USS Para

Last updated
USS Para.jpg
USS Para with ships at right
History
US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg US flag 34 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Para
Acquired9 September 1861
Commissioned4 February 1862
Decommissioned5 August 1865
FateSold, 8 September 1865
General characteristics
Type Schooner
Displacement200 long tons (200 t)
Length98 ft (30 m)
Beam24 ft (7.3 m)
Draft9 ft (2.7 m)
Depth of hold9 ft (2.7 m)
PropulsionSail
Armament
  • 1 × 13" mortar
  • 2 × 32-pounder guns

USS Para was a schooner 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.

Service history

Para — a wooden schooner — was purchased from James Bishop & Co., New York City on 9 September 1861 and commissioned on 4 February 1862, Acting Master Edward J. Furber in command. Assigned first to the Gulf Squadron, Para participated in the bombardment of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip from 18–24 April 1862. Later transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she operated along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina for the remainder of the war. On 19 June 1863, she captured blockade running schooner Emma off Mosquito Inlet, South Carolina.

Off Florida on 18 July, she sent men ashore in boats to participate in the attack on New Smyrna, Florida. The Union force captured a sloop loaded with cotton and an unladen schooner, burnt several other vessels, and destroyed all buildings which had been occupied by troops. Continuing operations off the southeastern seaboard, she escorted troops up the St. Mary's River to Woodstock, Florida, to obtain lumber, engaged Confederate forces along the river banks to cover the transports as they took on the lumber, captured steamer Hard Times, then covered the retirement of the transports from 16–23 February 1864. Para decommissioned at Boston, Massachusetts on 5 August 1865 and was sold at auction to J. C. Osgood on 8 September.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Water Witch</i> (1851) US Navy gunboat

The third USS Water Witch was a wooden-hulled, sidewheel gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She is best known as the ship fired on by Paraguay in 1855. In 1864 she was captured by the Confederate States Navy, and subsequently was taken into that Navy as CSS Water Witch.

USS <i>Sciota</i> (1861) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Sciota was a Unadilla-class gunboat built on behalf of the United States Navy for service during the Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat, with both a 20-pounder rifle for horizontal firing, and two howitzers for shore bombardment, and assigned to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.

USS <i>Stars and Stripes</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

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 <i>Monticello</i> (1859)

The first USS Monticello was a wooden screw-steamer in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the home of Thomas Jefferson. She was briefly named Star in May 1861.

USS <i>Seminole</i> (1859) Gunboat of the United States Navy

The first USS Seminole was a steam sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union blockade</span> Union blockade of the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War

The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading.

USS Henry Janes was a mortar schooner acquired by the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was used as a gunboat and assigned to the blockade of ports of the Confederate States of America.

USS <i>Paul Jones</i> (1862) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Paul Jones was a large 1,210-ton sidewheel, double-ended, steam gunboat of the Union Navy that served during the American Civil War. She carried heavy guns and was assigned to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.

USS <i>Unadilla</i> (1861) Gunboat of the United States Navy

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 <i>Huron</i> (1861) Gunboat of the United States Navy

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.

USS <i>Pembina</i> (1861) Unadilla-class gunboat of the Union Navy during the American Civil War

USS Pembina was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for 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 Western World was a ship 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 <i>Hetzel</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Hetzel was a steamer 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 <i>Isaac Smith</i>

USS Isaac Smith was a screw steamer acquired by the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederate States of America to prevent the Confederacy from trading with other countries. In 1863, she became the only warship in the American Civil War to be captured by enemy land forces. She then served in the Confederate States Navy as CSS Stono until she was wrecked.

USS Matthew Vassar was a schooner purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy primarily as a mortar gunboat, but also as a gunboat stationed off Confederate ports to prevent their trading with foreign countries.

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.

USS Wyandotte, originally USS Western Port, was a steamer acquired by the Navy as a gunboat for the Paraguay expedition in 1858. When the crisis of the American Civil War occurred, she operated in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.

USS Norfolk Packet was a large schooner purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was assigned to gunboat duty in the inland waterways of the Confederate States of America.

USS T. A. Ward was a 284-ton schooner was purchased by the Union Navy during the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

USS Isilda, sometimes spelled Ezilda, was an armed schooner in commission in the United States Navy from 1861 to 1863. As part of the Union Navy, she saw service during the American Civil War.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.