“USS Enterprise at Chemulpo (1883-1884):The Krakatoa Winter and the Earliest American Naval Burial in Korea”
USS Enterprise - Library of Congress Photo
“USS Enterprise at Chemulpo (1883-1884): The Krakatoa Winter and the Earliest American Naval Burial in Korea” has been published in the Journal of Cultural Interaction Studies of Sea Port Cities. Vol. 37. Pp. 355-384. (June 2026). Download the article here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11wbBWWU5bqzVemKIc1rbQ_PKhbAMfWwA/view?usp=sharing
I also wrote an overview of USS Enterprise’s armament for this website: https://www.santee1821.net/armament-of-uss-enterprise
"Lucky Little Enterprise" (a name given her by her crew according to one of her first captains, Thomas Selfridge, Jr.) is one of my favorite ships. The 1870s edition of USS Enterprise is far less famous than War of 1812 predecessor or her 20th Century namesakes (not to mention a certain family of starships), however this humble "3rd Class Steamer" in 1878 explored the Amazon River in spots that required her crew to brace round her yards less they catch overhanging branches. Around a year later, she was in European waters hosting royalty aboard: Czar Alexander III of Russia and the future King Edward VII both were received aboard the little gunboat. Later the Queen of Greece was entertained at tea with the captain and senior officers in the captain's cabin (see this morning's post aboard Constellation). Later this summer, I aim to photograph and film the 11-Inch Dahlgren that was carried aboard for these adventures.
Also, a journal article has come out of which I am a contributing author which describes another cruise of Enterprise (that under Commander Barker from 1883-1886). On that voyage, the captain's initial orders directed the ship to Madagascar where he was to solve a literal murder mystery. Enterprise would find herself amid a French invasion of Madagascar. She would steam through a sea of floating pumice and debris in the aftermath of the Krakatoa eruption, and her crew would endure the volcanic winter that followed. They were witnesses to a battle between French and Chinese fleets, and finally made it home having circumnavigated the globe.
Lucky Little Enterprise would serve as an active cruiser into the early 1890s before a short stint as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy. Her last duty, as a school ship for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, ended in 1910. She was burned to recover her metal - a very common fate for ships of her era. Her magnificent gilded Eagle stern decoration still survives. After a recent restoration, it is displayed at the headquarters of Enterprise Rent-a-Car.
Which is your favorite Enterprise?
