USS Yankee (1861)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Laid down: | unknown date |
| Launched: | 1860 |
| Acquired: | 1861 |
| Commissioned: | 1861 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 May 1865 |
| Struck: | unknown date |
| Fate: | sold at public auction on 15 September 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 328 tons |
| Length: | 146 ft (45 m) |
| Beam: | 25 ft 7 in (7.80 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Armament: | two 32-pounder guns |
USS Yankee (1861) was a steam-powered side-wheel tugboat acquired by the Union Navy just prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War.
The Yankee—a side-wheel steamer built in 1860 at New York City—was one of three steam tugs chartered early in April 1861 at New York City for use on the expedition to provision Fort Sumter, South Carolina, the first U.S. state to declare its secession from the Union, which it had done on December 20, 1860. She departed New York on 8 April 1861 and arrived off Charleston Bar on the 15th, a few hours after Major Robert Anderson's command had evacuated the fort and embarked in Federal transport Baltic. On the 20th, Yankee assisted in the evacuation of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Norfolk, Virginia, towing USS Cumberland to safety. She then returned to the New York Navy Yard.
Yankee left the navy yard on the 26 April 1861 for duty as a dispatch and escort vessel between Annapolis, Maryland, and Havre de Grace, Maryland. On 30 April 1861, she received orders to Hampton Roads for reconnaissance duty between the Rip Raps and Cape Henry, Virginia. Batteries manned by Virginia forces that had not yet been formally incorporated into the Confederate States Army at Gloucester Point, Virginia, fired upon Yankee on 7 May 1861, doing little damage but reportedly wounding two Union sailors. Yankee returned fire with four shots and two shells but the crew could not elevate its guns high enough to reach the shore batteries and Yankee broke off the action and returned to Hampton Roads. After further reconnaissance duty along the eastern shore of Virginia and the James River, Yankee proceeded to the Washington Navy Yard on 25 May 1861 to deliver prize schooners General Knox and Georgeanna. She sailed for Hampton Roads on the last day of May 1861 and arrived on 2 June 1861 but was sent north a week later for major repairs at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
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