USS Colorado and the Korean Expedition of 1871, Part 2 of 2

Around noon on June 10, 1871, sailors and marines from the United States’ forces landed near the first fort at the entrance to the Salee River (read about the events leading to this incident in our previous blog post). The location was well-chosen, but even during high tide the men had to wade through the mud flats. Regardless, the marines quickly captured the first fort and moved on to another. By late afternoon, the field guns were also ashore. During this action, the USS Palos was damaged after running aground and was taken out of the fight.

After capturing the first fort on the first day of the battle. Note naval Lt. McKee in the white hat.
An officer from the Colorado, he would be mortally wounded after leading the way into the citadel.

The next morning, the captured forts were destroyed and the attack continued. After capturing another small fort, the men prepared to assault the main citadel. The large shells from USS Monocacy had torn up the steep ground leading to the walls of the fort, which were also opened up in places by artillery fire. This would allow the men to climb the steep hill quickly. The leaders ordered the assault and 350 American sailors and marines surged forward. The Koreans were mostly armed with obsolete weapons like the matchlock, which could not be reloaded effectively by the time men breached the walls. The Koreans resorted to throwing rocks, and soon the American sailors and marines stormed into the fort, where the fighting dissolved into hand-to-hand combat. When it was all over, the Korean general was dead, as were many of his men, who had vowed to fight to the death. The Koreans lost about 250 dead, while the Americans lost only three. About 20 wounded Koreans were captured. 

Koreans onboard the Colorado. These are either prisoners
after the battle, or a group of Christians who came onboard
before the battle when they thought the ship was bringing
missionaries.

The general’s immense yellow personal standard was captured by two marines who were later given the Medal of Honor for their role in the battle. One of them, Corporal Brown, was part of the USS Colorado’s marine detachment. This flag was recently loaned to South Korea by the U.S. Naval Academy.

Marines pose onboard the Colorado with the

Korean general's standard that was captured by

the Americans. Corporal Brown is in the

middle of the picture.

Although the American forces won a lopsided victory at Ganghwa Island, the overall result of the expedition was failure. The United States' goal had been to sign a trade treaty with the Korean government, but no negotiations took place. Instead, the incident reinforced isolationist attitudes of the Korean rulers and thus kept barriers in place regarding opening Korea to trade. It was not until 1882--eleven years after this expedition--that the United States and Korea signed a trade treaty. 

(This blog post was written by HRNM Educator Elijah Palmer.)

USS Colorado and the Korean Expedition of 1871, Part 1 of 2

In 1871, an expedition comprised of five U.S. Navy ships left Japan for Korea. Its main purpose was to open a trade treaty with the Koreans. At the time, Korea was called the “Hermit Kingdom,” as it had remained isolationist for centuries. Although technically a Chinese vassal, Korea was largely self-governed. After successful trade inroads in China and Japan, attention from Western powers turned to Korea. A secondary aim for the mission was to ascertain the fate of the armed merchant ship General Sherman, which was rumored to have been destroyed in Korea, with all hands lost, a few years before this expedition took place. 

USS Colorado, Rear Admiral John Rodgers' flagship

The expedition was commanded by Rear Admiral John Rodgers, who (aside from being the son of the famous Commodore John Rodgers) had made quite a name for himself during the Civil War. Rodgers took the USS Colorado as his flagship while he commanded the Asiatic Squadron. The Colorado was a Merrimac-class steam frigate built at Norfolk Navy Yard in 1856. Having served with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and in the Fort Fisher campaign during the Civil War, the Colorado was now to serve a bit farther abroad. Although the Colorado was one of the oldest ships in the small squadron, she boasted the heaviest armament and was able to limit coal consumption due to her full rig of sails.

By late May 1871, the expedition arrived at Ganghwa Island, near what is now Inchon, South Korea.  Some local Korean officials made contact, but Frederick Low, the diplomat who came along on the mission, decided not to meet with the Koreans since they were too low-ranking to do any negotiations. However, the Americans did assure these Koreans that their intentions were peaceful and that they would be surveying the entrance to the Salee River (now called the Ganghwa Strait), which divided Ganghwa Island from the mainland.

Korean officials on the Colorado.

On June 1, the two smallest ships, USS Monocacy and USS Palos, headed up the river that would eventually lead them to Hanyang (modern-day Seoul). These ships were accompanied by armed steam launches from the Colorado and the other larger ships (USS Alaska and USS Benicia). As they headed up the river, they passed a few small fortifications. Over the centuries, the Koreans had fortified key points on Ganghwa Island, as it was a primary approach to their capital. Soon the Americans approached a citadel with an immense banner marked with Chinese characters showing that a general was there. As the American force came close, the Koreans opened fire on the Palos. All the vessels returned fire on the forts as they pushed past them. Eventually these ships returned to the fleet, and were able to pass unmolested on the return journey.

