USS Sciota ( 1861 ) USS " Sciota " was a built on behalf of the United States Navy for service during the American Civil War . She was outfitted as a gunboat , with both a 20 - pounder rifle for horizontal firing , and two howitzers for shore bombardment , and assigned to the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America . Commissioned in Philadelphia in 1861 . The first U . S . Navy ship to be so named , USS " Sciota " was one of the " ninety - day gunboats " rushed through construction at the beginning of the American Civil War , " Sciota " was laid down in the summer of 1861 at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania by Jacob Birley and J . P . Morris and Company ; launched on 15 October 1861 ; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 December 1861 , Lieutenant Edward Donaldson in command . Civil War service . Assigned to the Gulf Blockade . The new screw gunboat was assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron and arrived at Ship Island , Mississippi , on the afternoon of 8 January 1862 . On 6 February , she captured blockade runner , " Margaret " , off Isle of Breton , Louisiana , as the sloop was attempting to escape to sea laden with cotton . When Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles divided naval jurisdiction in the Gulf of Mexico between Flag Officer William McKean and Flag Officer David Farragut , " Sciota " was assigned to Farragut ' s West Gulf Blockading Squadron which had been created to wrest New Orleans , Louisiana from Southern hands . During the first weeks in April , " Sciota " , supported Farragut ' s efforts to get his deep draft ships across the bar off Pass a L ' Outre and into the Mississippi River . During this period , she also steamed up the river gathering information about Southern defenses . Bombarding Mississippi River forts . On the 18th , the ships of Farragut ' s fleet took position close to Fort St . Philip and Fort Jackson . " Sciota " bombarded these forts , and she continued to duel with the Confederate guns intermittently for the next six days . In the early morning darkness of the 24th , " Sciota " got underway with the fleet and dashed up river past the forts . After New Orleans , Louisiana , surrendered , " Sciota " operated up the river with Farragut . She attacked and passed the Confederate forts at Vicksburg , Mississippi on 28 June when Farragut raced by that riverside stronghold to join Flag Officer Charles H . Davis ' Western flotilla . Since the Army was unable to provide the troops necessary for joint operations against Vicksburg , Farragut decided to return down river to turn his attention to the blockade in the western gulf . " Sciota " again ran the gauntlet past the Southern batteries . The gunboat continued operations on the Mississippi below Vicksburg for much of the remainder of the year . She engaged Southern batteries at Donaldsonville , Louisiana , on 4 October . Gulf of Mexico operations . On 3 January 1863 , Farragut ordered gunboats , " Sciota " , " Cayuga " , and " Hatteras " to Galveston , Texas which had just been captured by the South in a surprise attack shortly after midnight on New Year ' s Day . On the 10th , Commodore Bell , in " Brooklyn " led an attack by " Sciota " , " Owasco " , and " Katahdin " on the Confederate batteries at Galveston . They learned that the Southern guns were capable of firing past the Union squadron - more than two and one - half miles . After the engagement , " Sciota " continued to operate in the Gulf of Mexico , bolstering the still leaky blockade in the area . On 14 July , she collided with the Union steamer , " Antona " , in the Mississippi River about eight miles above Quarantine and sank . However , she was raised late in August and taken to New Orleans to be refitted . Returned to operations after having been sunk . The ship returned to blockade duty off the Texas coast early in December . On the last day of 1863 , she and " Granite City " made a reconnaissance from Pass Cavallo , and landed soldiers on the gulf shore of Matagorda Peninsula in action continuing through 1 January 1864 . While " Granite City " covered the troops ashore from attacks by Confederate cavalry , " Sciota " reconnoitered the mouth of the Brazos River . Returning to the landing area , " Sciota " anchored close to the beach and shelled Confederate positions . " Granite City " steamed down to Pass Cavallo to call up " Monogahela " , " Penobscot " , and " Estrella " to assist . Confederate gunboat , " John F . Carr " , closed and fired on the Union troops , but was driven ashore by a severe gale and destroyed by fire . The Union troops were withdrawn on board ship . Reporting on the operation , Lt . Col . Frank S . Hasseltine wrote : On 21 January 1864 , " Sciota " and " Granite City " joined several hundred troops in a reconnaissance of the Texas coast . They covered the troops at Smith ' s Landing , Texas , and the subsequent foray down the Matagorda Peninsula . On 4 April , " Sciota " captured schooner , " Mary Sorly " , attempting to run the blockade at Galveston with a cargo of cotton . She had previously been United States Revenue Cutter , " Dodge " , seized by the Confederates at Galveston at the war ' s outbreak . " Sciota " continued operations on the Texas coast through the summer . On 13 September , she came across a large quantity of cotton afloat at sea , picked up 83 bales , and sent them to New Orleans , Louisiana . On 27 October , she captured Prussion schooner , " Pancha Larispa " , attempting to run through the blockade into either Velasco or San Luis Pass , Texas . The next day , she took " Cora Smyser " while that British schooner vainly attempted the same feat . Sunk while clearing mines . In November , " Sciota " was ordered to Pensacola , Florida for repairs . In January 1865 , she steamed to Mobile Bay to help clear torpedoes from the waters there . On 14 April , the day of President Abraham Lincoln ' s assassination , she struck a torpedo and sank off Mobile , Alabama . Her commanding officer , Acting Lieutenant James W . Magune , reported : Hulk raised and sold . Early in July , she was raised . Her hulk was sold at public auction at New York City on 25 October 1865 .