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The USS Alabama was built by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, N.H., in July 1819, the year the state of Alabama was admitted to the Union. Renamed the New Hampshire 28 October 1863. According to the Old Military and Civil Records Textual Archives Service Division, the New Hampshire sailed from Portsmouth 15 June and
relieved sister ship Vermont 29 July 1864 at Port Royal Harbor, SC. The deck log and entire crew of the
Vermont, with the exception of Paymaster Canby and Carpenter Babitt, transferred to the USS New
Hampshire. In the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Vessels (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center 1981) it says the Vermont was damaged in a northwest gale February 1862 and had been anchored at Port Royal Harbor. The Vermont was ordered to New York by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles for "public service" on July 25, 1864.
I purchased the ship logs for the USS Vermont dated Sept. 5, 1864 to Sept. 21, 1864. This is when William would have been on board according to his Civil War pension papers. But during this time frame the deck logs were now on board the New Hampshire. The New Hampshire stayed anchored in the harbor at Port Royal, where she supported Civil War operations of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (see map). This ship was a training ship, so the seamen didn't serve long on this ship. New Hampshire was an ordnance, hospital, receiving and store ship. The ship deck logs showed activities like keeping track of ships entering and leaving the harbor, the receiving of mail and distributing of torpedoes. It also acted as a dormitory or a place were men whose service time had expired stayed till a ship took them home. Work parties were also sent to such locations as Bay Point and Station Creek (see map of Port Royal Harbor) to do what sounded like routine
maintenance on other ships anchored in the harbor.
On the 30 November 1904 the USS New Hampshire was again renamed USS Granite State.
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