USS Tioga (1862)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Laid down: | 1861 |
| Launched: | 18 April 1862 |
| Acquired: | 1862 |
| Commissioned: | 30 June 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 29 June 1864 |
| In service: | 6 June 1865 |
| Out of service: | 8 May 1866 |
| Struck: | 1866 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, 15 October 1867 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 819 tons |
| Length: | 209 ft (64 m) |
| Beam: | 34 ft 11 in (10.64 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 11.5 knots |
| Complement: | 105 |
| Armament: | |
USS Tioga (1862) was a large steamer with powerful guns, acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
Tioga was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
Tioga – one of 12 double-ended steam gunboats laid down in the summer and fall of 1861 – was launched by the Boston Navy Yard on 18 April 1862; sponsored by Mrs. H. P. Grace; and commissioned on 30 June 1862, Lt. George W. Rodgers in command.
The double-ender sailed for Hampton Roads, Virginia, late that day, joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron upon her arrival there on 5 July, and promptly ascended the James River to support Union troops beleaguered in a small pocket on the north bank of the river.
Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had recently defeated General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac in the Seven Days Campaign and penned the Northern forces in a bridgehead at Harrison's Landing where they were protected by the guns of Union warships and fed by Federal supply ships. The Union gunboats, charged with maintaining control of the James for the North to assure the continuation of McClellan's waterborne support, constituted an independent division of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron called the James River Flotilla.
While in the James River Flotilla, Tioga escorted supply ships and frequently exchanged fire with Southern batteries and sharpshooters ashore. One of her more unusual duties during this assignment was the chore of protecting the barge which carried and launched an observation balloon to reconnoiter Confederate positions and troop deployments. Thus, it has been claimed jocularly that she was one of the first warships to screen an aircraft carrier.
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Wikipedia