USS Valley City ( 1859 ) USS " Valley City " ( 1859 ) was a 190 - ton steamer acquired by the Union Navy for service in the American Civil War . " Valley City " was outfitted as a gunship and served blockade duty as well as performing surveillance duty . Constructed at Philadelphia in 1859 . " Valley City " — a wooden - hulled screw - steamer built at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , in 1859 — was purchased by the Union Navy at New York City on 26 July 1861 ; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 13 September 1861 , Lt . James C . Chaplin in command . Civil War operations . Assigned to the Potomac Flotilla . The next day , " Valley City " left New York to join the Potomac Flotilla commanded by Capt . Thomas T . Craven . She arrived in the Potomac River off Occoquan Creek , Virginia , on the 17th and began patrol and reconnaissance duties . She exchanged gunfire with a Confederate battery at Freestone Point , Virginia , on 25 September . Reassigned to the North Atlantic Blockade . " Valley City " was reassigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Flag Officer Louis M . Goldsborough in October but first put into the Baltimore Navy Yard , Maryland , for emergency repairs to her funnel . After a brief stop in Hampton Roads late in December , the repaired steamer was deployed with the blockade off Hatteras Inlet , North Carolina , on 4 January 1862 . " Valley City " remained off Hatteras Inlet for one month and then participated in the successful amphibious assault upon Roanoke Island , North Carolina , on 7 and 8 February . The victory closed supply lines to the Confederate - held Norfolk Navy Yard and was largely responsible for the evacuation of that vital naval facility three months later . Following the capture of Roanoke Island , " Valley City " assisted in the capture of Elizabeth City , North Carolina , on the 10th . Gunner awarded Medal of Honor for sitting on an open barrel of gunpowder during a fire . During the attack , a shot passed through the steamer ' s magazine and exploded in a locker containing fireworks . When Lt . Chaplin and others went below to extinguish the fire , they found Quarter Gunner John Davis seated calmly above an open barrel of powder to keep the fire out , while passing powder to the upper deck . For his incredible valor on this occasion , Davis received the Medal of Honor . " Valley City " remained in the North Carolina sounds and participated in the capture of New Berne on 13 and 14 March and the subsequent clearing of the Neuse River . She returned to Baltimore , Maryland , for repairs on 2 June . Patrol and reconnaissance duties . In September , " Valley City " was assigned patrol and reconnaissance duty in Virginia ' s York River . She was reassigned to Plymouth , North Carolina , on 25 October to protect Union troops stationed there . On the evening of 2 November , she led a reconnaissance expedition up the Roanoke River to Hamilton which she left a week later and returned to New Berne . In January 1863 , the vessel returned to the Norfolk Navy Yard for a new propeller and underwent further repairs and alterations at Baltimore , Maryland , before deploying off Washington , D . C . , in April . " Valley City " fired upon Confederate positions near Blounts Creek , North Carolina , on 15 April , then left to join Lt . Charles W . Flusser ' s command at Plymouth on 19 April . " Valley City " performed routine patrol and reconnaissance duties off Plymouth through July . On the 26th , the steamer helped to protect Union forces ashore during a joint expedition up the Chowan River , North Carolina . Later , while serving as a mail steamer , the vessel collided with the U . S . transport " Vidette " on 21 September and suffered one fatality . " Valley City " sailed for Hampton Roads on 27 November and proceeded on to Baltimore for repairs and did not return to New Berne until 19 February 1864 , when she resumed her now familiar patrol and reconnaissance activities . Evacuation of Washington , D . C . . " Valley City " was present at the evacuation of Washington , D . C . , in May and captured the schooner " M . O ' Neill " there on 5 May . During the summer months of May through September 1864 , the steamer played an important role in support of Union forces ashore and afloat in scattered operations in the Roanoke , Chowan , Pamlico , Pungo , and Scuppernong rivers of North Carolina . On 28 October , " Valley City " plucked Lt . William Barker Cushing from the Roanoke River after his daring , successful torpedo attack upon the Confederate ram CSS Albemarle at Plymouth and , from 29 October to 1 November , assisted in the recapture of Plymouth itself . While on an expedition up the Roanoke River on 20 December , the vessel suffered two casualties in a surprise attack by hidden Confederate shore batteries at Poplar Point , North Carolina . End - of - war activity . " Valley City " remained active during the last few months of the war , rendering assistance to a Union Army expedition to Colerain , North Carolina , in January 1865 , and participating in a reconnaissance patrol up the Chowan River to Winton , North Carolina , in early April . In May , , " Valley City " , and a picket boat captured a motley collection of small Confederate watercraft during a sweep of the Roanoke River and also dragged the bottom for sunken guns and unexploded torpedoes ( mines ) . Decommissioning . Early in the summer , the steamer returned north and was sold at public auction at New York City on 15 August 1865 . She was redocumented for merchant service on 28 December and was lost at sea off Cape San Blas , Florida , on 30 January 1882 . Shipwreck . The shipwreck was identified in September 2009 by Michael C . Barnette and divers from the Association of Underwater Explorers .