USS ''Somerset'' was a wooden-hulled, side-wheel

ferryboat A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

built at

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, N.Y., in 1862, which was purchased by the Navy at

Washington, D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, on 4 March 1862 and was commissioned at the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...

on 3 April 1862, Lt. Earl English in command.

Service history

Cuba

Assigned to the

East Gulf Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederate States of America, Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required ...

, the ferryboat arrived at

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

, on 27 April, and after cooling, sailed on 1 May for waters off the coast of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

to seek

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...

runners. On 4 May, she captured screw steamer ''Circassian'' flying British colors between

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

and

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

about 10 miles off the Cuban coast. Lt. English placed a prize crew on the steamer and towed her to Key West for adjudication. There she was condemned and sold to the Navy. She was then refitted and commissioned as USS ''Circassian'', serving until the end of the war in 1865.

Early War Service

After another cruise off the coast of Cuba, ''Somerset'' was ordered to cruise off Florida between

Cedar Key Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. The population was 702 at the 2010 census. The Cedar Keys are a cluster of islands near the mainland. Most of the developed area of the city has been on Way Key since the end of the 19th ...

and

Apalachicola Bay Apalachicola may refer to: * Apalachicola people, a group of Native Americans who lived along the Apalachicola River in present-day Florida Places *Apalachicola, Florida *Apalachicola River *Apalachicola Bay *Apalachicola National Forest *Apalachi ...

. There she began a type of duty which characterized her service during her entire Navy career. In the next few months, she performed blockade duty; made a reconnaissance expedition to Way Key where she engaged

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

troops on 15 May; shelled a Confederate fort near the

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

in St. Marks River, before landing a party of sailors who wrecked the battery on 15 June; captured blockade running schooner ''Curlew'' off the Cedar Keys the next day; and destroyed salt works at the end of the Fernandia Railroad at Depot Key on 4 and 6 October.

The Apalachicola River

Because of the shoal waters she patrolled, ''Somerset'' often sent boat parties to serve the Union cause in areas which she could not reach herself. On 27 December, one of her boats capsized in a squall, and three petty officers and one seaman were drowned during operations in St. George's Sound to seal off the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

. Up this strategic stream, which held ''Somerset''s attention for much of the next two and one-half years, the Confederates were building screw gunboat CSS ''Chattahoochee'' and ironclad CSS ''Muscogee''. These Confederate warships never got into action; but, in May 1864, a party of Confederate sailors from ''Chattahoochee'', commanded by Lt. George W. Gift, attempted to capture Union side wheeler which was blockading the Apalachicola. Launches from Somerset discovered the Confederate expedition, drove them off, and captured their boats and supplies.

Later service

''Somerset'' spent most of the final year of the war guarding lest the Southern warships attempt to break the blockade. From time to time, an expedition to gain intelligence or a foray against Southern salt works would enliven her routine blockade duty. Her last excitement came in the closing weeks of the war when, on 30 March 1865, she joined ''Sunflower'' in destroying salt works on St. Joseph's Bayou.

Decommissioned

After peace returned, the steamer - badly in need of repair and towed by ''Isnomia'' - headed for New York. She was sold at public auction there on 12 July 1865 to the Union Ferry Co. Documented on 14 February 1866, the rejuvenated ''Somerset'' began a career as a New York ferryboat which lasted until she was retired in 1914.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset 1862 ships Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in Brooklyn Gunboats of the United States Navy Steamships of the United States Navy American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States Ferryboats of the Union Ferry Company