Maritime Heritage Minnesota USS Essex Log Book 27 Finding Aid Adams class ship USS Essex (IX-10) was designed and constructed by premier North American shipwright Donald McKay. Her keel was laid down in 1874 and she was launched in 1876. She was a three-decked wooden screw steamer sloop-of-war with auxiliary sail (bark-rigged). She was 185 feet long, 35 feet in the beam, had a 14.25-foot draft, and was 1,375 tons. When commissioned, she carried six big guns, all muzzle loaders: one XI-inch and four IX-inch Dahlgren Naval Artillery guns, and one 60-pound Parrott Rifle The ship’s armory carried dozens of small arms including rifles, pistols, revolvers, and cutlasses. Further, she carried a six auxiliary boats including a launch, two cutters, a whale boat, one gig, and a dinghy. The combinations of guns and watercraft carried on board USS Essex could change from log book to log book. She served with the US Navy in active duty and as a training ship with the Ohio Naval Militia, the Illinois Naval Militia, and the Minnesota Naval Militia. She was intentionally burned on Minnesota Point in Lake Superior at Duluth in 1931. Her Minnesota Archaeological Site Number is 21-SL-1030 and she is a National Register of Historic Places Property. Maritime Heritage Minnesota digitized the 62 known USS Essex log books held at the National Archives in Washington, DC, and at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis in 2010. The log books consist of the daily activities on board the Essex as recorded by deck officers on duty. Those deck notes were then transcribed to be the official log of the Essex that were sent to the Navy Department in Washington, DC, where they were bound into their current book form. At the beginning of most log books, there are: a title page, two list of officers pages, a crew complement page (listing the crew by rank and job), an armaments page (list of the different large guns, boats, and small arms), and two pages of compass observations. Not all log books contain these pages and some include additional information, including a plan and section of the Essex in Log Books 8 and 9 and four pages of directions on how to fill out log pages in Log Book 21. Sometimes two transcribed versions of log pages were sent to the Navy Department and duplicate books were produced. However, sometimes the duplicate books were not bound with exactly the same pages, so some books overlap each other in date. Also, some log book pages have writing too close to its spine edge and after binding, some words and numbers were ‘lost’ in the spine if the binding remained tight over the decades. Further, it must be kept in mind that the names of ships, both American and foreign, as well as geographical locations usually expressed in different languages will have variations in spelling. With this in mind, the deck officers of the Essex, when writing the log pages, may misunderstand what the actual name of a ship or geographical marker actually is and their handwriting may present challenges or be nearly illegible. The digitization and editing of the USS Essex log books were made possible with funding provided by the Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !1 program, part of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. Log Book 27 of the USS Essex: April 22, 1890-October 31, 1890 The National Archives houses USS Essex Log Book 27. Throughout Log Book 27, comments were made on: ๏ sail adjustments with sail type and action specified ๏ banking of boiler fires in order to put the ship on stand-by for immediate use ๏ coupling and uncoupling the propellor when the ship was shifting from steam to sail and vice-versa ๏ when under steam the different watches record the average steam boiler pressure and engine revolutions ๏ lowering of smokestack and proceeded under sail and vice-versa when the Essex was underway ๏ when anchored nearly every watch described the state of the anchor cables: crossed (‘cross in hawse, stbd chain on top’ or ‘Elbow in hawse’) and often will mention ‘clearing the hawse’ (the crossed anchor cables were uncrossed) ๏ casting deep sea lead for soundings ๏ swinging the ship to test for compass deviation ๏ patent log readings ๏ water distillation using the ship’s boilers to produce freshwater and refilling the freshwater tanks ๏ coaling of the ship ๏ weather