USS Crusader (1858)
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| History | |
|---|---|
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| Ordered: | as Chowan |
| Launched: | May 1857 |
| Acquired: | October 1858 by the U.S. Navy |
| Commissioned: | 27 October 1858 |
| Decommissioned: | 13 June 1865 at the Washington Navy Yard |
| Renamed: | Southern Star, Crusader |
| Fate: | sold, 20 July 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 545 tons |
| Length: | 169 ft (52 m) |
| Beam: | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 8 knots (15 km/h) |
| Complement: | 92 |
| Armament: |
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USS Crusader (1858) was a screw steamer of the United States Navy that served prior to, and during, the American Civil War.
Crusader was heavily armed and was used in a "gunboat diplomacy" role when the United States needed to place political pressure on Paraguay. After completing that mission, she returned to the United States to participate as a gunboat in the blockade of the Confederate States of America.
Originally named Chowan the ship was launched in 1857 in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. Four months later, its draftsman and builder, John K. Kirkham filed papers at the Hertford County Court for a lien for payment of $4,996 owed to him by the North Carolina and New York Steamship Company. She was seized by Sheriff John A. Vann. In February 1858, a jury awarded $2,287.36 to Kirkham and the court ordered that the ship be sold at auction on 4 May.
Chowan was purchased by John W. Southall and Capt. Thomas W. Badger and renamed Southern Star. In early 1858 she was towed to Delaware where she was fitted with engines. She then steamed to Norfolk in September 1858 under her own power for final outfitting for hauling freight between the West Indies and ports along the east coast of North America.
The US Navy approached its owners and chartered the vessel in October 1858 to be part of a 19 ship squadron military-diplomatic expedition to Paraguay to settle grievances growing out of an unprovoked attack on Water Witch by Paraguayan forces in 1855.
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Wikipedia