USS ''Two Sisters'' was a small 54-ton captured Confederate

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 ...

acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War. ''Two Sisters'' was put into service as a gunboat and, when required, as a ship's tender, by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Service history

''Two Sisters'', a

built in 1856 at

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, Maryland, was captured on 21 September 1862 by the Union steamer off the mouth of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

while attempting to slip through the Federal blockade to

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

, with a cargo of 87 bales of

gunny cloth Hessian (, ), burlap in the United States and Canada, or crocus in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, is a woven fabric usually made from skin of the jute plant or sisal fibres, which may be combined with other vegetable fibres to make rope, nets ...

needed by the Confederacy for baling cotton. Subsequently purchased by the Navy from the Prize Court at

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, ''Two Sisters'' was commissioned on 30 January 1863 at Key West, Acting Master William A. Arthur in command. Assigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, ''Two Sisters'' took her first prize on 1 February—seizing the sloop ''Richards'' off Boca Grande, Florida. On 30 April, the Union schooner captured the cotton-carrying blockade runner ''Agnes'' off the Tortugas, before taking the schooner ''Oliver S. Breese'' off Anclote Keys, Florida. ''Two Sisters'' continued her patrols on the blockade through the spring, summer, and early fall, keeping a wary eye on the route between

Bayport, Florida Bayport is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hernando County, Florida, United States. The population was 43 at the 2010 census. Geography Bayport is located in western Hernando County along the Gulf of Mexico at ( ...

, and

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. On 15 October, she, , and assisted in the capture of the Havana-bound British steamer ''Mail'', which had attempted to run the blockade laden with cotton and turpentine. Bayport proved to be a good hunting ground. ''Two Sisters'' also captured the schooner ''Maria Alberta'' there on 27 November. On 13 January 1864, while ''Two Sisters'' was stationed off the mouth of the

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, a boat crew debarked from her and captured the schooner ''William'' with its cargo of salt, bagging, and rope. The Union schooner's patrol duty was broken in May by service as tender to the steam frigate . She then resumed independent blockade service through the onset of winter. On 3 December 1864, ''Two Sisters'' participated in an early amphibious-type operation. Her boats and crews joined others from , , and , all under the command of Acting Lt. Robert B. Smith, in a raid on Tampa Bay, Florida, in which they destroyed the large Confederate salt work at Rocky Point. ''Two Sisters'' subsequently remained on duty blockading the Florida coast for the duration of the Civil War. ''Two Sisters'' was sold in a

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to J. Jones on 28 June 1865.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Sisters Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in Baltimore Schooners of the United States Navy Gunboats of the United States Navy Tenders of the United States Navy American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States 1856 ships

Service history

See also

References