recording: temperature, wind speed and direction, barometer readings, state of the sea ๏ recording the ship’s behavior (heavy rolling or pitching) ๏ testing flood cocks in magazine and gun rooms ๏ crew conducting ship maintenance: engine maintenance/repair, general ship cleaning, bilge cleaning and checking pumps, scraping and painting - and sometimes tarring and caulking - the ship’s hull and infrastructure, repairing yards and booms, steam/sail launch maintenance/repair, turned and cleaned hammocks and bedding ๏ crew conducting drills: target practice with the main battery (great guns), boat drills - all hands called to arms and away all boats for naval tactics under sail and oars, general quarters drills, small arms drills, fire drills, single stick drills, torpedo drills, fuze drills, abandon ship drills, man overboard drills, battalion drills, watch signal drills ๏ receiving fresh water from shore through pumps or lighter ๏ receiving provisions and stores: food, medical supplies, clothing, engineering gear, construction ๏ Quarterly Board of Survey’s findings of condemned articles on board (food, equipment) and their fate (food was usually tossed overboard) from the inventories of the different ship’s departments (Ordnance, Engineering, Navigation, Equipment, Medical, Pay) USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !2 ๏ crew promotions ๏ crew quarters inspection ๏ liberty parties sent ashore ๏ crew members are discharged at their own request (DOR) ๏ lists of new crew members - recruits or transfers from other ships- taken on board during a cruise ๏ crew transfers to other ships ๏ crew members in solitary confinement or other punishments for various infractions, AWOL crew, general and summary court martial proceedings, AWOL crew put in irons ๏ rewards offered for the return of AWOL crewmen ๏ weekly Sunday services; after the services, once a month, the Articles for Better Government of the Navy were read to the crew NOTE: The Essex deck officers who recorded the daily happenings on the ship often translated the names of non-American ships incorrectly. MHM determined the correct spellings of the ships and those corrections are reflected in the Finding Aid, not the poorly transliterated ship names. At the beginning of Log Book 27, in mid-April 1890, the USS Essex was anchored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard under Commander A. S. Snow. USS Essex was assigned to the US South Atlantic Station. On April 22, Essex was put into commission. The crew on boar were marched back to the US Receiving Ship Vermont and a special watch of seaman was established in the forecastle for the night. The next day, and throughout the out- fitting of the ship, Navy Yard workmen were on board. During the last five days of April, the fresh water tanks - two on the port side and two on starboard - were filled from a hydrant and the ship was pumped out. Twenty crewmen from Vermont worked on Essex, but spent the night on the receiving ship. Essex was coaled, crewmen were transferred from Vermont to Essex, and 20 apprentices and a bugler were received from frigate USS Minnesota. The Marine Guard of two sergeants, two corporals, two musicians, and 20 privates was assigned from the Marine barracks. Stores and equipment were stowed on board the ship. The Engineering Gang began filling boilers but they had to stop the procedure on account of a leaky valve. The gunboat USS Yantic arrived at the Navy Yard, the boilers completed filling, stores were stowed, a liberty party went ashore, and a visiting party was sent to Yantic. For most of May, Essex accepted provisions and equipment for various departments, had ‘dock trials’ - including running the engine at the dock - and had Navy Yard workmen on board. The coastal survey steam and sail schooner USC&GS George S. Blake anchored, the tugboat USS Fortune and torpedo boat USS Cushing left the Yard, and Essex received her sails and chronometers on board. The ship’s divisions drilled at single sticks and small arms and maritime signals were exchanged with USRS Vermont. The draft of the ship was recorded before and after coaling to ensure an ease of passage out of the East River, and the magazine and shell room flood cocks were tested. The crew mustered, formed into battalions, trained in furling and unfurling sails, and at clearing the ship