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USS Volunteer (1863)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USS Volunteer anchored of the Western Rivers.
History
United States
Laid downdate unknown
Launcheddate unknown
Acquired
Commissionedcirca 29 February 1864
Decommissioned
Stricken1865 (est.)
Captured
FateSold, 29 November 1865
General characteristics
Displacement209 tons
Lengthnot known
Beamnot known
Draught5 ft (1.5 m)
Propulsion
Speed6 MPH
Complementnot known
Armamentone heavy 12-pounder smoothbore

The first USS Volunteer was a 209-ton steamer captured by the Union Navy and put to use by the Union during the American Civil War.

Virginia served the Navy in minor roles: as a dispatch boat and tugboat; however, at times, she would also be assigned as a patrolling gunboat.

Captured by Union Navy forces

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Volunteer—originally a Confederate steamer captured off Natchez Island, Mississippi, by Fort Hindman on 25 November 1863—was purchased by the Navy from the Springfield, Illinois, prize court on 29 February 1864.

Civil War Union Navy service

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Volunteer was assigned to the Mississippi Squadron and performed valuable service as a patrol, dispatch, and tow steamer.

Her one major engagement during the war occurred on 14 April 1864 when she helped to drive off a Confederate force which was attacking Fort Pillow, Tennessee.

Post-war service

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After the end of the war in April 1865, Volunteer convoyed naval stores up and down the Mississippi River as Union naval forces in the West deactivated.

Decommissioning

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That summer, she was decommissioned and laid up at Mound City, Illinois, and was sold at public auction there to B. F. Goodwin on 29 November.

See also

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References

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