USS ''Isilda'', sometimes spelled ''Ezilda'', was an armed

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

in commission in the United States Navy from 1861 to 1863. As part of the Union Navy, she saw service during the American Civil War.

Service history

Confederate service

Early in the American Civil War, ''Isilda'' operated under the British flag as a Confederate

blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...

. She sailed from Havana, Cuba, on 26 September 1861, cleared for Matamoros, Mexico. The U.S. Navy armed screw steamer captured her in the Gulf of Mexico 4 to 5

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...

s (7.4 to 9.3 km) off Timbalier Light, Louisiana, on 30 September 1861 and claimed her as a prize .

U.S. Navy service

The U.S. Navy took possession of ''Isilda'' and fitted her out as a

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. She joined the Gulf Blockading Squadron on 1 November 1861 to serve as tender to USS ''South Carolina'' in support of the Union blockade of the Confederacy in the Gulf of Mexico. For a short time, ''Isilda'' was on duty off the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...

, but her most distinguished service was performed off the west coast of Florida. ''Isilda'' fired a shot across the bow of an unidentified

standing in for shore off Cedar Key, Florida, on 24 April 1862. When the vessel refused to heave to, ''Isilda'' gave chase until the blockade runner slipped into

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

water and ran hard aground; on 26 April 1862, as an armed launch from ''Isilda'' was pulling toward the grounded schooner, a column of black smoke rose from the stern of the blockade runner and she blew up with a loud report. ''Isilda'' scored again on 10 June 1862 when she surprised the Confederate steamer ''Havana'' in Deadman's Bay on the coast of Florida and forced ''Havana''′s crew to put her to the torch to prevent capture. On 24 March 1863, with the schooner , she chased the Confederate

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Ranger'', enabling the sidewheel paddle steamer to capture ''Ranger'' and her cargo of salt, dry goods, and gunpowder off Crystal River, Florida. By April 1863, after participating in an expedition which scoured the west coast of Florida from the mouth of the Suwanee River to the Anclote Keys, ''Isilda'' showed signs of serious wear and tear. She remained on station off Cedar Key until 11 June 1863 when she finally sailed to

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, Florida, for repairs. There, when a survey found her too badly battered for economical repair, and she was condemned, stripped, and sold at public auction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isilda Ships of the Union Navy Schooners of the United States Navy American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States 1850s ships