James M. Prichett

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Commander James M. Prichett, USN (1836–1871) was an officer of the United States Navy who served in the American Civil War.

Prichett, born in Centreville, Indiana, in 1836, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1857. Prior to the Civil War he served aboard Mississippi on the China Station, and in Richmond on the Mediterranean Station.

Assigned to the Washington Navy Yard in 1861, he joined the Naval forces on the Mississippi River in 1862. On 4 July 1863, while commanding gunboat USS Tyler, he participated in, and won praise for, effective action in repulsing a superior Confederate force during the battle of Helena, Ark. He also commanded monitor Mahopac during the war.

After the war he sailed with Admiral David Farragut’s expedition to Russia and, in 1869, returned to the Pacific Squadron. Lieutenant Commander Prichett died in 1871 while attached to receiving ship Vermont at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

In 1943, the destroyer USS Prichett (DD-561) was named in his honor.

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This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.