Claim: The USS Belle Italia was involved in an 1862 Union squadron's attack on Corpus Christi, a coastal South Texas city southeast of San Antonio.
Evidence: However, Arthur took part in significant operations off Corpus Christi, Texas, during the summer of 1862. At noon on August 12, 1862 in Aransas Bay, Belle Italia, the gunboat USS Sachem, and the schooner Reindeer accompanied Corypheus through an artificial canal into Corpus Christi Bay. Confederates in the bay also set ablaze and abandoned the armed schooner Elma and the sloop Hannah. The small Union squadron then decided to attack Corpus Christi. It is 130 miles southeast of San Antonio. Corpus Christi