USS Ariel ( 1862 ) USS " Ariel " ( 1862 ) was a captured Confederate schooner acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War . She was put into service by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries . From blockade runner to Union Navy schooner . Early in the Civil War — a small , privately owned schooner — worked out of Mobile , Alabama , under Confederate papers as a blockade runner . Few details of these operations have been found ; but we do know that , on the night of 11 October 1862 , she succeeded in slipping through the Federal blockade off Mobile Bay and sailed to Cuba laden with cotton . After arriving at Havana , Cuba , six days later , she delivered her cargo and filled up with lead , tin , medicine , wine , coffee , and other items needed by the South . On the evening of 14 November , as she was attempting to return to Mobile , " Ariel " was detected and captured by the Union screw steamer " Huntsville " . Sent to Key West , Florida , for adjudication , the schooner was eventually condemned as a lawful prize and was purchased by the Union Navy from the Key West prize court on 24 July 1863 . Assigned as a tender to the East Gulf Blockade . However , long before her formal acquisition , " Ariel " was fitted out for service in the East Gulf Blockading Squadron . On 21 December 1862 , Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey detached Acting Master ' s Mate William C . Molloy from the recently arrived bark " Gem of the Sea " and ordered him to assume command of the schooner ; and she began service as a tender to the squadron flagship , the frigate " St . Lawrence " . For the remainder of her service in the Union Navy — some two and one - half years — she spent most of her time acting as a tender to a larger warship , often the flagship . Despite her small size , " Ariel " wins a few prizes . While carrying out the unglamorous , monotonous , but important tasks assigned to her as she labored in her ancillary capacity , " Ariel " managed to take three prizes . The first came on 6 January 1863 , As she was cruising off Key Biscayne Bay , Florida , about mid - afternoon , she " . . . saw a suspicious looking craft . . . " sailing close to shore and immediately changed course to investigate The stranger attempted to flee ; but , after a chase lasting over two and one - half hours , was overtaken and forced to heave to . The prize proved to be the sloop " Good Luck " , bound from New Smyrna , Florida , with a cargo of turpentine and cotton to be delivered to Nassau , New Providence Island , in the Bahamas . Her master , Edward Dexter , had already achieved considerable notoriety as a blockade runner . Since the sloop was leaky , " Ariel " towed her to Key West where she was turned over to the " prize court " . Her next score did not come until late in the year when she captured " Magnolia " on 16 December 1863 . When " Ariel " took that Confederate sloop , she was in the Gulf of Mexico , some 70 miles west of Charlotte Harbor , Florida , and heading for Mobile , Alabama , with medicines and liquor . Off the mouth of the Chassahowitzka River , Florida , on 28 May 1864 , two boats from " Ariel " captured " General Finegan " carrying cotton and turpentine from Crystal River , Florida , and heading for Havana . The cargo was removed and sent to Key West ; but , since she was leaking , the sloop was burned . Supporting Army operations . About this time , " Ariel " became active in supporting Army operations . In mid - April 1864 , she assisted troops which had been ordered to reinforce Fort Myers , Florida , and she continued to conduct similar operations through the ensuing summer . For instance , on the evening of 16 September , while " Ariel " was acting as a tender to screw steamer " Hendrick Hudson " , the schooner ' s commanding officer , Acting Master J . Russell , organized an expedition to a point near Tampa Bay , Florida , to take possession of a large amount of cotton owned by David Hope , a renowned skipper of southern blockade runners . What cotton the expedition could carry was sent to Key West and the rest was put to the torch . " Ariel ’ s " final days in the war before decommissioning . Thereafter , " Ariel " continued to serve along the Florida coast through the end of the Civil War . After the collapse of the Confederacy , she was sold at Key West on 28 June 1865 to a John Curry