USS Cincinnati ( 1861 ) The USS " Cincinnati " was a stern - wheel casemate gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War . She was named for Cincinnati , Ohio , and was the first ship to bear that name in the United States Navy . Service History . " Cincinnati " was built in 1861 under a War Department contract by James Eads , St . Louis , Missouri , and commissioned at Mound City , Illinois , 16 January 1862 , Lieutenant George M . Bache in command . Assigned to duty with the Army in the Western Gunboat Flotilla under U . S . Navy Flag Officer Andrew H . Foote , " Cincinnati " participated in the attack and capture of Fort Henry ( 6 February 1862 ) ; the operations against Island No . 10 ( 12 March7 April 1862 ) ; the engagement with the Confederate gunboat fleet at Plum Point Bend and the bombardment of Fort Pillow ( 10 May 1862 ) . This important series of operations was aimed at splitting the Confederacy . During the last engagement " Cincinnati " , the lead vessel , was repeatedly struck by enemy rams and sunk . Raised and returned to service , " Cincinnati " was transferred to the Navy Department 1 October 1862 with other vessels of the Western Gunboat Flotilla . She participated in the Army - Navy operation against the Port of Arkansas and installations on the White River in January 1863 , then was ordered to the Yazoo River where she took part in Steele ' s Bayou Expedition ( 14 – 27 March 1863 ) . On May 27 , 1863 , during the Siege of Vicksburg , Mississippi , " Cincinnati " was ordered to steam down the Mississippi River and destroy two Confederate artillery guns which were impeding the advance of General William Tecumseh Sherman ' s right flank . Between " Cincinnati " and the two guns was a Confederate eleven - piece heavy artillery battery which , from its position atop a bluff , had command over that entire stretch of the river . The Union forces had been aware of the battery , but , shortly before " Cincinnati " received its orders , the battery had disappeared and was assumed to have been moved elsewhere . Unbeknownst to them , the battery ' s guns had been removed from view by simply lowering them from their carriages , both to protect them from the fire of ships on the river and to deceive the Union forces . The commander of the battery had discovered the Union signal code , and when he intercepted a message describing " Cincinnati " s mission , he had the guns re - assembled during the night and concealed them in brush . On the morning of May 27 , " Cincinnati " headed downstream and reached its target , the two artillery guns . Just as it fired its first shots , the hidden battery on the bluff also opened fire , completely surprising the Union ship . The first Confederate shell scored a direct hit , passing through " Cincinnati ' s " magazine and exiting through the bottom of the ship . Another shell disabled the ship ' s steering mechanism . " Cincinnati " s own guns could not be elevated enough to return fire on the high battery . Knowing his ship was doomed , the commander , Lieutenant George M . Bache , headed " Cincinnati " full - steam back up the river in search of a place on which to beach the ship . A suitable spot being found , " Cincinnati " was run aground , a hawser tied to a tree , and gangplank laid out . Before the men could evacuate , the hawser came loose and the ship slipped from the bank out into the river , where it began to sink in about of water . Many of the crew , including the commander , could not swim ; those who could began to abandon ship . Still under intense fire four sailors , Landsman Thomas E . Corcoran , Boatswain ' s Mate Henry Dow , Seaman Thomas Jenkins , and Seaman Martin McHugh , swam back and forth , helping their crewmates to shore . They then reboarded " Cincinnati " , hastily repaired a small boat which had been damaged by the Confederate fire , and loaded it with men who were too badly wounded to be dragged through the water . After Lieutenant Bache also climbed into the boat , they towed it to the safety of a Union flotilla . Six crewman from " Cincinnati " were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the sinking : Quartermaster Frank Bois , Landsman Thomas E . Corcoran , Boatswain ' s Mate Henry Dow , Quartermaster Thomas W . Hamilton , Seaman Thomas Jenkins , and Seaman Martin McHugh . Raised again in August 1863 , " Cincinnati " returned to patrol duty on the Mississippi River and its tributaries until February 1865 when she was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron . She patrolled off Mobile Bay and in the Mississippi Sound s until placed out of commission 4 August 1865 at Algiers , Louisiana . She was sold at New Orleans on 28 March 1866 .