The 9-Inch Dahlgrens of USS Hartford at Trinity College

Aug 22

Two 9-Inch Dahlgren Cannons which served aboard USS Hartford are displayed at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Number 247 is in the foreground. Number 248 can be seen behind it in the distance.

Two US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren cannons are displayed at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Both of the cannons were manufactured by Cyrus Alger & Company in 1859. They are registry numbers 247 and 248. Number 247 is marked as weighing 9,025 pounds as manufactured. Number 248 is marked as weighing 9,070 pounds. Both of the Dahlgren cannons are displayed on Marsilly carriages which were constructed in 2006.

Both Dahlgrens are recorded as serving aboard the Steam Sloop USS Hartford. USS Hartford was one of several steam sloops of war built just before the American Civil War. These ships were smaller, lighter, and could steam into shallower water than the large steam frigates of the Merrimac class. However, they carried the same main battery of 9-Inch Dahlgrens. They lacked the upper deck battery of the larger frigates, but they were very powerful ships for their size. As can be seen below, their 9-Inch Dahlgrens were carried on an open gun deck.

USS Hartford’s record during the American Civil War is, of course, one of the most significant of the conflict. Hartford was Admiral Farragut’s flagship from the Battle of New Orleans through the Battle of Mobile Bay. After the war, she served on active duty in the Pacific before returning to the Atlantic at the end of the century to serve as a training ship. Despite plans to preserve her as a museum ship, she was allowed to deteriorate and sink at Norfolk in 1956. In my mind, only USS Constitution (which of course is still in commission at Boston) is more significant to the history of the US Navy than USS Hartford and USS Enterprise (CV-6), both of which were dismantled in the late 1950s. I am glad for the relics of this storied ship which remain.