COEUR de LION

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Side-Wheel Steamer Built in New York in 1853 VAN SANTVOORT (Privately Owned) Owned by Alfred Van Santvoort USLHS VAN SANTVOORT Sold to the U.S. Lighthouse Board in 1957 USLHS COEUR de LEON Renamed in September 1860 (yes, it is "LEON" during this period) Loaned to U.S. Navy in April 1861 USS COEUR de LION (Side-wheel Steamer) Commissioned October 2 1861 - Decommissioned June 2 1865 USLHS COEUR de LION Returned to Lighthouse Board June 2 1865 ALICE (Commercial Service) Sold to a private party in November 1866 and operated until 1873 as the small merchant vessel Fate unknown

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Washington D.C. CDS

1863-11-30

No Image

Note:

 

Other Information

COEUR de LION patrolled in the Potomac River, James River, and other rivers of Virginia
She burned the schooners CHARITY, GAZELLE, and FLIGHT in the Appomattox River on May 27 1862
and the schooners SARAH MARGARET and ODD FELLOW up the Coan River June 1 1862
Enforcing the blockade, she captured the schooners EMILY MURRAY off Machodoc Creek, Virginia February 9 1863
and ROBERT KNOWLES September 16 1863, and MALINDA June 3 1864, in the Potomac
She exchanged fire with enemy batteries on the Nansemond River April 17 and 19 1863, taking the surrender of one of these on the 19th.

 

Additional Naming History Sources

A good history of the ship can be found at The Long Blue Line: Lighthouse tender and warship with the heart of a lion page on the United States Coast Guard website.
It was written by William H. Thiesen Coast Guard Atlantic Area Historian and published on Feb. 14, 2022.

 

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If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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