page_title: USS Varuna (1861)
section_title: Varuna sunk in action
hierarchical_section_title: USS Varuna (1861) / Civil War service / Varuna sunk in action
caption_attribution_description: English: From U.S. Navy public domain Photo #: NH 504 "The Last Broadside of the Varuna." Line engraving, published circa the 1860s, depicting USS Varuna continuing to fire at Confederate forces as she sank, during the battle off Forts Jackson and St. Philip, below New Orleans, Louisiana, on 24 April 1862. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-v/varuna.htm
context_page_description: USS Varuna (1861) was a heavy steam-powered ship acquired by the Union Navy during the early days of the American Civil War. She was outfitted with powerful 8-inch guns and assigned, as a gunboat, to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
context_section_description: At the height of the melee, Varuna was rammed twice by the steamer CSS Governor Moore and struck twice again immediately thereafter by the cotton-clad ram CSS Stonewall Jackson. After striking Varuna, CSN Lt. Beverly Kennon, in command of one of the Confederate warships, Governor Moore – found himself unable to depress his guns far enough to fire upon the Union vessel. So he shot through the bow of his own ship and used the resulting hole as a gun port.
  Fatally damaged, Varuna backed off from the Confederate vessels and continued to subject them to a withering fire until rising water silenced her guns. Eight sailors of the Varuna received the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle: Seaman Thomas Bourne, Landsman Amos Bradley, Captain of the Forecastle John Greene, Third Class Boy George Hollat, Seaman William Martin, Quartermaster John McGowan, Coxswain William McKnight, and Second Class Boy Oscar E. Peck.
caption: USS Varuna sinking
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