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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS New Berne


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Campaign Medal

Screw Steamer:
  • Built in 1862 as the screw steamer United States at New York
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased for the Navy by RADM. H. Paulding at New York, 27 June 1863, from Wakeman, Dimon & Co, for $136,800
  • Commissioned USS New Berne, 15 August 1863, at New York Navy Yard, Acting Vol. Lt. Thomas A. Harris in command
  • Designated a supply ship, USS New Berne departed New York, 1 September 1863, to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
  • For the remainder of the war, she carried mail, supplies, officers, and seamen from Northern ports to and from the ships and stations of her squadron
  • From time to time her performance of this vital but unspectacular duty was enlivened by pursuit of a blockade runner
  • She departed Newport News, VA., before dawn 11 December hunting a "steamer burning soft coal" reportedly attempting to run the blockade near the entrance to Chesapeake Bay
  • New Berne did not catch this elusive steamer but had better luck the following spring when she chased steamer Pevensey aground near Beaufort, N.C., 9 June 1864
  • Shortly thereafter the blockade runner, carrying arms, lead, bacon, and uniforms for Lee's army, exploded
  • She scored again 16 December 1864 when, with USS Mount Vernon, she captured and burned schooner G. O. Bigelow in ballast at Bear Inlet, N.C.
  • After the war, New Berne continued service as a supply ship, but for two periods in ordinary, 5 December 1866 to 8 February 1867 and 5 April to 26 November 1867, until decommissioning
  • Decommissioned, 29 March 1868
  • Sold to the War Department at Washington 1 December 1868, for $35,000
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 948 t.
    Length 195'
    Beam 32'
    Rig Brigantine
    Depth of Hold 12'
    Draft 13'6"
    Speed 13kts
    Complement 92
    Armament
    9 July 1863 - two 24-pdrs, two 12-pdr rifles
    5 August 1863 - one 30-pdr Parrott rifle, four 24-pdrs, one 12-pdr rifle
    2 July 1864 - two 30-pdr Parrott rifles, four 24-pdrs, one 12-pdr rifle
    Propulsion
    two vertical inverted steam engines; cylinder diameter 36", stroke 36"
    one boiler: two furnaces, 10 flues returning through tubes
    single screw

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    New Berne
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
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    Last Updated 22 July 2022