USS ''Rose'' was a screw steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a tugboat and

ammunition ship An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...

in support of the Union Navy blockade of

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 ...

waterways.

Commissioned in New York City as a tugboat in 1864

The wooden screw steamer ''Ai Fitch'' was purchased by the Navy on 12 December 1863 from Laurence Fitch, New York City; fitted out for service as a tug; and commissioned on 8 February 1864.

Civil War service

Supporting McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign

Ordered to New Orleans, Louisiana, to join the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, she departed New York City soon after commissioning and proceeded to

Hampton Roads, Virginia Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic O ...

, where she was detained to support Major General Benjamin Butler's Army of the James up the James River at the beginning of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign on 4 May. On 5 May she got underway to tow the monitor up the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

to support Union Army forces converging on Petersburg, Virginia. Remaining on the river well into June, she performed towing duties, tender services, and carried ammunition and powder up from City Point, Virginia. On the 24th she returned to Hampton Roads and prepared to resume her cruise to the Gulf of Mexico.

Reassigned to the Gulf of Mexico

''Rose'' departed Hampton Roads on 26 July and arrived in Mississippi Sound on 5 August. After receiving a second gun, a heavy 12-pounder, she proceeded to Mobile Bay where she remained into September. She then shifted back to Mississippi Sound where she added patrol duty to her other duties. In December she captured a small vessel laden with turpentine. In late February 1865, ''Rose'' steamed to New Orleans, Louisiana; repaired; and in mid-April returned to

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 ...

, to assist in clearing channels in the bay. During April, she struck a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

in Mobile Bay and sank with the loss of two men killed and three wounded, but she was refloated and repaired and returned to service. She remained in the Mobile area performing tug service into the fall, then shifted 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 ...

, where, being retained for service after the Civil War, she was assigned to the

Pensacola Navy Yard Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

Post-war decommissioning and sale

''Rose'' was struck from the Navy list on 3 March 1883 and sold on 20 September 1883.

References