USS Wando (1864)

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History
Naval ensign of the Confederate States of America (1863-1865).svgFlag of the United States (1865-1867).svgUnited States
NameUSS Wando
NamesakeProbably the Wando River in South Carolina
BuilderMessrs. Kirkpatrick, M'Intyre & Co.
Launched25 March1864
Acquired5 November 1864
Commissioned22 December 1864
Decommissioned10 August 1865
Capturedby Union Navy forces on 21 October 1864
FateSold 30 November 1865
NotesIn commercial service as SS Wando from 1865 until sunk in storm February 1872
General characteristics
Displacement645 tons
Tons burthen468 tons
Length230 ft (70 m)
Beam26 ft (7.9 m)
Draught7 ft (2.1 m)
Propulsion
Armament
  • one 20-pounder Parrott rifle
  • one 12-pounder gun
  • one 12-pounder rifle

The first USS Wando was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. In commission from 1864 to 1865, she was used by the United States Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.

Contents

Blockade runner Wando. The Wando.jpg
Blockade runner Wando.

Capture

Wando was built in 1864 as the side-wheel steamer Let Her Rip by Messrs. Kirkpatrick, M'Intyre & Co., Port Glasgow, United Kingdom. Launched on 25 March, [1] she was built for use as a Confederate blockade runner in the American Civil War. Let Her Rip sailed under British colors until May 1864 when the Chicora Import and Export Company of Charleston, South Carolina, purchased her. In July 1864, after her first blockade-running trip into Wilmington, North Carolina, she was renamed SS Wando.

Wando was captured at sea off Cape Romain, South Carolina, by the Union side-wheel steamer USS Fort Jackson on 21 October 1864 as she attempted to slip away from the Confederate coast laden with cotton. The U.S. Navy purchased the ship from the Boston, Massachusetts, prize court on 5 November 1864, converted her into a gunboat, and commissioned her as USS Wando at the Boston Navy Yard on 22 December 1864, Acting Master Frederick T. King in command.

Union actions

Late in December 1864, Wando proceeded south for duty with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She arrived at Port Royal, South Carolina, on 5 January 1865 and was stationed on blockade duty off Charleston in February.

Wando departed Charleston on 11 February 1865 and joined in amphibious operations against the Confederate fort and batteries at Andersonville, Bull's Bay, South Carolina, lasting from 13 February to 17 February 1865. The fort and batteries were silenced, prompting the evacuation of Charleston on 18 February 1865. In March, Wando joined the blockading force off Georgetown, South Carolina, and then returned to Charleston in April 1865.

Decommissioning and sale

Wando remained at Charleston until ordered north to the New York Navy Yard on 28 July, 1865. She was decommissioned there on 10 August 1865 and was sold at public auction on 30 November 1865 to H. Allen. She then became the commercial steamship SS Wando, and lasted until February 1872, when she sank in a storm.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blockade runners of the American Civil War</span> Seagoing steam ships

During the American Civil War, blockade runners were used to get supplies through the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America that extended some 3,500 miles (5,600 km) along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines and the lower Mississippi River. The Confederacy had little industrial capability and could not indigenously produce the quantity of arms and other supplies needed to fight against the Union. To meet this need, numerous blockade runners were constructed in the British Isles and were used to import the guns, ordnance and other supplies that the Confederacy desperately needed, in exchange for cotton that the British textile industry needed greatly. To penetrate the blockade, these relatively lightweight shallow draft ships, mostly built in British shipyards and specially designed for speed, but not suited for transporting large quantities of cotton, had to cruise undetected, usually at night, through the Union blockade. The typical blockade runners were privately owned vessels often operating with a letter of marque issued by the Confederate government. If spotted, the blockade runners would attempt to outmaneuver or simply outrun any Union Navy warships on blockade patrol, often successfully.

References

  1. "Port-Glasgow - Launch". Glasgow Herald. No. 7555. Glasgow. 26 March 1864.

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