USS ''Laurel'' was a

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...

tug in commission in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1862 to 1865. She saw service in 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 ...

. Prior to her U.S. Navy service, she served as the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

tug ''Erebus''.

Construction and U.S. Army service

The tug was built for the U.S. Army in 1862 at

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri, as ''Erebus'' for Union Army service. She entered service early in 1862. On 14 April 1862, she accidentally burned to the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

and sank within a half-mile (0.8 km) of Craighead Point, 3,800 yards (3,475 meters) above Fort Pillow, Tennessee. Her crew was rescued, and she was refloated, repaired, and returned to service.Gaines, W. Craig, ''Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks'', Louisiana State University Press, 2008
, , p. 99.

U.S. Navy service

''Erebus'' was transferred from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Navy on 30 August or 30 September 1862 (sources disagree) and renamed USS ''Laurel'' on 19 October 1862. She operated on the Mississippi River for the remainder of the American Civil War, supporting operations of both the Union Army and U.S. Navy. After the war ended in 1865, ''Laurel'' assisted in the demobilization of the

Mississippi Squadron The Mississippi River Squadron was the Union brown-water naval squadron that operated on the western rivers during the American Civil War. It was initially created as a part of the Union Army, although it was commanded by naval officers, and was ...

before

decommissioning Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear decommi ...

at Mound City, Illinois, on 12 August 1865. She was sold at auction there to Sol. A. Silver on 17 August 1865. Documented as for commercial service as ''Laurel'' on 2 January 1867, she remained in service until abandoned in 1903.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurel Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in St. Louis Steamships of the United States Navy Tugs of the United States Navy Ships of the United States Army 1862 ships Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Ship fires Maritime incidents in April 1862