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USS Wamsutta


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Campaign Medal

Screw Gunboat:
  • Laid down in 1853 as the wooden screw steamer Wamsutta by Capes & Allison, Hoboken, N.J.; engines by Hogg & Delamater, N.Y.C.
  • Launched, 13 August 1853
  • Purchased for the Navy by George D. Morgan, 20 September 1861, at New York City from H. Haldrege for $27,000
  • Commissioned USS Wamsutta, 14 March 1862, at New York, Acting Volunteer LT. William L. Stone in command
  • USS Wamsutta was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and arrived on station in Port Royal harbor, 14 April 1862
  • The next day, she received orders to report to CDR. Edmund Lanier, in Alabama, for blockade and reconnaissance duty in St. Simon's Sound, GA.
  • On 27 April, while on an expedition to destroy a brig believed to be near Dorchester, GA., Wamsutta and USS Potomska engaged a company of dismounted Confederate cavalry on Woodville Island in the Riceboro River. During this 40 minute battle Wamsutta suffered two casualties and received superficial damage to her port side.
  • On 8 May, again accompanied by Potomska, Wamsutta proceeded to Darien, GA., to capture stored lighthouse machinery. However, a search of the town on the 9th found nothing, and the two gunboats withdrew that evening
  • USS Wamsutta remained off Darien, blockading Doboy Sound, GA.
  • On 4 August 1862, Wamsutta departed Doboy Sound to blockade St. Catherine's Sound, GA. There, she and USS Braziliera captured the schooner Defiance, 19 September
  • On 8 November, a broken air pump forced Wamsutta to Port Royal for repairs
  • Ultimately, she proceeded to the New York Navy Yard where she was decommissioned, 3 December 1862
  • Recommissioned, 2 February 1863, Wamsutta returned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, arriving off Port Royal on the 13th
  • Five days later, she proceeded to Doboy Sound to tow USS Fernandina into position to blockade the entrance to the sound
  • On the 28th, Wamsutta was ordered to Sapelo Sound, GA., to relieve Potomska and remained until ordered to Wassaw Sound, GA., on 29 March to relieve USS Marblehead
  • By 1 May, Wamsutta lay off Charleston, S.C., but spent the remainder of May and the first two weeks of June repairing and reprovisioning in Port Royal
  • Wamsutta arrived back off Sapelo Sound, 15 June 1863
  • Four days later, she was relieved by USS Midnight and ordered to proceed to Doboy Sound to relieve Fernandina.
  • After serving there for most of the summer, Wamsutta headed north, 5 September for repairs in Philadelphia Navy Yard, decommissioned there, 14 September 1863.
  • Recommissioned, 24 April 1864 at Philadelphia and was ordered back to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron
  • She arrived in Port Royal, 6 May and was assigned to blockade duty off Georgetown, S.C.
  • On 3 June, she chased the British steamer Rose aground there and burned the blockade runner
  • On 9 June, while reconnoitering Confederate island batteries scattered about Winjah Bay, S.C., she drew sporadic fire from shore batteries
  • On 14 July, Wamsutta returned to duty in Charleston and carried out frequent operations against Confederate vessels from her anchorage off Morris Island, S.C.
  • On 22 October, she helped chase the blockade runner Flora aground near Fort Moultrie, S.C
  • On 5 December 1864, she drove off an unidentified blockade runner attempting to slip into port.
  • On 4 February 1865, Wamsutta and Potomska ran another schooner aground, but the crew of the potential prize burned the ship before the Federals could take possession of her.
  • Finally, two days later, Wamsutta turned back a blockade runner attempting to reach Charleston.
  • Late in April, Wamsutta was reassigned to duty off St. Simon's Island, GA. She remained there through May and sailed for the Portsmouth, N.H.. Navy Yard early in June
  • She was decommissioned at Portsmouth, 29 June 1865,
  • Sold at public auction, 20 July 1865 to Otis Seabury for $14,000
  • Sold in 1879 to New Brunswick, New York & Providence SS Co., New Bedford, MA.
  • Reduced to barge, date unknown, owned by East Providence Land Co., Providence, R.I.
  • Final Disposition, broken up in 1895 at Amboy N.J.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 270t.
    Length 129'3"
    Beam 26'8"
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft 11'
    Speed 9kts
    Complement 35
    Armament
    15 March 1862 - one 20-pdr Parrott rifle, four 32-pdrs 57cwt
    4 May 1863 - one 20-pdr Parrott rifle, four 32-pdrs 57cwt, one 12-pdr rifle
    1 July 1864 - one 20-pdr Parrott rifle, four 32-pdrs 57cwt
    1 January 1865 - one 20-pdr Parrott rifle, four 32-pdrs 57cwt, one 12-pdr rifle
    Propulsion
    one direct condensing, 34" x 30" steam engine
    boiler(s)
    screw(s)

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    Wamsutta
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
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    Last Updated 19 August 2022