USS ''Penobscot'' was a built for the Union Navy during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockade

''Penobscot'', built in ninety days by C.P. Carter,

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, was launched 19 November 1861 and delivered to the Navy at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, 16 January 1862. Assigned initially to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, ''Penobscot'' destroyed her first

Confederate 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 1 ...

vessel, the

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 ...

''Sereta'', grounded and abandoned off Shallotte Inlet,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, 8 June 1862. On 1 August she seized

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 ...

''Lizzie'' off New Inlet and on 22 October British brig ''Robert Burns'' off Cape Fear. Again off Shallotte Inlet 3 November, she forced the British ship ''Pathfinder'' aground, then destroyed her. Continuing her patrol of the Carolina coast into the summer of 1863, she forced blockade runner ''Kate'' ashore at Smith's Island 12 July.

Gulf of Mexico operations

Shifted then to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, ''Penobscot'' joined the blockade ships cruising off the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

coast. In early January 1864, she provided support for troops landed on the Matagorda Peninsula on 31 December. On 28 February she seized ''Lilly'', a British schooner attempting to run the blockade at Velasco, Texas, to deliver her cargo of powder, and the next day captured

schooners 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 ...

''Stingray'' and ''John Douglas'', outward bound with cargoes of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

. On 12 July, off

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, the "ninety-day" gunboat intercepted the schooner ''James Williams'' with a cargo of medicine, coffee, and liquor.

''Penobscot's'' final operations of the war

By 1865 the Union stranglehold had achieved its purpose. The South was suffering for the materials necessary to wage war. On 18 February ''Penobscot'' made her last interceptions. She forced the schooners ''Mary Agnes'' and ''Louisa'' ashore at Aransas Pass and on the 19th sent a boat crew to destroy them.

Post-war activity and final decommissioning and sale

After the war ''Penobscot'' returned to the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard ...

. She decommissioned at

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31 July 1865 and on 19 October 1869 was sold, at

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

, to Nehemiah Gibson.

References

External links

Journal of Chas. G. Fleming, U.S.S. ''Penobscot'', MS 104
held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy {{DEFAULTSORT:Penobscot Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in Kittery, Maine Steamships of the United States Navy Unadilla-class gunboats American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States 1861 ships