USS Samuel Rotan ( 1861 ) USS " Samuel Rotan " was a schooner acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries . Purchased at Philadelphia in 1861 . " Samuel Rotan " , a wooden , center - board schooner , was purchased by the Navy at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , on 21 September 1861 , was fitted out as a gunboat at the Philadelphia Navy Yard ; and commissioned there on 12 November 1861 , Acting Master John A . Rogers in command . Civil War service . Assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron . Assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron , the schooner arrived off Fort Pickens , Florida , on 16 December 1861 . After a reconnaissance voyage to the Texas coast , she performed blockade duty off the Mississippi River passes ; and , on 23 January 1862 , captured Confederate privateer , " Calhoun " , in East Bay , formed by the Southwest - Pass and Grand - Pass fingers of the Mississippi delta . The prize had been attempting to slip into the Southwest Pass laden with over 25 tons of gunpowder , rifles , chemicals , coffee , and other assorted cargo needed by the Confederacy . Since " Calhoun " was not deemed able to make the voyage north during the stormy winter months , her papers and cargo were transferred to " Samuel Rotan " which sailed from Ship Island , Mississippi , in mid - February and carried them north for adjudication in the Philadelphia Prize Court . Reassigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron . Meanwhile , on 20 January 1862 , Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles , on splitting naval jurisdiction in the Gulf of Mexico between Flag Officers McKean and David Farragut , had given " Samuel Rotan " to the former for service in the East Gulf Blockading Squadron . The schooner joined her squadron at Key West , Florida , in April and , into the autumn , blockaded the Florida coast , primarily off St . Andrews Bay . Badly in need of repairs , she sailed north in November for work in the Philadelphia Navy Yard . North Atlantic Blockade duty . In January 1863 , " Samuel Rotan " joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and was ordered to the York River for blockade duty . On the morning of 24 April , she and captured schooners , " Martha Ann " and " A . Carson " , off Horn Harbor . On 2 July , she took 35 - ton schooner , " Champion " , off the mouth of the Piankatank River . On the 27th , her picket boat seized a canoe which had run the blockade from the Severn River , Virginia , laden with corn , chickens , and eggs . On 10 October , her picket boat chased a yawl standing up the beach of Horn Harbor , Virginia . Its occupants jumped overboard and fled to the beach . Then the Southerners fired upon the Union sailors who came up and took possession of the little prize and its cargo of salt . Soon thereafter , the schooner ' s need for repairs became serious , and she proceeded to the Norfolk Navy Yard for the work . Late in January 1864 , she was back on blockade duty off the west coast of Chesapeake Bay , and she continued this duty into the autumn . Then she was transferred to the James River to help support General U . S . Grant ' s operations against Richmond , Virginia . Early in December 1864 , she was back off the York River and served in that area into the spring of 1865 . End - of - war decommissioning and sale . In April , she sailed north for inactivation ; and she was decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 10 June 1865 . The schooner was sold there on 15 August 1865 to a Mr . Stannard .