History | |
---|---|
Launched | 20 March 1863 |
Commissioned | 26 April 1864 |
Decommissioned | 28 July 1865 |
In service | 9 June 1864 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Sassacus-class gunboat |
Displacement | 1173 Ton |
Armament |
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The USS Iosco was a 1173-ton Sassacus class "double-ender" steam gunboat built at Bath, Maine. The ship fought during the Civil War, and was an important combatant during the battles at Fort Fisher. The ship was named Iosco after a Native American[ clarification needed ] word meaning "water of light", the namesake for Iosco County, Michigan.[ citation needed ]
Commissioned in April 1864, she protected shipping in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence during that summer. She assisted several ships caught in heavy storms. On 15 September, Iosco towed the USS General Burnside, which had been stuck on a reef, and was then sent to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Iosco also assisted Colonel Ellsworth, and the British barque Empress 2.
While operating off Wilmington, North Carolina, on 21 November, Iosco captured the blockade runner CSS Sybil. During December 1864 and January 1865, she participated in the assaults on Fort Fisher, which ultimately closed Wilmington as a Confederate port.
During the first assault, Iosco engaged the batteries at Mound Fort, and hit the Confederate flag flying over the fortification, knocking it down. A Confederate shot hit the Iosco's foremast, causing minor damage. The following day, Iosco led nine other ships in another attack on the fortress. The ships got as close to shore as they could.
On 13 January, Iosco assisted in the landing of troops at Fort Fisher, during the second attack.. Forty four of Iosco's own men also participated in the ground fighting, while the ship herself provided fire support during the assault. The Confederate garrison surrendered two days later on 15 January.
In 1865, she was active on the North Carolina Sounds, taking part in an expedition up the Roanoke River in mid-May. USS Iosco was decommissioned in July 1865 and in February 1868 was converted into a coal hulk for service at the New York Navy Yard.
USS Advance, the second United States Navy ship to be so named, was later known as USS Frolic, and was originally the blockade runner Advance captured by the Union Navy during the latter part of the American Civil War. She was purchased by the Union Navy and outfitted as a gunboat and assigned to the blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America. She also served as dispatch ship and supply vessel when military action eventually slowed.
The first USS Sassacus, 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 Vicksburg was a wooden steamship built in 1863 at Mystic, Connecticut; purchased by the United States Navy at New York City on 20 October 1863; converted into a gunboat; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 2 December, Lieutenant Commander L. Braine in command. Vicksburg was named in honor of the great victory that General Ulysses S. Grant had recently won at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
USS Tacony was a double-ended, side-wheel steamboat acquired by the Union Navy during the third year of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a heavy gunboat with powerful guns and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
USS Seneca was a Unadilla-class gunboat built on behalf of the United States Navy for service during the American Civil War. Seneca was outfitted with guns for horizontal fire as well as with two howitzers for bombardment of shore targets. With her crew of 84, she was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.
The first USS Mohican was a steam sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the Mohican tribe and was the first ship of her class.
USS Wilderness was a wooden-hulled, side-wheel steamship in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. After the war, she served as a revenue cutter. In 1873, she was renamed John A. Dix for former Secretary of the Treasury John Adams Dix.
USS Pontoosuc was a Union Navy vessel in the American Civil War. A side wheel gunboat, Pontoosuc was built under contract with G. W. Lawrence and the Portland Company, Portland, Maine, and was named for Pontoosuc, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. She was commissioned at Portland on 10 May 1864 with Lieutenant Commander George A. Stevens in command.
USS Unadilla was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for service with the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was the lead ship in her class.
USS Huron was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War for blockage duty against the ports and rivers of the Confederate States of America.
The first USS Pequot was a wooden screw gunboat of the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was launched on 4 June 1863 by the Boston Navy Yard; and commissioned there on 15 January 1864, Lt. Comdr. Stephen P. Quackenbush in command. The ship was named for the Pequot Indian tribe resident in Southern Connecticut, members of the Algonquian language grouping.
USS Pawtuxet was a side wheel steamer of the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Launched by the Portsmouth Navy Yard on 19 March 1864, she was delivered to the Navy at New York City on 18 May 1864, and commissioned on 26 August 1864, Comdr. J. H. Spotts in command. She was named after a river in Rhode Island.
USS Osceola was a wooden, sidewheel Sassacus-class gunboat which saw combat with the Union Navy in the American Civil War. She was designed with shallow draft and double-ends specifically to allow her to operate in the narrow rivers and inlets along the Confederate coast. She was well suited to this role and took part in major battles on the James and Cape Fear Rivers.
USS Howquah was a screw steamer purchased by the Union Navy in Boston from G. W. Upton on 17 June 1863, for action against Confederate commerce raider CSS Tacony which was then preying upon Northern merchantmen during what Professor Richard S. West has called "the most brilliant daredevil cruise of the war."
USS Alabama was a 1,261 long tons (1,281 t) wooden side-wheel steamer, built at New York City in 1850 and operated thereafter in commercial service in the western Atlantic.
The USS Cherokee was a 606-ton screw steam gunboat in the US Navy during the American Civil War ship. The ship later served in the Chilean Navy.
The USS Eolus was a 368-ton side wheel steamship that served in the Union Navy from 1864 to 1865 before becoming a commercial steamship.
USS Lilian was a large steamer captured 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 Tristram Shandy was a 444-ton steamer and blockade runner captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Britannia was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat and patrol vessel in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.