for action. Tug USS Fortune returned to the Yard and pulled USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !3 alongside the coal dock and brushed against Essex - no damage to either vessel was recorded. Mid-month, USC&GS George S. Blake left the Yard, and Essex sent one of a dinghy to rescue a sail boat that had capsized. The crew hauled three people out of the water, one of whom was in imminent danger of drowning. Frigate USTS Minnesota entered the Yard and moored to the Ordnance dock, USS Fortune left the harbor, and USRS Vermont fired an 11-gun salute. Four crewmen were declared deserters after 10 days AWOL. The crew tested the steam launch, the bilges were cleaned, and a large number of officers and men went ashore for Decoration Day parade and drill practice. It was found that a revolver was missing after the drills. Later in May, more men were received men from USRS Vermont, and the crew continued fire quarters and abandon ship drills. On May 27, USS Essex unmoored and steamed down the East River, passing under Brooklyn Bridge, and came to anchor in Upper New York Bay - bearings were taken off the Quarantine Station flagstaff & Fort Lafayette. As a rule, when Essex came to anchor, soundings were taken fore, amidships, and aft. The ship exchanged signals with steam sloop USS Pensacola at anchor off Staten Island. The next day, using a lighter, an Essex work force went to Fort Hadesworth for ammunition, and gunboat USS Yantic and USS Pensacola passed by. The ship once again up anchored and went up the North River (southern part of the Hudson River); she passed Pensacola and sloop-of- war USS Jamestown along the way. Essex anchored and took bearings taken off the Statue of Liberty and the south spire of the Catholic Cathedral. Commander Snow visited Pensacola and then Essex shifted berth. In the process, the starboard anchor fouled on three telegraph cables - two of them broke while clearing anchor. She came to anchor off 59th Street. On May 29, Essex exchanged maritime signals with Pensacola and Yantic passed and anchored off 125th Street. The ship shifted her anchorage once again and anchored off 125th Street at Riverside Park near Yantic and Jamestown; Commander Snow paid an official visit to Yantic and Jamestown. On May 30, the ship’s officers and two companies of bluejackets and one company of Marines left Essex on the Navy Yard tug USS Catalpa to take part in Decoration Day parades in Brooklyn; Pensacola, Yantic, and Essex fired salutes every five minutes. After the festivities, Essex shifted her berth downriver and anchored, taking bearings off the Statue of Liberty and the flagstaff on Ellis Island. The next day, the crew was busy with small boat drills. For the first few days of June 1890, the crew was inspected for vaccination marks and the unvaccinated men received shots. The men exercised at: clearing for action, general quarters, fire drills, man overboard, there were battalion drills by company and by divisions, and ‘call to arms and away all boats’ drills were timed and recorded all the ship’s various boats. During the drills, one cutlass was lost overboard from the sailing launch and the steam launch was fitted out as a spar torpedo boat. The crew were drilled in Divisions with great guns, small arms, single sticks, and fuzes. Ordinary seaman Daniel Foley fell overboard on June 4. Crewmen dropped a life buoy and sent the life boat and steam cutter to pick him up. Two men jumped overboard and succeeded in bringing him to the life buoy and the steam launch. There was some danger since the tide was running a strong ebb at the time. Seaman Foley was placed USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !4 under a sentry and charged for being drunk on duty. The ship’s tanks and boilers’ were filled from a water lighter and the bilges were pumped out. On June 5, Essex got underway up the North River, anchored, and exchanged signals with USS Jamestown. Sloop-of-war USTS Portsmouth came upriver under tow of tug Catalpa, and her Commanding Officer visited Essex. Over the next seven days, two crewmen were transferred to the Navy Hospital in Brooklyn via the Navy Yard tug. Inspections at quarters included the ship’s officers in 'special full dress’. Also, Baltimore Police police returned an Essex deserter who was arrested in Washington DC. A reward was