USS Terry (DD-513)

Edward Terry, born at Hartford, Conn., on 24 January 1839, was appointed midshipman at the Naval Academy on 21 September 1853 and graduated on 10 June 1857. He served in the sloop Germantown, attached to the East India Squadron, from 1857 to 1859. By 1861, he was assigned to the steam sloop Richmond and served in her with the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron throughout the Civil War. He participated in the engagement with the Confederate ram Manassas on 12 October 1861, the artillery duel with Fort McRae and other shore batteries on 22 November, the passage of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and the capture of New Orleans in late April 1862.

After New Orleans, Farragut's force moved up the Mississippi, and Terry was present when the salt water fleet ran the gauntlet at Vicksburg and joined Flag Officer C. H. Davis' riverine fleet above the Southern stronghold. In January 1863, Terry was promoted to lieutenant commander. On 14 March, his ship joined others of the fleet in bombarding the batteries surrounding Port Hudson so that Farragut could dash past them and establish a blockade cutting the Confederacy's Red River supply line. In his last major engagement, the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864, Terry helped to close the last major Conferederate port on the Gulf of Mexico.

Following the Civil War, Terry alternated between sea duty and a series of shore assignments at the Naval Academy. In 1866 and 1867, he served in the Pacific Squadron in the steam frigate Powhatan. His first tour of duty at the Naval Academy followed in 1868 and 1869. He assumed his first command, Saco, in 1870 and cruised with the Asiatic Fleet until 1872. During that assignment, on 30 October 1871, he was promoted to commander. He returned to the Naval Academy in 1873 and, by 1875, was appointed Commandant of Cadets.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Terry II (DD-513)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.