Seeking logs of USS Neosho, USS Reindeer & USS Fairy

Dear Mr. Gresham,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, 1801 - 1940 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24) that include the deck logs of the USS Fairy from 1 April 1864 - 9 August 1865; the USS Neosho from 13 May 1863 - 21 February 1865 & 29 April 1865 - 23 July 1865; and the USS Reindeer from 25 July 1863 - 7 August 1865. Plus, we located three series titled Letter Books of U.S. Naval Officers, 1798 - 1930; Confidential and Other Letters, Telegrams, and Cablegrams Sent to Commanding Officers of Squadrons and Vessels, 9/12/1843 - 11/6/1886; and Letters Sent, 6/18/1798 - 11/13/1886 in the Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, 1691 - 1945 (Record Group 45) that may contain reports of riverine units such as these three vessels. For access to and/or copies of the records in Record Groups 24 & 45, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov.

We also located the Muster Rolls of Naval Ships, 1/1/1860 - 6/9/1900 in Record Group 24 that includes the digitized file unit titled Muster Rolls of U.S.S. Neosho 1863-1868 & U.S.S. Neptune 1864-1865.

In addition, we located a series titled Ship Design and Construction Drawings, 1862 - 1909 in the Records of the Bureau of Ships (Record Group 19) that includes a file unit for the Fairy. For access to and/or copies of this file unit, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Cartographic (RDSC) via email at carto@nara.gov.

Lastly, the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships of the Naval History and Heritage Command includes histories of the USS Fairy, the USS Neosho, and the USS Reindeer.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!

[Some information provided by Nate Patch, Subject Matter Expert]