paid with an additional amount of money for expenses. The deserter was placed in confinement to await further action. More crew training comments with the steam launch crew instructed in torpedo connections and the cockswains and quarter masters instructed in signals. The schooner yacht USC&GS Eagre stood upriver, USS Jamestown went downriver in tow of Navy Yard tug USS Nina, and Essex exchanged signals with USTS Portsmouth. On June 12, the North Atlantic Squadron - protected cruiser Flagship USS Baltimore, gunboat USS Galena, sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge, and gunboat USS Dolphin - came in and anchored above Essex in the North River. Essex exchanged signals with Baltimore; Portsmouth, and Baltimore exchanged salutes. Pleasantries were exchanged between Essex, Baltimore, Galena, Portsmouth, and Kearsarge. In mid-June, Commander Snow loaded Essex boilermaker Anderson to Galena to work on her boilers. Maritime signals between the ship and Baltimore concerned infantry and artillery capabilities and on June 15, Essex hoisted the guard flag and sent a guard boat to Flagship USS Baltimore. Commander Snow reported to the Commander-in-Chief of the North Atlantic Squadron Rear Admiral Bancroft Gherardi; Essex was given a temporary assignment with the North Atlantic Squadron. The next day, Essex lowered the guard flag since Galena’s boilers were back in shape, and she relieved Essex. Baltimore and Kearsarge steam down river, while Essex received two boxes of charts, one box of nautical books, and one box of medical stores from the Brooklyn Navy Yard. On June 17, a shore boat carrying four men capsized astern of Essex; the crew lowered a lifeboat and rescued one man while the other three men were rescued by a shore gig. For the next week, the Navy tug delivered more stores, gunboat USS Yorktown anchored between Essex and gunboat USS Petrel, more men arrived from USRS Vermont and the Marine barracks. Commander Snow exchanged courtesies and maritime signals with Yorktown. At a crew muster, Commander Snow read a commendation letter from the Secretary of the Navy commending the gallant conduct of C.D. Cleary and C. Gregory for jumping overboard to rescue Daniel Foley from drowning in early June. An Essex ensign was sent for temporary duty on board the newly constructed and commissioned dynamite gun cruiser USS Vesuvius via the Navy Yard. Essex was secured for sea travel, proceeded underway, and anchored off Tompkinsville, Staten Island, near USS Baltimore. Commander Snow met with Admiral Gherardi and the ship received a crewman from the US Quarantine Ship Franklin; Essex up anchored, left New York Harbor on June 23. Essex was set to participate in the time trials of the new protected cruiser USS Philadelphia; she arrived at Block USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !5 Island, Rhode Island - along with USS Vesuvius and USS Dolphin - a day early. That day, Philadelphia came out and seemingly took a trial run on the prescribed course. The ships came out the next day and waited for the time trial to begin, when USS Dolphin pulled alongside Essex and told the crew that the trial had happened yesterday. Essex then moved to the northeast, to Vineyard Sound, along with USS Petrel and USS Dolphin. Essex sighted USS Baltimore and USS Kearsarge and informed Dolphin and Petrel that the other ships were on the way. When the Engineering Gang was preparing to get underway, the flange on the reversing gear fractured and disabled the engine. After exchanging signals and while the Engineers began to fix the engine, the other four ships got underway toward Portland, Maine. In the meantime, deserters effects were sold at auction and in the late afternoon, Essex got underway. On June 30, the ship anchored in Portland Harbor near Flagship USS Baltimore, USS Dolphin, USS Kearsarge, and USS Petrel, exchanging signals with the Flagship. In early July 1890, Essex was anchored off Fort Preble, Maine, on temporary duty with the North Atlantic Squadron; she joined Flagship USS Baltimore and the fort in firing a salute to RearAdmiral Gherardi. On July 2, a Board of Engineers came on board the ship to survey the damaged reversing gear. The crew kept painted, drilled, cleaned the hammocks, and scrubbed the copper. The guard flag was hoisted on Essex and Commander Snow sent boats with