USS Wamsutta ( 1853 ) USS " Wamsutta " ( 1853 ) was a steamer constructed for service with the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways . Constructed in New Jersey as " Wamsutta " . " Wamsutta " — a screw steamer built in 1853 at Hoboken , New Jersey — was purchased by the Union Navy on 20 September 1861 at New York City from H . Haldrege ; and commissioned on 14 March 1862 , Acting Volunteer Lieutenant William L . Stone in command . Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockade . " Wamsutta " was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and arrived in Port Royal , South Carolina , harbor on 14 April 1862 . The next day , she received orders to report to Comdr . Edmund Lanier , in " Alabama " , for blockade and reconnaissance duty in St . Simon ' s Sound , Georgia . Battle of the Riceboro River . On 27 April , while on an expedition to destroy a brig believed to be near Dorchester , Georgia , " Wamsutta " and " Potamska " engaged a company of dismounted Confederate cavalry on Woodville Island in the Riceboro River . The battle lasted 40 minutes . " Wamsutta " suffered two casualties and received superficial damage to her port side . On 8 May , again accompanied by " Potomska " , " Wamsutta " proceeded to Darien , Georgia , to capture stored lighthouse machinery . However , a search of the town on the 9th found nothing , and the two gunboats withdrew that evening . " Wamsutta " remained off Darien , blockading Doboy Sound , Georgia . On 4 August 1862 , " Wamsutta " departed Doboy Sound to blockade St . Catherine ' s Sound , Georgia . There , she and " Brazileira " captured the schooner " Defiance " on 19 September . On 8 November , a broken air pump forced " Wamsutta " to Port Royal , South Carolina , for repairs . Ultimately , she proceeded to the New York Navy Yard where she was decommissioned on 3 December 1862 . Recommissioned and returned to duty with the blockade . " Wamsutta " was recommissioned there on 2 February 1863 and returned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron , arriving off Port Royal on the 13th . Five days later , she proceeded to Doboy Sound to tow " Fernandina " into position to blockade the entrance to the sound . Operating in the Georgia sounds . On the 28th , " Wamsutta " was ordered to Sapelo Sound , Georgia , to relieve " Potomska " and remained until ordered to Wassaw Sound , Georgia , on 29 March to relieve " Marblehead " . By 1 May , " Wamsutta " lay off Charleston , South Carolina , but spent the remainder of May and the first two weeks of June repairing and re - provisioning in Port Royal . " Wamsutta " arrived back off Sapelo Sound on 15 June 1863 . Four days later , she was relieved by " Midnight " and ordered to proceed to Doboy Sound to relieve " Fernandina " . After serving there for most of the summer , " Wamsutta " headed north on 5 September for repairs in the Philadelphia Navy Yard . She was decommissioned there on 14 September 1863 . Reactivated after repairs and returned to the blockade . " Wamsutta " was reactivated on 24 April 1864 at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , and was ordered back to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . She arrived in Port Royal harbor on 6 May and was assigned to blockade duty off Georgetown , South Carolina . Capturing and burning the British runner " Rose " . On 3 June , she chased the British steamer " Rose " aground there and burned the blockade runner . On 9 June , while reconnoitering Confederate island batteries scattered about Winjah Bay , South Carolina , she drew sporadic fire from shore batteries . On 14 July , " Wamsutta " returned to duty in Charleston and carried out frequent operations against Confederate vessels from her anchorage off Morris Island , South Carolina . On 22 October , she helped chase the blockade runner " Flora " aground near Fort Moultrie , South Carolina . On 5 December 1864 , she drove off an unidentified blockade runner attempting to slip into port . On 4 February 1865 , " Wamsutta " and " Potomska " ran another schooner aground , but the crew of the potential prize burned the ship before the Federals could take possession of her . Finally , two days later , " Wamsutta " turned back a blockade runner attempting to reach Charleston . End - of - war operations and decommissioning . Late in April , " Wamsutta " was reassigned to duty off St . Simon ' s Island , Georgia . She remained there through May and sailed for the Portsmouth Navy Yard ( Kittery , Maine ) early in June . She was decommissioned at Portsmouth , New Hampshire , on 29 June 1865 and was sold at public auction there on 20 July to Otis Seabury .