fired with the chase gun on her bow, while ''Varuna'' fired with her stern chase gun. The gunboat CSS ''Jackson'' briefly fired into the melee, but she then continued upriver to New Orleans. ''Varuna'' tried to turn to face her broadside towards ''Governor Moore'', but the move was countered; the two ships fired into each other at a range of . ''Governor Moore'' approached yet closer, but found that her forward gun could not be depressed enough to rake ''Varuna''s deck, so her captain ordered the gun fired through her own deck, with the hole serving as a gun port. A second shot through the hole killed three men aboard ''Varuna'' and wounded others.

At this point, the two ships were about apart, but their crews could barely see each other due to dense smoke. It was now about 06:00, and the ships were at a point about upriver from the forts.''Varuna'' turned to starboard to allow for a broadside to be fired from that side of the ship. The broadside caused great destruction on ''Governor Moore''s deck, but ''Governor Moore'' rammed ''Varuna'', knocking out the Union ship's engines. ''Governor Moore'' then backed off and rammed ''Varuna'' again. ''Varuna'' was now sinking rapidly, and steered towards the riverbank. Another gunboat then arrived and rammed ''Varuna''. ''Varuna'' sank within 15 minutes, with her guns still firing as she went down. For their actions in the engagement, eight sailors aboard the vessel were later awarded the Medal of Honor. ''Varuna''s survivors were rescued by ''Oneida''.

Boggs wrote in his official report dated 29 April that four members of the ship's crew were killed and nine wounded, and that four of the Marines aboard were also wounded; while the report of Acting Assistant Paymaster Charles Fitch dated 6 May reports that three men from ''Varuna'' were confirmed to have been killed. Gaines lists the vessel's casualties as three killed and twelve wounded. One of ''Varuna''s officers, Lieutenant Charles Swasey, attributed the vessel's sinking to its design as a merchant vessel, which Swasey considered to be inadequate for a warship. ''Governor Moore'' in turn was scuttled not long after her victory over ''Varuna''; over three-quarters of her crew had been killed or wounded.

As Union vessels moved upriver, they passed the wreck of ''Varuna'', whose flags were still visible above the water. The ships dipped their colors as they passed by the wreck site. By mid-morning, Farragut had 13 of his ships upriver past the forts. Most of the Confederate ships present had been sunk, and the two forts surrendered on 28 April, after their garrisons mutinied. After neutralizing Confederate defenses at Chalmette on 25 April, the Union vessels entered New Orleans. The fall of the city was a major defeat for the Confederates. The DANFS states that ''Varuna'' "contributed greatly" to the Union victory, and George Henry Boker wrote a poem commemorating the vessel. Her wreck was partially visible in 1885, and a 1981 expedition led by Clive Cussler located a signal with a gradiometer near where she is believed to have sunk.

Notes

References

Sources

Secondary

*
*
*

*
*
*
*
*

Primary

*
*
*
*

External links

Poetry Lyrical, Narrative, and Satirical of the Civil War
Boker's poem about ''Varuna'' is on pages 114 and 115

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varuna
Ships of the Union Navy
Ships built in Mystic, Connecticut
Gunboats of the United States Navy
Steamships of the United States Navy
American Civil War shipwrecks in the Mississippi River
Shipwrecks of the American Civil War
Louisiana in the American Civil War
1861 ships
Maritime incidents in April 1862