the Naval Brigade to land at Fort Preble. During the Independence Day celebrations, Essex was dressed in rainbow colors, companies were sent ashore to participate in a parade, and the Flagship fired a 17-gun salute. Commander Snow took five days leave of absence and four cadet midshipman caught a ride to the Nay Yard on Essex. On July 8, the ship left Fort Preble after Commander Snow returned on board, headed for New York. Essex went up New York Harbor and into the North River. On July 11, Essex up anchored and traveled around the Battery and up the East River and moored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Cob Dock (Ordnance Dock); Commander Snow visited the Commandant of the Navy Yard. For the rest of July, USS Essex remained at busy the Navy Yard. She exchanged crewmen with USS Galena and USRS Vermont, re-provisioned, and conducted maintenance (capstan, steam cutter, and engine). Also, the crew moved the great guns to the port side in order to cause the ship to list in order to paint the bottom copper sheathing with red chalk. On July 23, Commander Snow left for a week’s leave and USS Galena went out of commission at noon. For the next week, torpedo boat USS Cushing arrived (and left later), steam sloop USS Pensacola left drydock, Navy Yard tug USS Fortune left the port, and dispatch ship USS Despatch left for New London, CT, with the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy on board. Essex transferred two Courts Martial prisoners to the Boston Navy Yard, exchanged signals with USRS Vermont, and sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge moored at the Navy Yard. For the the first 12 days of August 1890, the Essex crew cleaned the bilges, listed the ship to starboard to access and paint the copper sheathing on the port side hull, painted the white stripe along water line, and filled the ship’s water tanks and boilers from a hydrant. Crewmen were crewmen transferred to Essex from USRS Vermont and the Navy Yard Marine barracks, and the Marine Guard on the ship’s gangway deserted. USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !6 USS Pensacola hoisted the Rear Admiral’s pennant and fired a 13-gun salute that was returned by a 13-gun salute on the Cob Dock; Commander Snow and other officers made an official call on Rear Admiral William P. McCann. Protected cruiser USS Boston passed going up the East River flying President Benjamin Harrison’s flag. Essex’s sailors ‘manned the yards’ with the other vessels in the Navy Yard and paraded the Marine Guard. While still in the Navy Yard, Yorktown left the drydock, USS Kearsarge was towed out and hauled ahead of the Vermont, USS Boston anchored next to Vermont, and USS Philadelphia entered the harbor. On August 13, Navy Yard tug Catalpa towed Essex out of the Yard and steamed down the East River into Upper New York Bay. Essex anchored off Tompkinsville, Staten Island, received a crewman from sloop-of-war USS Enterprise - one of Essex’s sister ships. On August 16, she got underway bound for the South Atlantic Station. Along the way, a four degree rise in water temperature was noted on August 18 and the crew sighted a waterspout. Essex passed two barques heading west, exchanged colors with a Norwegian bark that passed close astern heading northbound, sighted a southbound steamer, passed a schooner heading west, and sighted five other sails. Later in the month, the crew sighted another three water spouts. The Engineering Gang stopped the engine for an hour to clear the seat of the water valve of the high pressure cylinder and the Navigator ordered the swinging of the ship to check for compass accuracy and calibration. While sailing, the helm missed a tack and took 30 minutes to wore the ship onto a port tack. The wheel ropes were found to be badly chaffed - the crew hooked a relieving tackle to the helm and shifted the wheel ropes; the worn ropes were later replaced. During early September 1890, Essex continued sailing - sometime steaming - across the North Atlantic Ocean with ‘uneasy’ and ‘easy’ seas - and the ship rolled 20 degrees at times. On September 10, the ship came to anchor in Porto Grande, St. Vincent Island in the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Senegal. Courtesies were exchanged with the Portuguese gunboat Rio Ave and the US Consul and the English steamer Orbo