USS ''Otsego'' was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the

Confederacy 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 ...

to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Service history

''Otsego'', a wooden, double-ended, side-wheel gunboat, was launched 31 March 1863 by Jacob A. & D. D. Westervelt, New York City, New York, and apparently commissioned in the spring of 1864, Commander

John P. Bankhead John Pyne Bankhead (1821–1867) was an officer in the United States Navy who served during the American Civil War, and was in command of the ironclad when it sank in 1862. He went on to command three other ships. Early life John Payne Bankhead w ...

in command . Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron 2 May 1864, ''Otsego'' reached

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 ...

, on the 24th, and got underway on 12 June for

New Berne, North Carolina New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 ...

, and served in the North Carolina Sounds where she served throughout her career, helping tighten the Union grip on these strategic waters and adjoining territory, primarily guarding the mouth of the Roanoke River against an attack by Confederate

ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

ram '' CSS Albemarle''. When Lt. Cushing returned from his bold raid which destroyed the dreaded Southern ram on the night of 27–28 October, ''Otsego'', in a group of Union ships under Comdr. Macomb ascended the Roanoke River and attacked Plymouth, North Carolina forcing it to surrender after a bitter fight, 1 November. The Federal forces took 37 prisoners, 22 cannon, vast stores, 200 stands of arms, and the hulk of sunken but still important ''Albemarle''. For more than a month thereafter, ''Otsego'' performed reconnaissance and mop up work up the Roanoke River. On 9 December she struck two torpedoes (mines) in quick succession and sank in that river near

Jamesville, North Carolina Jamesville is a town in Martin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 491 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. Demographics As of the census of 2 ...

References

External links

Photo gallery
at Naval Historical Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Otsego Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in New York City Ships built by Westervelt & MacKay Sassacus-class gunboats Steamships of the United States Navy American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States 1863 ships Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Ships sunk by mines Shipwrecks in rivers Maritime incidents in December 1864