USS Housatonic (1861)
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Housatonic |
| Namesake: | The Housatonic River |
| Builder: | Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts |
| Launched: | 20 November 1861 |
| Sponsored by: | Miss Jane Coffin Colby and Miss Susan Paters Hudson |
| Commissioned: | 29 August 1862 |
| Fate: | Sunk 17 February 1864 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Screw sloop |
| Displacement: | 1,240 long tons (1,260 t) |
| Length: | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam: | 38 ft (12 m) |
| Draft: | 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail and steam |
| Speed: | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement: | 160 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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The first USS Housatonic was a screw sloop-of-war of the United States Navy. Named for the Housatonic River of New England, Housatonic was the first ship to be sunk by a submarine.
Housatonic was launched on 20 November 1861, by the Boston Navy Yard at Charlestown, Massachusetts, sponsored by Miss Jane Coffin Colby and Miss Susan Paters Hudson; and commissioned there on 29 August 1862, with Commander William Rogers Taylor in command. Housatonic was one of four sister ships which included USS Adirondack, USS Ossipee, and USS Juniata.
Housatonic departed Boston on 11 September and arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, on 19 September to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She took station outside the bar.
On 29 January 1863, her boats, aided by those of USS Augusta, USS G. W. Blunt, and USS America, boarded and refloated the iron steamer Princess Royal. The gunboat Unadilla had driven the blockade runner ashore as she attempted to slip into Charleston from England with a cargo consisting of two marine engines destined for Confederate ironclads and a large quantity of ordnance and ammunition. These imports were of such great potential value to the South that they have been called "the war's most important single cargo of contraband."
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