USS ''Charlotte'' was a
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 ...
captured by the
Union Navy during the
American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the
Confederacy
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...
to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
Service history
''Charlotte'', a schooner used as a
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 ...
, was captured off
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, 10 April 1862 by ; condemned by the
prize court at
Boston, Massachusetts; purchased by the Navy 6 November 1862; placed under command of Acting Master E. D. Bruner; and assigned to the
West Gulf Blockading Squadron. ''Charlotte's'' first station was in
Choctawhatchee Bay, Alabama, from which on 27 December 1862 she sailed up river to capture the steamer . The ship had been laid up since the beginning of the War, and ''Charlotte's'' men repaired her engines so that she could sail to
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
.
The schooner continued to blockade off the East Pass of the
Mississippi River, performing
reconnaissance through which she was able to report movements of Confederate troops and act as a tender. She was later joined on station by ''Bloomer'', which had been taken into the Navy. Although the Dictionary of American Fighting Ships does say that ''Charlotte'' guarded the East Pass of the Mississippi River, the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies of the War of the Rebellion lists her as being posted, along with the
Bloomer at the East Pass of
Choctawhatchee Bay, also known as the East Pass of Santa Rosa Island, which is near the present day city of
Milton, Florida
Milton is a city in and the county seat of Santa Rosa County, Florida, located in the Pensacola– Ferry Pass– Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the Pensacola Metropolitan Area. Milton is located in the geographic center ...
.''Charlotte'' was sold at Pensacola 27 April 1867.
References
External links
List of some references to Charlotts in the ORN A specific reference that shows the Charlotte at the East Pass of Santa Rosa Island
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte
Ships of the Union Navy
Schooners of the United States Navy
Tenders of the United States Navy