USS General Lyon
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USS General Lyon (1862-1865) View of the ship's upper deck, forward, during the Civil War, showing her smokestacks and a 12-pounder Dahlgren howitzer on an iron field carriage. Note low wooden railing around the deck edge.
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| History | |
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  United States
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| Name: | USS General Lyon |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1860 |
| Commissioned: | 24 October 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 August 1865 |
| Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
| Captured: |
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| Fate: | sold, 17 August 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 468 tons |
| Length: | 180 ft (55 m) |
| Beam: | 35 ft (11 m) |
| Draft: | 7 ft (2.1 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | not known |
| Complement: | not known |
| Armament: | two 12-pounder rifled guns |
USS General Lyon, originally the De Soto, was recaptured from the Confederate States of America and renamed USS De Soto, and then USS General Lyon, after Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon.
The steamer was put into service by the Union Navy as a storeship and dispatch boat serving the Union ships on the blockade of the Confederacy.
The ship was a sidewheel paddle steamer built at New Albany, Indiana, in 1860, and operated out of New Orleans, Louisiana, as De Soto. She was one of the many ships taken over by Confederate forces for use on the Mississippi River and other rivers during the American Civil War (1861–1865).
In April 1862 De Soto was busy ferrying troops to evacuate the area near Island Number 10 on the Mississippi River and was used, under a flag of truce, to communicate with Union gunboats. On 7 April 1862 she carried Confederate officers who surrendered possession of Island Number 10 to Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote. It was at night, and De Soto approached cautiously, giving four blasts of her whistle, repeatedly, until answered, whereupon Federal officers came on board to accept the surrender.
The ship was taken into Union Army service as the transport De Soto. Transferred to the United States Navy on 30 September 1862 as USS De Soto, she was renamed USS General Lyon on 24 October 1862 with Master John R. Neeld in command.
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