USS Ida
Steam Dispatch Boat · United States · Lost 1865 · The Gulf of Mexico
A small Union dispatch steamer, veteran of the Mississippi River campaigns, sunk by a mine while sweeping Mobile Bay's channel days before the war's end.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS Ida was a small steamer chartered and then purchased by the Union Navy in 1863 to serve as a dispatch and towboat below Port Hudson, Louisiana. After the fall of Port Hudson she towed vessels between New Orleans and the Gulf. Ordered to Mobile Bay in early 1865, she was clearing the main ship channel of obstructions when she struck a Confederate mine on April 13, 1865, crushing her hull and bursting her boilers. She sank in mid-channel within minutes, killing three of her crew.
Vessel
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- 104
- Steam, screw
- United States Navy
Loss
- April 13, 1865
- Enemy action
- Mobile Bay, Alabama
- Mobile Bay
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- 3
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The Wreck Today
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Position
- 30.44° N 88.01° W
- General area only
- Mobile Bay, Alabama
General area only: coordinate of Mobile Bay, the named body of water recorded as the loss location for this vessel, from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, not a surveyed wreck position.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS)
Service history and loss narrative.
USGS Geographic Names Information System — Mobile Bay
coordinate of the named place of loss
