USS ''Stonewall'' was a small 30-ton blockade-running schooner captured 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 Union blockade of 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 ...

. The Union Navy placed ''Stonewall'' in service as a ship’s tender, a role she played during the rest of the war.

Service history

''Stonewall'' was a Southern

pilot boat A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship ...

captured by Union screw gunboat on, or sometime shortly before, 24 February 1863. She was placed in service as a tender to ''Tahoma'' pending legal proceedings against her at Key West, Florida. She was condemned there and formally purchased by the Navy from the Key West

prize court A prize court is a court (or even a single individual, such as an ambassador or consul) authorized to consider whether prizes have been lawfully captured, typically whether a ship has been lawfully captured or seized in time of war or under the t ...

on 24 July 1863. She operated between

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

and Charlotte Harbor,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, for over one and one-half years, serving as a ship’s tender for the various Union

warships A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster an ...

assigned in turn to Tampa Bay. The highlight of her career came on 24 January 1864 when she captured Southern sloop ''Josephine'' of

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, bound for Havana, Cuba, with seven bales of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

. In October 1864, ''Stonewall'' was transferred to blockade duty, still as a tender, between St. Marks and Cedar Keys, Florida, and she served in that area through the end of the Civil War. She was inactivated late in May 1865 and was sold at auction at Key West on 28 June 1865 to I. Silvery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stonewall Ships of the Union Navy Steamships of the United States Navy Tenders of the United States Navy American Civil War auxiliary ships of the United States

Service history

See also

References