USS Bloomer (1856)
| History | |
|---|---|
  United States
|
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| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1856 at New Albany, Indiana |
| Acquired: | January 24, 1863 |
| Commissioned: | January 24, 1863 |
| Out of service: | June 1865 (sank) |
| Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, September 22, 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 130 tons |
| Length: | not known |
| Beam: | not known |
| Draught: | not known |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | not known |
| Complement: | 49 |
| Armament: |
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USS Bloomer (1856) was a stern-wheel steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat with orders to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
Bloomer—a stern-wheel steamer built in 1856 at New Albany, Indiana—was laid up at the outbreak of the Civil War in the Choctawhatchee River in Alabama, about a mile south of Geneva, Alabama, by her owner, a loyal Union man. On December 27, 1862, a joint expedition composed of officers and men of Potomac and troops of the 91st New York State Volunteers, led by Lieutenant James H. Stewart took possession of her and delivered her to the Pensacola Navy Yard where she was repaired and armed. A small crew was placed on board and, on January 24, 1863, Acting Ensign Edwin Crissey assumed command. The ship was put in operation without being sent to an admiralty court to be libelled.
Although she spent most of her naval career operating in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, her most notable service occurred in December 1863 during a brief tour of duty with the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. This operation in St. Andrew's Bay, Florida—in which she was assisted by her tender, the sloop Caroline, and the bark Restless—resulted in the destruction of 380 different salt works and of much of the town of St. Andrew's. Her commanding officer received high praise for Bloomer's part in the successful accomplishment of this mission.
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