USS Commodore Jones
Steamboat · United States · Lost 1864 · Chesapeake Bay
A converted New York ferry on picket duty was lifted out of the water and destroyed by a shore-detonated electric mine in the James River in May 1864, forty of her crew lost.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS Commodore Jones began as a New York City ferry and was converted in 1863 into a shallow-draft side-wheel gunboat for riverine warfare on the James. On May 6, 1864, while dragging for torpedoes near Four Mile Creek, a 2,000-pound Confederate electric mine was detonated beneath her hull from a shore station. The explosion lifted the ship out of the water and destroyed her instantly, killing forty of her eighty-eight crew. Boats from the USS Mackinaw rescued the survivors.
Vessel
- 1863
- Not established
- New York, New York
- Wood
- 154 ft
- 32.5 ft
- 542 tons
- Side-wheel steam
- United States Navy
Loss
- May 6, 1864
- Enemy action
- Four Mile Creek, James River
- James River
- Not established
- Not established
- 88
- 40
- Thomas Wade
The Wreck Today
- About 10 to 15 feet
- Disintegrated; the wooden structure was fragmented by the explosion.
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 37.35° N 77.25° W
- Approximate position
- Deep Bottom, Virginia
Approximate position near Four Mile Creek.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (90/100)
The wreck was destroyed by the explosion and no substantial remains are documented.
USS Commodore Jones, Wikipedia
Specifications and loss account.
Running the Blockade, USS Commodore Jones destroyed by torpedo
Casualty details and eyewitness quotes.
