USS Niphon (1863)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | USS Niphon |
| Laid down: | Date unknown |
| Launched: | February 1863 |
| Acquired: | 22 April 1863 |
| Commissioned: | 24 April 1863 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 December 1864 |
| Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate: | Sold, 17 April 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 475 long tons (483 t) |
| Length: | 153 ft 2 in (46.69 m) |
| Beam: | 24 ft 9 in (7.54 m) |
| Draft: | 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 17 ft 3 in (5.26 m) |
| Propulsion: | steam engine, screw |
| Speed: | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
| Complement: | 70 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: | Wood and iron |
USS Niphon was a steam operated vessel acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
Niphon, a wooden and iron screw steamer launched at Boston, Massachusetts, in February 1863, delivered to the Navy at Boston on 22 April 1863; and commissioned at Boston Navy Yard on 24 April 1863, Acting Ensign Joseph B. Breck in command; and was formally purchased 9 May 1863.
Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Niphon was first stationed off Fort Fisher, North Carolina, which protected Wilmington, North Carolina, from attack by sea. She captured the blockade runner Banshee at New Inlet, North Carolina on 29 July 1863. On 18 August she chased the steamer Hebe, carrying drugs, clothing, coffee, and provisions for the Confederacy, and forced the blockade runner aground north of Fort Fisher where she was abandoned. The boats from Niphon were sent to destroy Hebe, but were swamped in heavy seas and their crews captured. Then USS Shokoken opened fire on Hebe and she was burned to the waterline.
With USS James Adger, Niphon captured the steamer Cornubia north of New Inlet on 8 November. Cornubia’s papers exposed the whole scheme by which the Confederacy had clandestinely obtained ships in England. The next day Niphon captured the blockade runner Ella and Annie off Masonboro Inlet, North Carolina, attempting to slip in with a cargo of arms and provisions. Trying to escape, the runner rammed Niphon but surrendered to Federal bluejackets who boarded her when the ships had swung broadside. Ella and Annie was later commissioned in the Union Navy as USS Malvern.
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