USS Nansemond ( 1862 ) The first USS " Nansemond " , a side wheel steamer built at Williamsburg , N . Y . in 1862 , as " James F . Freeborn " , was purchased by the Union Navy at New York City on 18 August 1863 from Richard Squires ; it was renamed " Nansemond " and commissioned at Baltimore on 19 August , with Lieutenant Roswell H . Lamson in command . Civil War service . After joining the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Wilmington on 24 August 1863 , the sidewheeler chased blockade runner " Douro " ashore near New Inlet , North Carolina on 11 October , and destroyed her and her cargo of cotton , tobacco , turpentine , and rosin . had previously captured the steamer , but , after being condemned and sold , " Douro " had reverted to running Confederate contraband . However , after her encounter with " Nansemond " , " Douro " was " " . . . a perfect wreck . . . and past ever being bought and sold again . " " Squadron Commander Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee reported , " " Nansemond has done well off Wilmington . She discovered followed and destroyed ( sic . ) the " Douro " at night , the first instance of the kind , I believe . " " Ten days later four shots from " Nansemond " caused blockade running steamer " Venus " to take on water , forcing her ashore near the mouth of the Cape Fear River . After vainly trying to refloat her the next morning , Lt . Lamson set fire to the hulk . On the evening of 4 November , sighted blockade runner " Margaret and Jessie " and pursued her through the night . The next morning , " Nansemond " and Army transport " Fulton " — who had joined in the chase — captured the notorious runner at sea , east of Myrtle Beach , South Carolina . " Margaret and Jessie " had previously succeeded in running the blockade 15 times . On the evening of 6 May 1864 , steamed over the bar at New Inlet and attacked blockaders and " Nansemond " while a Confederate steamer raced to sea . The following morning , " Nansemond " , " Howquah " , , and repulsed a renewed attack by the Southern ram . " Raleigh " , while attempting to withdraw over the bar at the mouth of Cape Fear River , grounded , suffered severe damage and was destroyed by her Commander , Flag Officer William F . Lynch , to prevent her falling into Union hands . On 20 June , " Nansemond " and embarked Army troops for an expedition to New River , N . C . to cut the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad . However , word of the raid reached Confederate ears , and strong Southern defensive forces compelled the Union troops to withdraw under cover of the ships ' guns . The Union was determined , however , to have Wilmington . A joint Army - Navy attack on Fort Fisher — which protected the vital Southern port — was launched on Christmas Eve , only to be repulsed the next day by determined defenders . The Union struck again on 13 January 1865 and finally conquered the bitterly contested Confederate stronghold three days later . After supporting the Union ' s final drive on Richmond , " Nansemond " decommissioned at Washington Navy Yard on 8 August . She was transferred to the US Treasury Department on 22 August and served the Revenue Cutter Service as " W . H . Crawford " , operating primarily along the Atlantic coast from Baltimore to Key West . She was sold at Baltimore to Edward D . Booz on 24 April 1897 . References .