USS Massachusetts (1860)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Laid down: | Date unknown |
| Launched: | 1860 |
| Acquired: | May 3, 1861 |
| Commissioned: | May 24, 1861 |
| Decommissioned: | September 22, 1865 |
| Struck: | March 19, 1865, in Charleston Harbor |
| Fate: | Sold, October 1, 1867 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,515 tons |
| Length: | 210 ft 10 in (64.26 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 11 knots |
| Complement: | not known |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: | iron |
USS Massachusetts (1860) was a large steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy prior to the American Civil War.
She was used by the Union Navy as a gunship in the blockade of Confederate ports. At war's end, she was outfitted as a cargo ship and served in that capacity until finally decommissioned.
Massachusetts, an iron-screw steamer built in 1860 at Boston, Massachusetts, was purchased by the Union Navy on May 3, 1861, from the Boston & Southern Steamship Company. The ship was commissioned three weeks later, at Boston Harbor, under the command of Melancton Smith.
Assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron, USS Massachusetts steamed south May 10, 1861, to anchor off Key West, Florida, departing there June 8 for Pensacola, Florida.
The next day she took her first prize, British ship Perthshire, near Pensacola. She captured Achilles June 17 and 2 days later took Naham Stetson off Pass a L’Outre in coastal Louisiana. On June 23, she captured the Mexican schooner Brilliant and the Confederate blockade-running schooners Trois Freres, Olive Branch, Fanny, and Basile in the Gulf of Mexico.
While Massachusetts was absent, the South had fortified Ship Island, and the batteries fired on her when she returned from Pensacola. She engaged the Confederate guns until she ran out of ammunition.
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Wikipedia