USS Silver Lake (1862)
| History | |
|---|---|
  United States
|
|
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1862 |
| Acquired: | 15 November 1862 |
| Commissioned: | 24 December 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 August 1865 |
| Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, 17 August 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 236 tons |
| Length: | 155 ft 1 in (47.27 m) |
| Beam: | 32 ft 2 in (9.80 m) |
| Draught: | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 6 knots |
| Complement: | not known |
| Armament: | six 24-pounder guns |
USS Silver Lake (1862) was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways.
Silver Lake, a wooden stern-wheel steamer built in 1862 at California, Pennsylvania, was purchased by the Navy on 15 November 1862 at Cincinnati, Ohio, for service in the Mississippi Squadron and commissioned on 24 December 1862, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Robert K. Riley in command.
On 24 January 1863, Silver Lake and USS Lexington were ordered to join three other ships in the Cumberland River to stop Confederate forces from crossing. The expedition, under the command of Lt. Cpmdr. LeRoy Fitch and consisting of Silver Lake, Lexington, USS Fairplay, USS St. Clair, USS Brilliant, and USS Alfred Robb, proceeded up the Cumberland River to support Union forces surrounded by Confederate units at Fort Donelson.
Arriving after dark on the evening of 3 February 1863, the Union ships caught the enemy by surprise. The Confederates besieging the fort had taken positions which exposed them to fire from the gunboats. Heavy casualties were inflicted. Fire was so well directed, that the Confederate force could not even carry off a captured caisson and retreated without firing a shot. The ships were then stationed in the area to prevent the return of the Southern forces.
Silver Lake, Lexington, and Robb shelled enemy forces from the town of Florence, Alabama, on 31 March 1863, destroying the cotton works.
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