USS Suwanee (1864)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
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| Name: | USS Suwanee |
| Namesake: | Suwannee River |
| Builder: | Reaney, Son & Archbold (Chester, PA) |
| Cost: | $171,000 |
| Launched: | 13 Mar 1864 |
| Acquired: | 14 Dec 1864 |
| Commissioned: | 23 Jan 1865 |
| Out of service: | 9 Jul 1868 |
| Struck: | 1868 |
| Fate: | Wrecked, 9 July 1868, off British Columbia |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Double-ended, iron-hulled gunboat |
| Displacement: | 1,030 tons |
| Length: | 255 ft 0 in (77.72 m) |
| Beam: | 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m) |
| Draught: |
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| Propulsion: | 1 × 58 inch bore, 8 ft 9 in stroke inclined direct-acting steam engine with surface condenser; 4 boilers—2 × main tubular, 2 × superheating; sidewheels |
| Sail plan: | Two-masted schooner |
| Speed: | Max. 15 kn (17 mph); cruising 8 kn (9.2 mph) |
| Complement: | 159 |
| Armament: |
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The first USS Suwanee was a 3rd-rate gunboat commissioned by the Union Navy in its struggle against the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War.
Commissioned late in the war, Suwanee spent several weeks searching for the Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah without success. Suwanee was eventually wrecked off British Columbia in 1868.
Suwanee—a double-ended, iron-hulled, sidewheel-propelled gunboat—was built for the U.S. Navy by Reaney, Son & Archbold of Chester, Pennsylvania. She was 255 feet in length, with a beam of 35 feet, draft of 9 feet, hold depth of 12 feet and displacement of 1,030 tons.
Suwanee was powered by a 58-inch bore, 8-foot 9-inch stroke, inclined, direct-acting steam engine, fitted with a surface condenser. Steam was supplied by four boilers: two main boilers of the horizontal, tubular type, and two superheated. The ship was also rigged as a two-masted schooner for auxiliary sail power. Total cost of the vessel was $171,000.
Suwanee was launched on 13 March 1864, delivered to the Navy at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 14 December, and commissioned on 23 January 1865, Comdr. Paul Shirley in command.
Ordered to the Pacific Ocean, the new double-ender departed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at dawn on 17 February 1865 and proceeded via New York City down the Atlantic coast of the Americas looking for Confederate commerce raiders, especially for CSS Shenandoah, which had been plaguing Northern shipping.
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