USS Onward ( 1852 ) The first USS " Onward " was a clipper in the Union Navy . " Onward " was launched 3 July 1852 by James O . Curtis at Medford , Massachusetts , for Reed , Wade , and Co . , of Boston , Massachusetts , and operated in the merchant service between New York City , Boston , and San Francisco . Purchased by the U . S . Navy at New York City from John Ogden on 9 September 1861 , for service in the American Civil War , " Onward " commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 11 January 1862 , Acting Volunteer Lieutenant J . Frederick Nickels in command . Construction . " Her lines were convex ; for a figurehead she had the Goddess of Liberty robed in the American ensign , the right hand pointing forward , the left , grasping the emblems of harvest , one foot rested on a carved representation of the globe . The stern was curvilinear , ornamented with an American Indian , surrounded with gilt work . Under the name and hailing port , the words ' According to law ' appeared in carved , white letters . " Overseeing her construction was her first commander , Captain Jesse G . Cotting . Voyages as California clipper . Boston to S . F . , under Capt . Cotting , 120 days , arrived 1 December 1852 . New York to S . F . , under Capt . Thomas F . Wade , 150 or 151 days , arrived 25 January 1854 . " She was followed closely by the " Ocean Pearl " , " Kingfisher " , " Bald Eagle " , " Courier " , and " Pampero " . . . The " Kingfisher " under Crosby and the " Bald Eagle " , in command of Caldwell , had sailed a notable race . . . They fought it out almost jibboom to jibboom for 17 , 000 miles and entered San Francisco almost within hailing distance of each other . " New York to S . F . , under Capt . Luce , 158 days , arrived 15 October 1856 . On this passage she spent 26 days rounding the Horn , encountering 18 days of hurricane - force winds , damaging the deck house and rigging ; and 20 days of almost dead calm after crossing the Equator in the Pacific . Her passage from San Francisco to Singapore , of 43 days , arriving 15 Dec 1856 , under Capt . E . A . Luce . , was stated to be a record , according to the 23 Dec 1856 " Singapore Times . " Homeward passages , Honolulu to New York , 113 days . Shanghai to London , 89 days from Anjer . Melbourne to London in 114 days from Calcutta . Shanghai to New York in 115 days , arriving 21 June 1861 Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockade . Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron , " Onward " arrived at Port Royal , South Carolina on 28 January , and operated along the coasts of Georgia and Florida before taking station off Charleston . On 12 March , with four other Union ships , she captured blockade runner " Emily St . Pierre " of Charleston attempting to slip into Charleston Harbor laden with gunny cloth from Calcutta , India needed for baling Southern cotton . On 26 April , she forced schooner " Chase " aground on Raccoon Key near Cape Romain , South Carolina , and destroyed her . She drove schooner " Sarah " aground at Bull ' s Bay , South Carolina , where she was destroyed by her own crew to prevent capture on 1 May . Twelve days later off Charleston , she accepted from Robert Smalls , an escaped slave , who had slipped out of Charleston Harbor with the Confederate steamer while her officers were ashore . Searching for Confederate blockade runners . In September , " Onward " sailed north for repairs and , when back in fighting trim , she sailed on 30 March 1863 for the South Atlantic and was used for the rest of the war as a cruiser on the high seas hunting Confederate commerce raiders . In May , " Onward " and cornered Confederate tenders " Agrippina " and " Castor " which supplied coal , gunpowder , and provisions for Southern raiders and " Georgia " , in Bahia , Brazil and hemmed them in port until they were forced to sell their fuel and munitions to obtain clearance from port . This delay prevented the tenders from fulfilling their mission . Post - war decommissioning and sale . After the war ended , " Onward " decommissioned at New York City on 20 June 1865 . She recommissioned on 5 September and was used as a storeship at Callao , Peru until decommissioned on 13 November 1884 , and was sold there .