Moored to the river bank above the falls at Alexandria, Louisiana, during the Red River campaign, circa May 1864. USS Dahlia is at left, and USS Neosho is at right. | |
History | |
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United States | |
Namesake | genus of flowers of the aster family. |
Ordered | as Firefly |
Builder | U.S. Army |
Laid down | 1861 |
Launched | 1862 at St. Louis, Missouri |
Acquired | 1 October 1862 |
Commissioned | circa 24 October 1862 |
Stricken | 1965 (est.) |
Fate | Sold 17 August 1865 at Mound City, Illinois |
Notes | Retained in commercial service until about 1872 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 50 tons |
Length | not known |
Beam | not known |
Draft | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
Propulsion | steam engine, paddle-wheel driven |
Speed | 10 knots |
Complement | not known |
Armament | not known |
USS Dahlia was a paddle-wheel tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War. Dahlia was assigned to the Mississippi River area to provide tug and other services to Union ships requiring assistance.
Firefly was built by the United States Army at St. Louis, Missouri in 1862; turned over to the Navy 1 October 1862; and named Dahlia 24 October 1862.
Assigned to the Mississippi River Squadron under Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter. She provided tug services in the Mississippi River and its tributaries until 17 August 1865.
Dahlia was sold at Mound City, Illinois in August 1865. She retained her name as a civilian ship after the war and passed out of service in about 1872.
USS Abraham—formerly CSS Victoria—was a side-wheel steamer captured by the Union Navy from the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
USS Glide was a sternwheel steamer that served as a tinclad warship during the American Civil War. Built in 1862, she was purchased for military service late that year by the Union Navy. After being converted to a tinclad and armed with six 24-pounder Dahlgren guns, she entered service with the Mississippi River Squadron in early January 1863. Later that month, she saw action in the Battle of Arkansas Post, firing on Confederate-held Fort Hindman. Sent the next month to Cairo, Illinois, for repairs, Glide was destroyed in a fire of uncertain origin on February 7.
USS General Bragg was a heavy (1,043-ton) steamer captured by Union Navy forces during the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a U.S. Navy gunboat and was assigned to enforce the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
USS Curlew was a Union Navy stern-wheel steamer that saw service during the American Civil War. Built in 1862 in Pennsylvania as a civilian vessel, she was purchased by the Union Navy on December 17, 1862. Converted into a tinclad gunboat, she saw service from 1863 to 1865, often serving on the Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Tennessee River. In May 1863, she was involved in a minor action against Confederate forces on the Mississippi River off of the shore of Arkansas. July saw Curlew take part in an expedition up the Red River of the South, the Tensas River, the Black River, and the Ouachita River that captured two steamers and destroyed two more and a sawmill. On May 24, 1864, she dueled with Pratt's Texas Battery while on the Mississippi River, and on November 4 of that same year, was near the action of the Battle of Johnsonville but was unable to join the fighting. Decommissioned on June 5, 1865, she was sold in mid-August and her further career is unknown.
USS Fern was a tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Her task was to tow other ships and barges, and to provide other duties that a tug could easily do, such as dispatch running.
USS Young America was a Confederate steamer captured by the Union Navy’s blockade vessels, and subsequently placed in-service in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Zouave 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.
The first USS Resolute was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Mignonette was a steam operated tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
USS Daisy was a tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy and to assist Union Navy ships requiring her towing services.
USS General Lyon, originally the De Soto, was recaptured from the Confederate States of America and renamed USS De Soto, and then USS General Lyon, after Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon.
The first USS Thistle was a Union Army steamer acquired by the United States Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Ivy was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Laurel was a screw tug in commission in the United States Navy from 1862 to 1865. She saw service in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Prior to her U.S. Navy service, she served as the United States Army tug Erebus.
The first USS Myrtle was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. It was used as a tugboat and as a dispatch boat assigned to assist Union Navy ships patrolling Confederate waterways.
USS Rose was a screw steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Huntress was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was placed into service as a gunboat assigned to support the Union Navy during the naval blockade of ports and rivers of the Confederate States of America.
USS Hyacinth was a steamer acquired by the Union during the American Civil War. She was placed into service as a tugboat, a dispatch boat, as well as a gunboat, by the Union Army and by the Union Navy.
USS Nettle was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy from the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The first USS Sovereign was a 336-ton steamer captured on the Mississippi River by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.