USS Satellite (1854)
Tugs Putnam (foreground) and Satellite 1861.
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| History | |
|---|---|
  United States
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| Laid down: | unknown date |
| Launched: | 1854 at New York City |
| Acquired: | 24 July 1861 at New York City |
| Commissioned: |
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| Decommissioned: | lost in action, 1863 |
| Struck: | 1863 |
| Captured: |
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| Fate: | destroyed by Confederate forces 28 August 1863 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 217 tons |
| Length: | 120 ft 7 in (36.75 m) |
| Beam: | 22 ft 9 in (6.93 m) |
| Draught: | 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | not known |
| Complement: | 43 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | two 8-inch guns |
| Armour: | wood |
USS Satellite (1854) was a steam powered large tugboat, acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War and equipped with two powerful 8-inch guns. She was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.
She served the Union Navy well, until captured and destroyed by Confederate forces.
The first ship to be named Satellite by the Navy, Satellite was a wooden, side-wheel tug built at New York City in 1854, was purchased by the Navy at New York on 24 July 1861; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 12 September 1861, Acting Master Joseph Spinney in command.
The next day, the ship sailed for the Potomac River and reached the Washington Navy Yard on the 16th. That afternoon, she steamed back down river to join the Potomac River Flotilla off the mouth of Occoquan Creek and began almost two years of operations in the roughly parallel rivers which drain tidewater Virginia and empty into the Chesapeake Bay.
Her first action came on 25 September when she was fired upon by a Confederate battery at Freestone Point; but, during the action, she suffered no casualties or damage. From that time on, her duels with artillery and riflemen hidden along the shores were frequent. On 18 October, the tug bombarded Confederate positions at Shipping Point, Virginia.
On 15 November, a boat from the ship rowed down stream on a scouting expedition and returned before the following dawn with two scows and three skiffs as prizes. Two days later, Satellite shelled positions below Boyd's Hole.
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Wikipedia