USS Congress
Sailing Frigate · United States · Lost 1862 · Chesapeake Bay
A U.S. Navy frigate run aground and burned by CSS Virginia's guns at Hampton Roads on the same day Cumberland was rammed and sunk.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS Congress was a sailing frigate commissioned in 1842. On 8 March 1862, during the Battle of Hampton Roads, she grounded while trying to support Cumberland against the ironclad CSS Virginia. Confederate gunboats and Virginia shelled her at close range, setting her ablaze; she later exploded when the fire reached her magazine. The battle, alongside Cumberland's loss, demonstrated the vulnerability of wooden warships to ironclads.
Vessel
- 1841
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
- Kittery, Maine
- Wood
- 179 ft
- 47.8 ft
- 1867
- Sail
- United States Navy
Loss
- March 8, 1862
- Enemy action
- Hampton Roads, off Newport News, Virginia
- Hampton Roads
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Casualties were heavy, including the ship's commanding officer; the vessel burned and later exploded.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Burned and exploded; remains largely dispersed
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 36.97° N 76.37° W
- General area only
- Newport News, Virginia
General area only: coordinate of Hampton Roads from a gazetteer reference, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (82/100)
Precise casualty figures and the present state of any remaining wreckage are not established in the sources reviewed.
Naval History and Heritage Command
Battle context and fate.
Naval History Magazine (U.S. Naval Institute)
Narrative detail of the ship's final battle.
Wikidata — Hampton Roads coordinate location
coordinate of the named place of loss
