USS Penobscot (1861)

Last updated

History
US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg US flag 34 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Penobscot
Laid downnot known
Launched19 November 1861
Acquired16 January 1862
Commissioned1862
Decommissioned31 July 1865
Stricken1869 (est.)
FateSold, 19 October 1869
General characteristics
Class and type Unadilla-class gunboat
Displacement691 tons
Tons burthen507
Length158 ft (48 m) (waterline)
Beam28 ft (8.5 m)
Draft9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) (max.)
Depth of hold12 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion2 × 200 IHP 30-in bore by 18 in stroke horizontal back-acting engines; single screw
Sail planTwo-masted schooner
Speed10 kn (11.5 mph)
Complement114
Armament

USS Penobscot was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

Contents

She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockade

Penobscot, built in ninety days by C.P. Carter, Belfast, Maine, was launched 19 November 1861 and delivered to the Navy at Boston, Massachusetts, 16 January 1862. Assigned initially to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Penobscot destroyed her first Confederate vessel, the schooner Sereta, grounded and abandoned off Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina, 8 June 1862.

On 1 August she seized sloop Lizzie off New Inlet and on 22 October British brig Robert Burns off Cape Fear. Again off Shallotte Inlet 3 November, she forced the British ship Pathfinder aground, then destroyed her. Continuing her patrol of the Carolina coast into the summer of 1863, she forced blockade runner Kate ashore at Smith's Island 12 July.

Gulf of Mexico operations

Shifted then to the Gulf of Mexico, Penobscot joined the blockade ships cruising off the Texas coast. In early January 1864, she provided support for troops landed on the Matagorda Peninsula on 31 December. On 28 February she seized Lilly, a British schooner attempting to run the blockade at Velasco, Texas, to deliver her cargo of powder, and the next day captured schooners Stingray and John Douglas, outward bound with cargoes of cotton. On 12 July, off Galveston, Texas, the "ninety-day" gunboat intercepted the schooner James Williams with a cargo of medicine, coffee, and liquor.

Penobscot's final operations of the war

By 1865 the Union stranglehold had achieved its purpose. The South was suffering for the materials necessary to wage war. On 18 February Penobscot made her last interceptions. She forced the schooners Mary Agnes and Louisa ashore at Aransas Pass and on the 19th sent a boat crew to destroy them.

Post-war activity and final decommissioning and sale

After the war Penobscot returned to the U.S. East Coast. She decommissioned at New York City 31 July 1865 and on 19 October 1869 was sold, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Nehemiah Gibson.

Related Research Articles

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

USS Katahdin was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Hendrick Hudson</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Hendrick Hudson was a schooner-rigged screw steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union blockade of the ports of the Confederate States of America.

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>Albatross</i> (1858) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Albatross was a screw steamer rigged as a three-masted schooner acquired by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat with heavy guns and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.

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

USS Kennebec was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the U.S. Navy following the outbreak of the American Civil War. She was named for the Kennebec River.

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 Samuel Rotan was a schooner acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted by the Union Navy as a gunboat to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries. Prior to the war, the US Navy had mostly large, deep draft, oceangoing vessels. The establishment of the Union blockade required small, fast, shallow draft vessels like the Samuel Rotan for littoral operations.

USS Two Sisters was a small 54-ton captured Confederate schooner acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War.

USS Sunflower was a 294-ton steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

USS Restless was a barque acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

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

USS Kanawha 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 Flambeau was a screw steamship purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat, operating in Confederate waterways.

USS Arthur was a bark 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 <i>Tahoma</i> (1861) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Tahoma was a Unadilla-class gunboat built by order of the United States Navy for service during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Antona</i> (1863) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Antona was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a dispatch boat and gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of the Confederate States of America.

USS <i>Wanderer</i> (1857) Gunboat of the United States Navy

The first USS Wanderer was a high-speed schooner originally built for pleasure. It was used in 1858 to illegally import slaves from Africa. It was seized for service with the United States Navy during the American Civil War. In U.S. Navy service from 1861 to 1865, and under outright U.S. Navy ownership from 1863 to 1865, she was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat, as a tender, and as a hospital ship. She was decommissioned, put into merchant use, and lost off Cuba in 1871.

USS State of Georgia was a large steamer with powerful guns acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. State of Georgia, with her crew of 113 sailors and officers, was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in its blockade of Confederate waterways.

USS Victoria was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

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

The third USS Virginia was a 581-ton blockade-running steamer captured by the United States Navy and put to use by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Virginia served the U.S. Navy primarily as a mortar gunboat. Her ordnance included six 24-pounder howitzers and a 12-pounder rifled gun.

References

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