USS Unadilla (1861)
USS Unadilla (foreground) and another Unadilla-class vessel during the Civil War, location unknown
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Unadilla |
| Namesake: | Unadilla River, NY |
| Launched: | 17 August 1861 |
| Commissioned: | 30 September 1861 |
| Decommissioned: | 4 May 1865 |
| In service: | 20 December 1866 |
| Out of service: | 1869 |
| Struck: | 1869 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, 9 November 1869 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Unadilla-class gunboat |
| Displacement: | 691 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 507 |
| Length: | 158 ft (48 m) (waterline) |
| Beam: | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) (max.) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 200 IHP 30-in bore by 18 in stroke horizontal back-acting engines; single screw |
| Sail plan: | Two-masted schooner |
| Speed: | 10 kn (11.5 mph) |
| Complement: | 114 |
| Armament: |
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USS Unadilla was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for service with the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was the lead ship in her class.
Unadilla was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
Unadilla, a screw gunboat, was laid down at New York City by John Englis and the Novelty Iron Works in the late spring of 1861; launched on 17 August; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 30 September, Lt. Napoleon Collins in command. The vessel was one of 23 "90 Day" gunboats hurriedly constructed in less than three months shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861.
In October 1861, Unadilla joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Rear Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont and participated in the capture of Fort Walker and Fort Beauregard in Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, on 7 November. During the bombardment, the gunboat was struck six times but suffered no casualties and sustained minor damage to her hull and rigging. Control of Port Royal Sound enabled the Union Navy to coordinate the blockade of the southern Atlantic seacoast more effectively for the duration of the war.
On 10 November, Lt. Collins in Unadilla assumed command of Union naval forces off Beaufort, South Carolina, for the purpose of restoring order to the town following its capture two days before. Unadilla and Pembina next proceeded to Saint Helena Sound, South Carolina, on 24 November to reconnoiter Confederate positions at Hunting Island, Otter Island, and at the mouths of the Morgan and Coosaw rivers. The two gunboats conducted a survey up the Ashepoo River on 27 November. Unadilla returned to the Ashepoo on 6 December, but her engines failed, forcing the vessel back to Port Royal under tow on 9 December.
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