USS Advance ( 1862 ) USS " Advance , later known as the USS " Frolic , was a blockade runner captured by the Union Navy during the closing years of the American Civil War . She was purchased by the Union Navy and outfitted as a gunboat and assigned to the blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America . She also served as dispatch ship and supply vessel when military action eventually slowed down . Service with the Confederacy . The second United States Navy ship to be so named , " Advance " – a schooner - rigged , sidewheel steamer built at Greenock , Scotland , by Caird & Co . was launched on 3 July 1862 as the Clyde packet " Lord Clyde " – was jointly purchased by the state of North Carolina and the firm of Lord , Power & Co . to serve as a blockade runner during the Civil War . She was renamed " Advance " in honor of the Governor of North Carolina , Zebulon B . Vance . She completed more than 20 highly successful voyages and 40 close calls with Union ships standing blockade watches , Capture by the Union Navy . " Advance " was captured by " Santiago de Cuba " on 10 September 1864 when she attempted to put to sea from Wilmington , North Carolina . Condemned by the New York prize court , " Advance " was purchased by the Navy that same month ; then commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 28 October 1864 , Lt . Comdr . John H . Upshur in command . Civil War service . Bombardment of Fort Fisher . " Advance " departed New York City on 30 October ; arrived off Wilmington , North Carolina , on 14 November ; and joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron . In addition to her reversed role — catching blockade runners as opposed to being one — she participated in the two expeditions against Fort Fisher , located on Confederate ( Federal ) Point at the mouth of the Cape Fear River . The first – abortive — attempt was carried out between 24 and 26 December 1864 after a bizarre attempt to flatten some of the defenses by running what amounted to a fire - ship stocked with some 30 tons of gunpowder aground at a point some 250 to 300 yards north of the fort . Needless to say , that unique shore bombardment proved to be a huge flash in the pan causing little or no damage . When the fleet moved in on 24 December , " Advance " was in the 1st Reserve Division which appears to have constituted a second line of bombarding ships behind the ironclads . She fired only her large 20 - pounder rifle and stopped that when she had to go to the assistance of the stricken and tow her to a safe anchorage . The following day , Christmas 1864 , she and five or six other warships moved off to draw fire from Half Moon Battery as preparation for the Army ' s landings . Though an 8 - inch gun in the Confederate battery drove off other vessels in the division as well as some Union Army transports , " Advance " claimed credit for silencing that gun with her heavy rifle . The Army landed late Christmas Day . Firing continued through the day and intermittently that night — fire that degenerated into covering fire to protect the bogged - down Federals instead of a bombardment preparatory to the by - then cancelled assault . " Advance " retired from Cape Fear on the 26th and the remnants of General Butler ' s Army force embarked on the 27th . After a visit to Norfolk , Virginia , for supplies between 31 December 1864 and 11 January 1865 , " Advance " returned to her blockade station off the Cape Fear River mouth on 13 January – Friday the 13th , to be exact , an ominous day for the Southerners defending Fort Fisher . Before dawn that day , the Federal fleet unleashed a terrific bombardment on the fort . Not long thereafter , around 0800 , about 8 , 000 Union troops began landing on the peninsula north of the fortifications . The following day , the fleet resumed its bombardment while the Union Army began landing its own supporting artillery . " Advance " , in one of the reserve divisions , helped support the landing of the Army guns and supplies while the bulk of the fleet continued to batter the Fort Fisher defenses . The main attack commenced on 15 January 1865 . The Army , aided by sailors and marines from the fleet , stormed the Southern positions . Heavily outnumbered and outgunned , the Confederates fought with the tenacity and ferocity of desperation — more often than not at close quarters with bayonets and rifle butts . They fought the entire day and into the evening but to no avail . The last fortifications , Battery Buchanan and the Mound , gave up at about 2200 hours ( 10 p . m . ) that evening . The Navy had closed the eastern portion of the Confederacy ' s last avenue of contact with the outside world . North Atlantic blockade operations . " Advance " resumed duty on the blockade . With the last deep - draft Confederate port closed , few runners tried to make the run . Those that did were of very shallow draft and of even more limited cargo capacity than that characteristic of their deep - draft predecessors . That fact made blockade running a highly unprofitable venture considering the danger involved . As a consequence , " Advance " participated in no captures . Instead , she served as a dispatch and supply ship for the remainder of her tour of duty with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron . End - of - war activity . On 11 February , she put into Norfolk for a month of repairs before embarking passengers and sailing for New York City on 13 March . She reached that port the following day and entered the New York Navy Yard . On 16 March 1865 , " Advance " was detached from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and was placed out of commission at New York City . She remained inactive for about three months during which time hostilities ended in most essentials . On 22 April , almost a fortnight after General Robert E . Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia , " Advance " was renamed USS " Frolic " , the second U . S . Navy ship of that name . On 12 June 1865 , she was recommissioned under her new name , Lt . Comdr . John H . Upshur again in command . Post - war operations as USS " Frolic " . On 24 June 1865 , " Frolic " departed the east coast to join the newly formed European Squadron and arrived at Flushing in the Netherlands on 17 July . Over the next four years , she made ceremonial visits to ports in Europe including many on the Mediterranean littoral . Those events reached a particularly high frequency during 1867 and 1868 when David Glasgow Farragut commanded the squadron . On 22 March 1869 , the ship departed Lisbon , Portugal , to return to the United States . She arrived in New York City on 30 April and was placed out of commission there on 8 May 1869 . 1869 recommissioning . Recommissioned on 24 September 1869 , " Frolic " patrolled the fishing grounds off Nova Scotia between April and October 1870 . She arrived at Washington , D . C . , on 26 October 1870 and was decommissioned there on 11 November for repairs . On 18 January 1872 , she was recommissioned at Washington , Lt . Comdr . G . C . Remey in command . On 19 February , " Frolic " departed Washington , D . C . , to relieve on patrol off the New England coast . She concluded that assignment in May and returned to Washington on the 24th . Between 12 and 16 June 1872 , she made the passage between Washington , D . C . and New York City . At the latter port , she became station ship and , on the 29th , broke the flag of Vice Admiral Stephen C . Rowan . She served alternately as station ship at New York and on patrols at sea until 30 April 1874 at which time she was decommissioned at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , for repairs . Recommissioned on 18 August 1875 , " Frolic " departed Philadelphia for duty on the South Atlantic Station a week later . She cruised the coasts of Argentina , Uruguay and Brazil for a little over two years . While at Montevideo on 20 April 1877 , Second Class Fireman James M . Trout attempted to rescue a shipmate from drowning , for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor . Final decommissioning . She returned to Washington , D . C . , on 20 October 1877 and was decommissioned there for the last time on 31 October 1877 . " Frolic " remained at Washington , in ordinary , until sold to Mr . J . P . Agnew , of Alexandria , Virginia , on 1 October 1883 .