USS Agawam (1863)
USS Agawam in the James River, Virginia, July 1864.
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Agawam |
| Namesake: | Agawam is an Indian word meaning lowland, marsh, or meadow. |
| Owner: | United States Navy |
| Builder: | George W. Lawrence at Portland, Maine |
| Laid down: | October 1862 |
| Launched: | 21 April 1863 |
| Commissioned: | 9 March 1864 |
| Decommissioned: | 31 March 1867 at Norfolk, Virginia |
| Struck: | 1867 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold 10 October 1867 at Norfolk, Virginia |
| Status: | ultimate status unknown |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sassacus |
| Type: | "Double-ender" steam gunboat |
| Tonnage: | 974 |
| Depth of hold: | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | 2 × masts available for sail |
| Speed: | 11 kn (13 mph; 20 km/h) |
| Complement: | 145 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 2 × 100-pounder rifles, 4 × 9 in (230 mm) smoothbore guns, 2 × 24-pounder smoothbores, 1 × 12-pounder smoothbore, 1 × 12-pounder rifle |
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USS Agawam (1863) was a double-ended, side-wheel gunboat of the United States Navy that served during the American Civil War. She measured 974 tons, with powerful rifled guns and a very fast speed of 11 kn (13 mph; 20 km/h). She served the Union Navy in the Union blockade of the rivers and other waterways of the Confederate States of America.
Agawam — the first U.S. Navy vessel to carry that name — was built at Portland, Maine, by George W. Lawrence. She was laid down in October 1862, launched on 21 April 1863, and commissioned on 9 March 1864, Commander Alexander Rhind in command. She was based on the same plans as Sassacus.
On 9 December 1863, some three months before Agawam was placed in full commission, Southern agents and sympathizers had boarded the steam packet Chesapeake at New York City under the guise of being passengers bound for Portland, Maine.
Shortly after midnight on the 7th, when the liner had reached a point some 20 mi (32 km) north of the tip of Cape Cod, these men revealed their formerly concealed side arms and took over the ship, killing her second engineer. From there, they took the ship to Canadian waters in the hope that their daring act would provoke Union warships into violating British neutrality and thereby embroil the United States in a war with England.
When word of Chesapeake's capture reached Portland, the deputy collector of customs at that port wired Rear Admiral Francis Gregory, the supervisor of construction of all Union warships then being built in private shipyards, informing him of the loss and requesting permission to arm, man, and send out in pursuit the unfinished but seaworthy Agawam. Temporary arms, officers, and men for the new warship would come from the revenue cutter James C. Dobbin which had arrived at Portland in July.
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