View source for USS Wateree (1863)

{{short description|United States Navy sidewheel gunboat}}
{{Other ships|USS Wateree}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Wateree (1863).jpg|300px|USS ''Wateree'' beached]]
|Ship caption=Beached at Arica, 430 yards beyond the usual high water mark, after she was deposited there by a tsunami on 13 August 1868.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag=[[Image:US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg|48px|Union Navy Jack]]  {{USN flag|1861}}
|Ship name= USS ''Wateree'' 
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder= [[Reaney, Son & Archbold]], [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=12 August 1863
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=20 January 1864
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Sold, 21 November 1868
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Sassacus|gunboat}}
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=1173 tons
|Ship tons burthen=
|Ship length={{convert|240|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|35|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth={{convert|11|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed= {{Convert|10|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*2 × 100-pounder [[Parrott rifle]]s
*4 × {{Convert|9|in|mm|abbr=on}} [[Dahlgren gun|Dahlgren smoothbore guns]]
*4 × 24-pounder howitzer
*2 × 13-pounder guns
*2 × 12-pounder rifles
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=<ref name=nip>{{cite journal |last=Thompson |first=Paul B. |year=1983 |title=The High and Dry Wateree |journal=[[Proceedings (magazine)|Proceedings]] |volume=109 |issue=8 |pages=72B–D |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] }}</ref>
}}
|}
The first '''USS ''Wateree''''' was a sidewheel gunboat in the [[United States Navy]] during the [[American Civil War]].

''Wateree'' was built at [[Chester, Pennsylvania]], by [[Reaney, Son & Archbold]]; launched on 12 August 1863; and commissioned at the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]] on 20 January 1864, Comdr. F. E. Murray in command.<ref name=nip/>

==Service history==
Assigned to the [[Pacific Squadron]], ''Wateree'' departed Philadelphia soon after commissioning. During the next 10 months, she made the arduous voyage around [[Cape Horn]] to the Pacific Ocean. In addition to struggling against the heavy weather for which the Cape region is noted, the warship experienced difficulty acquiring fuel. That problem necessitated her making numerous stops along the way to acquire wood for her boilers; and, as a result, ''Wateree'' did not reach San Francisco, until mid-November 1864.<ref name=nip/>

Upon her arrival there, the ship entered the [[Mare Island Navy Yard]] for repairs to damage she suffered during her arduous voyage and for a hull scraping. She did not leave San Francisco until late February 1865 when she put to sea to patrol the coast of Central America. During 1866, American naval forces in the Pacific were divided into a North Pacific Squadron and a South Pacific Squadron. ''Wateree'' was assigned to the latter unit, whose patrol area extended south from [[Panama]] to Cape Horn and west to Australia. For the remaining two years of her brief naval career, ''Wateree'' patrolled the coasts of Central and South America, protecting American interests in that region.<ref name=nip/>

''Wateree'' was enforcing the [[Monroe Doctrine]] following the 14 January 1866 [[Peru]]vian declaration of war against [[Spain]], and moved south to [[Arica, Chile|Arica]], Peru (which would later become part of [[Chile]]) to avoid a [[yellow fever]] epidemic in [[Callao]]. The [[1868 Arica earthquake]] struck the city while ''Wateree'' was in port on 13 August 1868. ''Wateree'' observed dust from the earthquake and collapsing buildings at 17:20, but the sea remained calm as she sent a boat ashore to offer medical assistance. After the boats were ashore, a series of ten tsunamis struck. The first inward surge reached {{convert|34|ft|m}} above the high tide line, and all ships anchored in the harbor went aground in the following outward flow. The following inward flow created a {{convert|46|ft|m|adj=on}} wave which snapped anchor chains and carried ''Wateree'' {{convert|450|yard|m}} inland {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} north of Arica at 19:20. The accompanying store ship [[USS Fredonia (1845)|USS ''Fredonia'']] was destroyed, drowning all but two enlisted men and three officers who were on shore. However, on the Wateree the boatswain ashore was the only casualty. ''Wateree'' was intact and upright, and her crew provided stores and aid to the civilian population of Arica. The ship was considered too far inland to be salvaged, and was sold for $2,775 to Mr. William Parker on 21 November 1868.<ref name=nip/> Her hulk was used as an emergency hospital, an inn, a hospital again, and finally a warehouse.  She was eventually completely destroyed by [[1877 Iquique earthquake|another tsunami on 9 May 1877]].

==Remains==
[[Image:Chile 2006 022.jpg|thumb|left|The remains of the ''Wateree's'' boilers on the shore north of Arica.]]
Today all that remains are parts of her boilers, mounted on the shore north of the present town of Arica, and maintained as a [[National Monuments of Chile|National Monument of Chile]].
{{Clear}}

==See also==
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
*[[Union Navy]]
*[[Union blockade]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/wateree-i.html}}
* Manuel Fernández Canque, ''Arica 1868, un tsunami y un terremoto'', Coedición Centro de Investigaciones Barros Arana y Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Santiago de Chile 2007 pp.&nbsp;332, {{ISBN|978-956-244-194-0}}

{{coord missing|Chile}}

{{Sassacus class gunboat}}
{{1868 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wateree}}
[[Category:Sassacus-class gunboats]]
[[Category:Ships of the Union Navy]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:1863 ships]]
[[Category:National Monuments of Chile]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Chile]]
[[Category:Gunboats of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1868]]
[[Category:Ships built by Reaney, Son & Archbold]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Chile]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Peru]]