Photo Essay No. 3:
U.S.S. Agawam or U.S.S. Mackinaw?
by Terry Foenander.
The image shown in figure 1 had been identified as the USS Agawam by the Naval Historical Center, and was previously shown as such at their web site of photographs of that gunboat. However, after a careful study of a copy of the photograph, in the possession of this author, I have come to the conclusion that this is most definitely not the USS Agawam, but of another vessel in the Sassacus class of Civil War era gunboats. This is further confirmed by the identification given to a copy of the same photograph held in the collections of the United States Army Military History Institute, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
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(Figure 1.)Image of what is actually the USS Mackinaw, on the James River, 1864.
(Naval Historical Center Image No. NH 57251, incorrectly identified by that source as the USS Agawam.)
There are two images of the USS Agawam, shown in profile (see figures 2 and 3), which were taken on the same day, but from different angles, and possibly within moments of each other. One of these two images (figure 3) was originally in the possession of the surgeon of the USS Agawam, Heman P. Babcock, and was donated to the U.S. Naval Historical Center, by his son, George R. Babcock, in 1939. A comparison of the vessel in these photographs, with that of the vessel shown in figure 1, indicates several structural differences, that would most certainly identify them as two different vessels. The vessel shown in figures 2 and 3, would most definitely be the Agawam (as confirmed by Surgeon Babcock's original possession of one of these images).
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| (Figure 2.)The USS Agawam, shown on the James River, 1864. (Naval Historical Center Image, NH 57253.) |
| (Figure 3.)Another image of the USS Agawam, taken within moments of the image shown in figure 2. (Naval Historical Center Image, NH 57252. The original of this image was from the collection of surgeon H.P. Babcock, and was donated to the NHC by his son, George R. Babcock, in 1939.) |
The first noticeable structural difference, between the two vessels, is obviously the length of the funnel, the one on the vessel shown in figure 1 (which I shall assume is the USS Mackinaw, since that is the identification given to the same image, a copy of which is held by the USAMHI) being much shorter than that of the USS Agawam. As far as is known, none of the gunboats in the Sassacus class had funnels of a telescoping nature, such as that of the famed USS Kearsarge. Furthermore, a close examination of the images also shows that the Mackinaw had a steam exhaust pipe, forward of the main funnel, which is not shown on the Agawam (see detailed images below).
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| Detail from figure 1, showing the funnel aboard the USS Mackinaw. Note also, the steam exhaust pipe, in front of the main funnel. |
| Detail from figure 3, showing the larger funnel aboard the USS Agawam. Note that there is no steam exhaust pipe in this view, or in the second view of the same vessel, taken from the other end, shown in figure 2. |
Another noticeable difference is the covering adjacent to the paddlewheel housing, which is shown to have two portholes on the Agawam compared to three on the Mackinaw (see images below).
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| Detail from figure 3, showing the paddle wheel housing of the USS Agawam. Note the two portholes, compared to three shown on the housing of the USS Mackinaw, shown in the next detailed view. |
| Detail from figure 1, showing the three portholes on the paddle wheel housing of the USS Mackinaw. |
The pilot house, fore and aft, on the Mackinaw, is obviously a rectangular structure, with slightly smaller windows in front, compared to the angular pilot house (with larger windows) shown aboard the Agawam. There is another image of the USS Agawam, also originally a donation of the Babcock family, to the Naval Historical Center, taken of some of the officers and crew on that vessel, and in this particular view, the shape of the pilot house on that vessel is clearly evident.
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| Detailed view from figure 1, showing the rectangular pilothouse aboard the USS Mackinaw. Note the size of the windows. |
| A detail from a photograph of the officers and crew members aboard the USS Agawam. The original of this image was also a donation of the Babcock family, in 1939, to the NHC. (Detail from Naval Historical Center Image, NH 58913.) |
A final piece of evidence, although not conclusive, since the structure cannot be seen quite as clearly as those mentioned in the previous paragraphs, is that of the design on the side of the paddlewheel housing. That shown in the image of the Mackinaw can just be made out, and seems to be somewhat different in design to that of the Agawam. (See comparison photos of the paddle wheel housing, above.)
I have come to the conclusion that there are obviously too many differences in the structures of these vessels to ignore, and that they are definitely two different vessels. Unfortunately, construction plans exist only for the first vessel constructed, of that gunboat class, namely, the USS Sassacus, thus preventing the possibility of comparing the variations in design of each vessel of that class, from these plans. There are photos of other vessels in this class, including one showing a round pilot house. These photographs remain the only tangible proof of the variations in design of that class of vessel.
© Terry Foenander.
November, 2001 (Updated, July, 2004).