USS Varuna (1861)

USS Varuna, as drawn in 1904

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. To complete the goal, the purchase 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.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn

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

Service history

Varuna was commissioned in February 1862.Template:Sfn 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,Template:Sfn VarunaTemplate:'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,Template:Sfn a strategic island off the coast of Mississippi,Template:Sfn 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 OrleansTemplate:SndFort Jackson and Fort St. PhilipTemplate:Snd 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.Template:Sfn

Varuna sunk in action

Map of the naval movements in the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The Mississippi River runs from the bottom middle of the map, before curving over towards the upper right corner. The path of the Varuna moves up the left side of the river before moving into the middle of the river during the curve, while the Governor Moore comes from the right bank of the river to behind Varuna

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.Template:Sfn Confederate fire opened at around 03:40.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn In the chaos, projectiles from Varuna caused friendly fire casualties on Cayuga.Template:Sfn Varuna was now the leading Union ship, and she was spotted by the State of Louisiana gunboat Governor Moore.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

The two ships then began a chase upriver.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Governor Moore fired with the chase gun on her bow, while Varuna fired with her stern chase gun.Template:Sfn The gunboat CSS Jackson briefly fired into the melee, but she then continued upriver to New Orleans.Template:Sfn 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 VarunaTemplate:'s deck, so her captain ordered the gun fired through her own deck,Template:Sfn with the hole serving as a gun port. A second shot through the hole killed three men aboard Varuna and wounded others.Template:Sfn

At this point, the two ships were about apart, but their crews could barely see each other due to dense smoke.Template:Sfn It was now about 06:00, and the ships were at a point about upriver from the forts.Template:SfnVaruna turned to starboard to allow for a broadside to be fired from that side of the ship.Template:Sfn The broadside caused great destruction on Governor MooreTemplate:'s deck,Template:Sfn but Governor Moore rammed Varuna, knocking out the Union ship's engines. Governor Moore then backed off and rammed Varuna again.Template:Sfn Varuna was now sinking rapidly, and steered towards the riverbank.Template:Sfn Another gunboat then arrived and rammed Varuna.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn 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.Template:Sfn VarunaTemplate:'s survivors were rescued by Oneida.Template:Sfn

Black-and-white depiction of a sidewheel steamer ramming another ship. The crew of the ship being rammed is firing a cannon towards the ramming ship.

Varuna being rammed during the battle

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;Template:Sfn while the report of Acting Assistant Paymaster Charles Fitch dated 6 May reports that three men from Varuna were confirmed to have been killed.Template:Sfn Gaines lists the vessel's casualties as three killed and twelve wounded.Template:Sfn One of VarunaTemplate:'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.Template:Sfn Governor Moore in turn was scuttled not long after her victory over Varuna;Template:Sfn over three-quarters of her crew had been killed or wounded.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

External links

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