Naval History and Heritage Command

A city in southwestern Tennessee; so named because it is situated upon the Mississippi River in a manner similar to the capital city of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt on the Nile. In the Civil War, Memphis fell on 6 June 1862 to Union naval forces, led by Flag Officer Charles H. Davis, and served as an important Federal base for the rest of the war. The first Memphis retained her merchant name.

III

Tennessee (Armored Cruiser No. 10) was commissioned on 16 July 1906, and renamed Memphis on 25 May 1916, to free her name for Battleship No. 43.

Mark L. Evans

15 May 2015