louisiana2000

There have been four warships that have served the United States while bearing the name of the state of Louisiana. The original USS Louisiana, launched in 1812 at New Orleans, helped save its home port from British invasion. Supporting General Andrew Jackson’s right flank from the Mississippi river, the original Louisiana bombarded Redcoats as they tried to advance on the city during the Battle of New Orleans. The second USS Louisiana, a steamer launched in 1861, was noted for her actions in defense of Washington DC at the onset of the Civil War. After fighting in several engagements, she was laden with explosives and sacrificed as a ‘fireship’ in an attempt to destroy the defenses of the Confederate-held Fort Fisher in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The third USS Louisiana was a battleship launched in 1906 that participated in suppressing a Cuban Insurrection the same year. She later carried President Theodore Roosevelt to oversee work on the Panama Canal and was subsequently chosen by him to represent the U.S. during the tour of the ‘Great White Fleet’. The fourth and current ship of the name is the Ohio-class SSBN-743, a Trident missile-carrying nuclear submarine that was launched from Groton, Connecticut in 1996.