Description: This original period photo of a sailor from the U.S.S. Massachusetts measures about 5-5/8" by 4" (photo only) on a 6" by 8" cardboard mount. I'm going to guess 'Spanish-American War' (ca. 1898), but that is an uneducated guess. A close examination of the sailor's cap indicates that he was a crewman on the U.S.S. Massachusetts. The uniform and photography style look fairly early, but below are the four 19th-Century versions of the USS Massachusetts, with #3 never having been completed or launched, so we can be sure he was not stationed on that one. The photographic studio that produced this was Geo. Stoller, at 200 E. 83rd Street and 2333 8th Avenue in New York City. This sailor may have been on Port Call from the Brooklyn Navy Yard when this photograph was produced. There is no name on the photograph. U.S.S. Massachusetts versions 1862-1900:The first USS MASSACHUSETTS was a wooden steamer purchased by the War Department in 1847 as a troop transport before it was transferred to the Navy Department in August 1849. The ship was later transferred back to the Navy in January 1862 and placed in ordinary at Mare Island.The second USS MASSACHUSETTS was an iron screw steamer purchased by the Navy Department in May 1861. It was built in Boston in 1860 for the Boston & Southern Steamship Co. The ship served in the Gulf Blockading Squadron, along the Atlantic Coast and in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She took up station in the vicinity of Pensacola, FL. During her service in the Gulf of Mexico in 1861, she captured 16 ships and captured Ship Island in September 1861, providing the blockade squadron with a safe harbor from storms and was the base for Admiral Farragut's attack on New Orleans. She served as a transport and supply ship along the Atlantic coast during 1862. From March 1863 until the end of the Civil War the MASSACHUSETTS served in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron capturing five additional prizes. The ship struck a mine in Charleston Harbor in March 1865, which failed to explode. She was decommissioned in late-September 1865 and sold at public auction the following the month.The third USS MASSACHUSETTS was a twin-turreted KALAMAZOO class monitor originally named THUNDERER before it was renamed MASSACHUSETTS while laid up in an unfinished condition at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. It was never completed and condemned by Congress in 1882. It was broken up in 1884. Since it was never completed, we can be sure that this crewman never served on this version.The fourth USS MASSACHUSETTS was built by William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia and commissioned in 1896. Between 1896 and 1898, the ship served in the North Atlantic Squadron participating in training maneuvers and making port calls in major east coast ports. In 1898 she served during the Spanish American War blockading Cuban ports and intermittently bombarding Spanish fortifications.A helpful eBay watcher informed me that this last version of the U.S.S. Massachusetts was accidentally sunk near Pensacola FLA after it had ended its active service. He mentioned that it is still there, causing a potential hazard for ships in the area.
Price: 49.99 USD
Location: Ballston Lake, New York
End Time: 2025-01-16T02:00:01.000Z
Shipping Cost: 1 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Theme: Militaria
Original/Reproduction: Original
Time Period Manufactured: Spanish-Amer War (1898-1902)
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
