USS R . R . Cuyler ( 1860 ) USS " R . R . Cuyler " was a steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War . She was outfitted by the Union Navy as a gunboat and was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America . She was named for the president of the Central Georgia Railroad . Built in New York in 1860 . " R . R . Cuyler " was built in 1860 by Samuel Sneeden of New York for H . B . Cromwell & Company , served on that company ' s New York , Havana , and New Orleans line until laid up in March 1861 at the start of the American Civil War . Then chartered by the War Department , she transported New York State militiamen to Washington , D . C . and returned to New York where she was acquired by the navy in May 1861 , although not formally purchased until August . Civil War service . Assigned to the Gulf blockade . In early June , " R . R . Cuyler " departed New York City under the command of Captain Francis B . Ellison . On the 9th , she arrived at Key West , Florida , whence she proceeded north for blockade duty off Tampa , Florida . Although plagued by the presence of among her crew , " R . R . Cuyler " participated in the capture and burning of " Finland " in Apalachicola Bay on 26 August . On 22 November , while operating near and in the Mississippi River , she intercepted and assisted in the capture of the steamers " A . J . View " and " Henry Lewis " . In December , the sloop s " Advocate " , " Express " , and " Osceola " and the schooner s " Delight " and " Olive " met a similar fate . On 20 January 1863 , off Mobile Bar , " R . R . Cuyler " seized the schooner " J . W . Wilder " . Two months later , she captured the schooner " Grace E . Baker " off Cuba , and on 3 May , the schooner " Jane " at sea . Stationed off Mobile Bay during May , " R . R . Cuyler " captured the steamer " Eugenie " and the schooners " Hunter " and " Isabel " . On 14 July , the steamer " Kate Dale " joined her list of prizes . After that capture , the gunboat was ordered to join in the search for the Confederate raider " Tallahassee " . While proceeding on that mission on 4 December , she stopped the steamer " Armstrong " and after a search revealed contraband cargo , seized the vessel . Reassigned to the North Atlantic blockade . " R . R . Cuyler " joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Wilmington , North Carolina , for duty through the close of the Civil War . She joined in attacks on Fort Fisher in the Cape Fear River 24 and 25 December 1864 , and participated in the capture of Fort Anderson nearby 18 and 19 February 1865 . Post - war sale and subsequent career . Following the end of the Civil War , " R . R . Cuyler " returned to New York City where she was decommissioned on 1 July 1865 and sold at auction on 15 August to Russel Sturgis of New York . In December 1866 , she was purchased by the Republic of Colombia and , after arrival at Cartagena , renamed " El Rayo " . She remained in Cartagena Harbor , the subject of a diplomatic dispute following a change of government , from February to September 1867 . In mid - September , she was blown from her moorings during a storm and grounded on a coral reef where she was abandoned . One of the 30 - pound cannon that was part of the battery on the USS R . R . Cuyler was presented to the town of Oyster Bay , New York by the U . S . Navy Department and unveiled by President Theodore Roosevelt in June 1903 . The cannon can be seen today in Townsend Park , Oyster Bay , New York .