left the port. A steamer lying ahead cast adrift a large empty coal lighter that passed close to Essex’s port gangway. Shortly thereafter, a second lighter was cast adrift and came close to the ship’s starboard side, nearly hitting the steam cutter secured there. The American schooner Annie L. Palmer* anchored, the Governor of Cape Verde, General Brandao de Mello, paid Essex an official visit, and the Italian steel gunboat Andrea Provana anchored. The crew scrubbed the hammocks and conducted small arms target practice. On September 16, Essex left St. Vincent Harbor headed across the North Atlantic Ocean for Bahia, Brazil. Along the way, she exchanged colors with a German bark, the patent log propellor was cleared when it was fouled by rope yarn, and the crew practiced adjusting sails and doing drills. In early October 1890, as the ship was nearing Brazil heading southwest, the Essex crew oiled the copper on sailing launch and a hermaphrodite brig was sighted. On October 2, the ship anchored in Bahia, Brazil, off the quarantine station and then shifted her berth and anchored off the Customs House. During the first three weeks of October, Essex exchanged courtesies with HMS Flamingo, Brazilian sidewheel gunboat USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !7 Braconnot, the US Consul, gunboat HMS Bramble, HMS Flamingo, the Governor of Bahia, Italian steel gunboat Andrea Provana, and the Spanish unprotected cruiser Infanta Isabel. Other vessels in and out of the harbor include the French mail steamer La Plata, Brazillian sidewheel gunboat Manaos, and the RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) Thames. The Essex crew fitted the steam launch for torpedo practice and conducted drills from her; they also practiced small boat drills and abandoned ship drills. The officers also exercised the divisions at target practice with small arms. On October 21, steam sloop Flagship USS Pensacola anchored in the harbor and exchanged pleasantries with Essex. Gunboat HMS Flamingo left harbor and when the US Consul left Flagship Pensacola, she fired a 7-gun salute in his honor. Two days later, Commander-in-Chief of the South Atlantic Squadron Rear Admiral William P. McCann and his staff visited Essex, along with the German and US Consuls. The crew scraped and painted the cutters and exchanged signals with the Flagship. On October 25, the Governor of Bahia once again visited the ship and Essex fired a 17-gun salute in his honor. The next day, the Brazilian corvette Guanabara and battleship Aquidaban anchored in the harbor; Pensacola fired a 13-gun salute and the Spanish unprotected cruiser Infanta Isabel went to sea. On October 27, USS Essex left Bahia in the company of Flagship USS Pensacola for the remainder of the month. During the last few days of October, the jib boom was carried away and the rudder chains jammed; repairs were made by the crew. *The schooner Annie L Palmer is incorrectly called the Annie Chaplain on the same day. There may be two American schooners on St. Vincent, but it is doubtful, and the existence of Annie L. Palmer is confirmed. Tags: American Ships: schooner Annie L. Palmer, protected cruiser Flagship USS Baltimore, protected cruiser USS Boston, Navy Yard tug USS Catalpa, torpedo boat USS Cushing, dispatch boat USS Despatch, gunboat USS Dolphin, sloop-of-war USS Enterprise, sloop-of-war USS Essex, tugboat USS Fortune, US Quarantine Ship Franklin, gunboat USS Galena, steam and sail schooner USC&GS George S. Blake, sloop-of-war USS Jamestown, sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge, frigate US Training Ship Minnesota, Navy Yard tug USS Nina, steam sloop Flagship USS Pensacola, gunboat USS Petrel, protected cruiser USS Philadelphia, sloop-of-war USTS Portsmouth, US Receiving Ship Vermont, dynamite gun cruiser USS Vesuvius, gunboat USS Yantic, gunboat USS Yorktown Brazilian Ships: sidewheel gunboat Braconnot, battleship Aquidaban, corvette Guanabara, sidewheel gunboat Manaos British Ships: gunboat HMS Bramble, gunboat HMS Flamingo, steamer Orbo, mail steamer RMS Thames French Ship: mail steamer La Plata USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !8 Italian Ship: steel gunboat Andrea Provana Portuguese Ship: gunboat Rio Ave Spanish Ship: unprotected cruiser Infanta Isabel USS Essex USS Fortune Aquidaban USS ESSEX LOG BOOK 27 !9