USS Volunteer (1863)
.jpg) USS Volunteer anchored of the Western Rivers.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
  United States | |
| Laid down | date unknown |
| Launched | date unknown |
| Acquired |
|
| Commissioned | circa 29 February 1864 |
| Decommissioned |
|
| Stricken | 1865 (est.) |
| Captured |
|
| Fate | Sold, 29 November 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 209 tons |
| Length | not known |
| Beam | not known |
| Draught | 5' |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 6 MPH |
| Complement | not known |
| Armament | one heavy 12-pounder smoothbore |
The first USS Volunteer was a 209-ton steamer captured by the Union Navy and put to use by the Union during the American Civil War.
Virginia served the Navy in minor roles: as a dispatch boat and tugboat; however, at times, she would also be assigned as a patrolling gunboat.
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Volunteer—originally a Confederate steamer captured off Natchez Island, Mississippi, by Fort Hindman on 25 November 1863—was purchased by the Navy from the Springfield, Illinois, prize court on 29 February 1864.
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Volunteer was assigned to the Mississippi Squadron and performed valuable service as a patrol, dispatch, and tow steamer.
Her one major engagement during the war occurred on 14 April 1864 when she helped to drive off a Confederate force which was attacking Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
Post-war service[edit]
After the end of the war in April 1865, Volunteer convoyed naval stores up and down the Mississippi River as Union naval forces in the West deactivated.
Decommissioning[edit]
That summer, she was decommissioned and laid up at Mound City, Illinois, and was sold at public auction there to B. F. Goodwin on 29 November.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.