USS Iron Age (1862)
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USS ''Iron Age'' was a steamer acquired by the
Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were un ...
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 ...
. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the Confederates from trading with other countries.


Service history

''Iron Age'' was built at
Kennebunk, Maine Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 census (The population does not include Kennebunkport, a separate town). Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife R ...
, in 1862; then purchased by the Navy at Boston, Massachusetts, 28 April 1863 and commissioned 25 June 1863, Lt. Comdr. E. E. Stone in command. That day she sailed from Boston in search of Confederate commerce raider, , which was taking a heavy toll of
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
shipping. After learning that the enemy cruiser had been burned and her crew captured, ''Iron Age'' returned to Boston on 7 July 1863. She spent the rest of the summer in New England waters protecting Union commerce, fisheries, and coasts. ''Iron Age'' was transferred to the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...
3 September 1863, and sailed for
Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...
, two days later, arriving off
New Inlet New Inlet was an inlet along the Outer Banks of North Carolina joining Pamlico Sound with the Atlantic Ocean. It had not existed since 1945 before Hurricane Irene temporarily re-opened the inlet in 2011. History New Inlet first opened around 1738 ...
11 September 1863. On her fifth day of blockade duty, she discovered a runner attempting to escape, drove her back, and forced her to run ashore just abreast of
Fort Fisher Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865. The fort was located on one of Cape Fear Rive ...
. On 21 October 1863, she assisted and in destroying blockade runner ''Venus''. Christmas Eve that year was the occasion for a raid on salt works at Bear Inlet. A large stockpile of salt desperately needed by the South was destroyed. This blow was doubly effective since the raiders also prevented the manufacture of a new supply by smashing the irreplaceable equipment in the plants. In late 1863, the Confederate blockade runner ''Elizabeth'' ran aground just off of Holden Beach in the Lockwood's Folly Inlet. In January 1864, the Confederate blockade runner ''Bendigo'', returning from the port of Nassau with critical supplies for the Confederacy, saw the wreck of ''Elizabeth'' and thought it to be a Union warship. Following the tactics of the day, ''Bendigo'' attempted to pass at full speed between enemy and the shore. This resulted in ''Bendigo'' running hard aground. The captain of ''Bendigo'' recruited the help of the locals on Holden Beach and was able to salvage the supplies of the vessel. Following this, the captain set fire to ''Bendigo'' and abandoned ship. Within a few days, ''Iron Age'' and were ordered to the Inlet to attempt to float ''Bendigo'', but ''Iron Age'' ran hard aground at 09:00 on 9 January during the attempt. After untiring efforts to lighten her failed, she was put to the torch at 04:00 on 11 January, and was destroyed an hour and a half later when her magazine exploded. Several days later locals from Holden Beach and the surrounding area would row out to the wreck in an attempt to salvage anything of value. Neil Holden, a Confederate soldier and descendant of the Holden Beach's namesake, claims to have found a razor blade in the captain's cabin of USS ''Iron Age'' and has passed it down for several generations. The razor has stayed in the Holden family since the Civil War.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Age Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in Kennebunk, Maine Steamships of the United States Navy 1862 ships Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Maritime incidents in January 1864