USS Velocity (1862)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Velocity.

History
United States
Acquired	30 September 1862
In service	1862
Out of service	21 January 1863
Captured	captured by Confederate forces, 21 January 1863
General characteristics
Displacement	87 tons
Propulsion	sail
Armament	two 12-pounder howitzers

USS Velocity was a captured British schooner acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War.

She was put into service by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries. Unfortunately for the Union Navy, she was captured, in turn, by the Confederate Navy off the Texas coast.

Service history

Velocity was a British blockade-running schooner captured by USS Kensington and USS Rachel Seaman at Sabine, Texas, on 25 September 1862; and was purchased by the Navy from the Key West prize court, Key West, Florida, on 30 September. Velocity joined the West Gulf Blockading Squadron shortly after her acquisition, deploying with the blockade off Sabine Pass. There, on 25 November, she assisted Kensington, Rachel Seaman, and another prize vessel, Dan, in the capture of the British schooner Maria and the Confederate schooner Course. Velocity was, herself, recaptured together with USS Morning Light on 21 January 1863 at Sabine Pass, resulting in a temporary lifting of the Union blockade on the Texas coast. She is believed to have continued to serve as a Confederate gunboat, but her final disposition is unknown.

See also

• Blockade runners of the American Civil War
• List of ships captured in American Civil War

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.