Era No. 5
| History | |
|---|---|
 Confederate States | |
| Launched: | 1860 |
| Chartered: | 1863 |
 United States | |
| Captured: | 14 February 1863 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 115 long tons (117 t) |
| Propulsion: | Stern wheel steamer |
Era No. 5 — a shallow-draft steamer built in 1860 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — was chartered by the Confederates early in 1863 to transport corn from the Red River to Camden, Arkansas.
As the steamer — laden with 4,500 bushels of corn — proceeded to her destination on 14 February 1863, she rounded a sharp bend 15 mi (24 km) above the mouth of the Black River, came upon and was captured by the USS Queen of the West.[1] After a loss of the Queen of the West the same day, her crew fled to Union positions in the Era No.5.[2] Era No. 5 was then assigned to Colonel Charles R. Ellet's river fleet, fitted out with protective cotton baling and used by the Union as a dispatch boat and transport in the Mississippi River.
Notes
- ↑ Queen of the West in DANFS.
- ↑ Spencer Tucker, Blue and Gray Navies: the Civil War Afloat, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2006. ISBN 1-59114-882-0, p.223
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.