USS Wamsutta (1853)
| History | |
|---|---|
  United States
|
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| Name: | USS Wamsutta |
| Namesake: | Wamsutta, (c. 1634-1662), a Native American leader |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1853 |
| Acquired: | 20 September 1861 |
| Commissioned: | 14 March 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 December 1862 |
| In service: | 2 February 1863 |
| Out of service: | 29 June 1865 |
| Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, 20 July 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 270 tons |
| Length: | 129' 3" |
| Beam: | 26' 8" |
| Draught: | 11' |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 9 knots |
| Complement: | not known |
| Armament: |
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USS Wamsutta (1853) was a steamer constructed for service with the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
Wamsutta—a screw steamer built in 1853 at Hoboken, New Jersey—was purchased by the Union Navy on 20 September 1861 at New York City from H. Haldrege; and commissioned on 14 March 1862, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant William L. Stone in command.
Wamsutta was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and arrived in Port Royal, South Carolina, harbor on 14 April 1862. The next day, she received orders to report to Comdr. Edmund Lanier, in Alabama, for blockade and reconnaissance duty in St. Simon's Sound, Georgia.
On 27 April, while on an expedition to destroy a brig believed to be near Dorchester, Georgia, Wamsutta and Potamska engaged a company of dismounted Confederate cavalry on Woodville Island in the Riceboro River. The battle lasted 40 minutes. Wamsutta suffered two casualties and received superficial damage to her port side.
On 8 May, again accompanied by Potomska, Wamsutta proceeded to Darien, Georgia, to capture stored lighthouse machinery. However, a search of the town on the 9th found nothing, and the two gunboats withdrew that evening. Wamsutta remained off Darien, blockading Doboy Sound, Georgia.
On 4 August 1862, Wamsutta departed Doboy Sound to blockade St. Catherine's Sound, Georgia. There, she and Brazileira captured the schooner Defiance on 19 September. On 8 November, a broken air pump forced Wamsutta to Port Royal, South Carolina, for repairs. Ultimately, she proceeded to the New York Navy Yard where she was decommissioned on 3 December 1862.
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