Although angered by these events, Rodgers decided to give the Koreans until June 10 to either start negotiations or apologize. This lull also gave the sailors and marines time to prepare for a punitive assault on the island's forts. The plan called for a force of about 650 sailors and marines to land with seven field guns. Most of the attacking force would come from the Colorado and the other two larger ships, while the Palos and Monocacy would provide close fire support due to their shallower draft. 

While the Navy planned its attack, awaiting a Korean apology, the Korean government maintained its official stance of non-negotiation for a trade treaty, and maintained self-defense for the incident in the Salee River. As no change in the situation had occurred by the morning of June 10, Rodgers ordered that the attack begin. With Colorado’s steam launches leading the way, the men left the fleet and headed towards Ganghwa Island in what would later be called the “Weekend War”.

*Spoiler Alert*
A map made after the battle showing the events of
June 1st and during the battle. Note the renamed forts
honoring important men or ships in the coming battle. 

Stay tuned for the rest of this story, which will be posted next week!

(This blog post is written by HRNM Educator Elijah Palmer.)

Clipper Battleship Mississippi at Newport News Shipbuilding - 1917

This is a photograph of the battleship Mississippi (BB-41) being launched from Newport News Shipbuilding into the James River on January 25, 1917. Displacing 31,000-tons and equipped with twelve 14-inch/50 rifles, Mississippi and her sister ships were the centerpieces of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels' "Second-to-None" shipbuilding program.

From this angle, the battleship looks like any other battleship constructed in the previous thirty years. Fortunately, a photographer with an eye for detail took a picture of the battleship from the starboard side a few hours before workers launched the ship. Notice that the bow has a very sharp angle, like a razor blade. This was called a "clipper bow."

Taking a page from the clipper ships of the 19th century, naval architects decided to break with tradition on battleship bows with the New Mexico-class battleships, of which Mississippi was the third ship of the class. As the concept of this bow came from wooden clipper sail vessels, architects labeled the bow a "clipper bow." Older classes of battleships, such as Pennsylvania, had what was called a "straight stem" bow. Even older ships had what was called a "bell bow." Commodore Richard Meade (nephew of Civil War General George Meade) wrote about the problems with non-clipper bowed ships: "There was no doubt something graceful and majestic about the aspect of these bows and they buffeted the waves triumphantly. Meanwhile, the vessel was engaged in something other than its duty."

Clipper bows allowed a ship to slice through a wave, instead of going over it, allowing the ship to navigate more efficiently. While the clipper bow had been known about for sometime, the Navy did not adopt the design until the New Mexico-class ships and was subsequently used on other types of vessels, such as heavy and light cruisers. In time, the clipper bow was found to have its flaws, namely water pouring over the decks in heavy seas. This led architects to develop the "hurricane bow" found on Iowa-class battleships.



1916 artist sketch of the New Mexico-class battleship

Carry Local History in Your Pocket: HRNM's New App

By now, you have probably seen us advertising our new Hampton Roads Naval Museum app. We hope you've had the opportunity to look at it and learn more about many of the artifacts on display inside the museum. The app allows Naval Museum staff the chance to provide visitors with much more detailed information than you can get from our exhibits, and also allows visitors to look at our exhibit objects both onsite and offsite. Of course, if you use the app while in the museum, you can also complete our fun scavenger hunt and get a prize for it!

What we have done thus far is only the first step. Next, we intend to introduce visitors to artifacts in our collection that are not currently on exhibit. It will take us a while to get there, but we anticipate making the app more interactive and increasingly accessible as time goes on.

You can download the Hampton Roads Naval Museum's FREE app for iPhone or Android (simply click the embedded link). Many thanks to our friends at iTourMobile for their hard work and support in developing this app!

USS Indiana (BB-58) Tompion

This photograph of the cat mascot from USS Wyoming (BB-32) shows the cat sitting above a tompion.

Tompions (pronounced “tom-kin”) are muzzle plugs for keeping dirt and debris out of artillery guns. Throughout history they have been made from a variety of materials, but in the last century, the most common materials used were solid metal or wood covered with metal. 

USS Indiana (BB-58) tompion in HRNM's gallery.

This particular tompion (above) is comprised of a wood plug, sheathed in copper with a star decoration in the center. It is from the USS Indiana (BB-58), a South Dakota-class battleship and the last battleship built by Newport News Shipbuilding. Commissioned in 1942, the ship spent most of the next few years of war in the Pacific Theater, supporting aircraft carriers and amphibious landings.

In European Navies, especially the Royal Navy, tompions have often been highly ornate. Compared to the Royal Navy, the United States Navy’s tompions are covered in fairly simple decorations. Usually composed of brass, there is some sort of star placed in the center, occasionally in a different metal or color for contrast. But with the tompions being polished daily, they stand out when compared to the haze gray color of the rest of the ship.

(Editor's Note: This blog post was compiled and written by HRNM Educator Elijah Palmer.)