USS Baron De Kalb
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| USS Baron De Kalb | |
|---|---|
Career | |
| Type and class | Casemate ironclad gunboat Cairo or "city"-class |
| Authorized | 1861 |
| Shipyard | James B. Eads Yard, Carondelet, Missouri |
| Keel laid | August, 1861 |
| Launched | October 12, 1861 |
| Commissioned | January 31, 1862 (as St. Louis) |
| Fate | Sunk by mine, July 13, 1863 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 175 feet |
| Beam | 51 feet 2 inches |
| Draft | 6 feet |
| Displacement | 512 tons |
| Propulsion | Steam engine Stern paddlewheel |
| Speed | 8 knots |
| Armament | Two 8-inch Dahlgren smoothbores Four 42-pound rifled smoothbores Seven 32-pounder Dahlgren smoothbores. |
| Compliment | 251 officers and men |
USS Baron De Kalb was originally built as St. Louis, a stern wheel casemate gunboat constructed by James B. Eads, at Carondelet, Missouri for the War Department. She was launched on 12 October 1861 and joined the Western Gunboat Fleet.
During 1862 St. Louis, under the command of Lieutenant L. Paulding, was attached to Rear Admiral Andrew H. Foote's squadron and participated in the capture of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River (6 February 1862). She served as flagship for the squadron when it assisted the Union Army at the capture of Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River (14-16 February 1862). Between April and June 1862, she operated against Fort Pillow, Tennessee. St. Louis was renamed Baron De Kalb on 8 September 1862 in recognition of John Baron De Kalb, a Bavarian-born major general who served during the American Revolution. On 1 October 1862 Baron De Kalb was transferred to the Navy Department. During 21-28 December she took part in the Yazoo Expediton and participated in the action at Drumgould's Bluff (28 December).
During 1863 Baron De Kalb took part in the capture of Arkansas Post (10-11 January); expedition up the White River (12-14 January); Yazoo Pass Expedition (20 February-5 April); action at Fort Pemberton (11-13 March); action at Haines' Bluff (29 April-2 May, 18 May); action at Yazoo City, Mississippi (20-23 May); and the Yazoo River Expedition (24-31 May). On 13 July 1863 Baron De Kalb was sunk by a torpedo in the Yazoo River, one mile below Yazoo City, Miss.
Part of the text is incorporated from the United States Navy's Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, a work in the public domain.
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