| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Acquired | June 2, 1864 |
| Commissioned | June 3, 1864 |
| Decommissioned | 1865 |
| Fate | Sold, July 12, 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 52 tons |
| Length | 61 ft 4 in (18.69 m) |
| Beam | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Draft | 8 ft (2.4 m) |
| Depth of hold | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 19 |
| Armament |
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USS Belle was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
She was used by the Union Navy for various tasks, including those of a torpedo boat.
Belle—a screw tug completed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in 1864—operated briefly at Boston, Massachusetts, before she was purchased there by the Union Navy on June 2, 1864. Commissioned in the next day or so, the tug headed south on June 8 to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The Norfolk Navy Yard refitted Belle to serve as a torpedo boat so that she might help defend larger Union warships in the North Carolina Sounds against attacks by the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Albemarle that, the previous spring, had emerged from the Roanoke River and defeated a Union flotilla.
Ready by late July, Belle and three other tugs were towed to Hatteras Inlet by the sidewheel steamer USS Nansemond, entered the sounds, and proceeded under their own power to the mouth of the Roanoke River. There, Belle performed picket duty, ready to sound the alarm should Albemarle reappear and then to attempt to torpedo the Southern ram. She continued this duty until Lt. William B. Cushing sank Albemarle in a daring attack on the night of October 27–28, 1864. This victory cleared the way for a Union effort to retake Plymouth, North Carolina, on the last day of October 1864. Belle, by then commanded by Acting Master James G. Green, took part in the operation lashed to the port and unengaged side of USS Otsego so that she might keep her partner in motion should that double-ender’s engines be disabled.
The Northern warships entered the Roanoke River from Middle River above Plymouth and headed downstream toward the Confederate defensive works. About half an hour before noon, they opened fire; and, after almost an hour of bitter fighting, the Southern troops withdrew, leaving the Union forces in control of the area. Following that action, Belle remained in the sounds until after the collapse of the Confederacy the following spring. On April 10, 1865, the day after General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia, she had the satisfaction of accompanying the raised Albemarle to Hatteras Inlet, as her former foe began her voyage to Norfolk, Virginia. Late in May 1865, Belle left North Carolina waters and headed for New York City where she was sold at auction on July 12, 1865 to Cozzens and Co. Re-documented on September 9, 1865, the ship operated in private hands until abandoned in 1891.
CSS Albemarle was a steam-powered casemate ironclad ram of the Confederate Navy, named for an estuary in North Carolina which was named for General George Monck, the first Duke of Albemarle and one of the original Carolina Lords Proprietor.
USS Southfield was a double-ended, sidewheel steam gunboat of the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was sunk in action against the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Albemarle during the Battle of Plymouth (1864).
USS Ceres was a small 150-long-ton (152 t) steamboat acquired by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
The first USSSassacus, a wooden, double-ended, side-wheel steamer, was launched on 23 December 1862 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, sponsored by Miss Wilhelmina G. Lambert. Sassacus was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 5 October 1863, Lieutenant Commander Francis A. Roe in command.
USS Stars and Stripes was a 407-ton steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy and put to use by the Union during the American Civil War.
USS Wyalusing was a double-ended, side-wheel gunboat that served in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the borough of Wyalusing in Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
USSWhitehead, a screw steamer built in 1861 at New Brunswick, New Jersey, served as a gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.
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USS Valley City was a 190-ton steamer acquired by the Union Navy for service in the American Civil War.
USS John L. Lockwood was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was needed by the Navy to be part of the fleet of ships to prevent blockade runners from entering ports in the Confederacy.
USS General Putnam – also known as the USS William G. Putnam – was acquired by the Union Navy during the first year of the American Civil War and outfitted as a gunboat and assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America. She also served as a tugboat and as a ship's tender when so required.
USS Underwriter was a 341-ton sidewheel steamer that was purchased for military use by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Shawsheen was a steam operated tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Martin was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy for various tasks, including those of a torpedo boat, tugboat, and a picket boat, patrolling Confederate waterways to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
USS Hoyt was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy for various tasks, including those of a torpedo boat.
USS Bazely was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy in a tugboat/patrol boat role in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
USS Shamrock was a large seaworthy steamer with powerful guns, acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
USS Althea was a screw steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The Union Navy used her as a tugboat, a torpedo boat, and as a ship's tender in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
USS Henry Brinker was a small steamship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was placed into service as a gunboat and assigned to the blockade of ports of the Confederate States of America.
USS Violet was a 166-ton steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy for use during the American Civil War.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.