USS Bloomer ( 1856 ) USS " Bloomer " ( 1856 ) was a stern - wheel steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat with orders to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries . An unofficial acquisition of a stern - wheeled steamer . " Bloomer " — a stern - wheel steamer built in 1856 at New Albany , Indiana — was laid up at the outbreak of the Civil War in the Choctawhatchee River in Alabama , about a mile south of Geneva , Alabama , by her owner , a loyal Union man . On 27 December 1862 , a joint expedition composed of officers and men of " Potomac " and troops of the 91st New York State Volunteers , led by Lieutenant James H . Stewart took possession of her and delivered her to the Pensacola Navy Yard where she was repaired and armed . A small crew was placed on board and , on 24 January 1863 , Acting Ensign Edwin Crissey assumed command . The ship was put in operation without being sent to an admiralty court to be libelled . Civil War service . Destroying 380 salt works and the town of St . Andrews . Although she spent most of her naval career operating in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron , her most notable service occurred in December 1863 during a brief tour of duty with the East Gulf Blockading Squadron . This operation in St . Andrew ' s Bay , Florida — in which she was assisted by her tender , the sloop " Caroline " , and the bark " Restless " — resulted in the destruction of 380 different salt works and of much of the town of St . Andrew ' s . Her commanding officer received high praise for " Bloomer ' s " part in the successful accomplishment of this mission . " Bloomer " finally acquired officially by the Union Navy . Near the very end of 1863 , " Bloomer " was at last ordered to the prize court of New Orleans , Louisiana , to be libelled . The final decree in the case , rendered on 4 January 1865 , declared this was not a case of " prize " but of " salvage . " Early in 1865 , she was finally purchased by the United States Navy and continued on duty on the coast of Florida in the vicinity of Pensacola , Florida . " Bloomer " sinks , is raised , and is sold into commercial service . In June 1865 she sank in East Pass , Santa Rosa Island , Florida . After the wreck was raised , it was sold on 22 September 1865 to S . P . Griffin & Co . , of Woolsey , Florida . Redocumented as " Emma " on 5 April 1866 , the vessel served a private owner until 1868 when she was sold to a foreign purchaser and disappeared from American shipping records . References . See Also , " A Federal Raid into Southeast Alabama " Allen W . Jones , Alabama Review , October , 1961 . Bloomer was a 130 ton sidewheeler Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion , Series II , Volume 1 , page 46 . For Elias Bruner ' s version of the raid , see : Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion . / Series I - Volume 19 : West Gulf Blockading Squadron ( 15 July 1862 - 14 March 1863 ) pages 424 - 429 . http : / / cdl . library . cornell . edu / cgi - bin / moa / pageviewer ? frames = 1 & coll = moa & view = 50 & root = % 2Fmoa % 2Fofre % 2Fofre0019 % 2F & tif = 00448 . TIF & cite = http % 3A % 2F % 2Fcdl . library . cornell . edu % 2Fcgi - bin % 2Fmoa % To see Acting Assistant Engineer , 3rd Class Thomas G . Jones in command of Bloomer on 15 January 1865 , see : Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion , Series I - Volume 22 : West Gulf Blocking Squadron ( 1 January 1865 - January 31 , 1866 ) , page 12 http : / / cdl . library . cornell . edu / cgi - bin / moa / pageviewer ? frames = 1 & coll = moa & view = 50 & root = % 2Fmoa % 2Fofre % 2Fofre0022 % 2F & tif = 00034 . TIF & cite = http % 3A % 2F % 2Fcdl . library . cornell . edu % 2Fcgi - bin % 2Fmoa % 2Fmoa - cgi % 3Fnotisid % 3DANU4547 - 0022 Curiously , the above shows Bloomer as a stern wheeler . Narrative of Destruction of Salt works : Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion . / Series I - Volume 17 : Gulf Blockading Squadron ( 16 December 1861 - 21 February 1862 ) ; East Gulf Blockading Squadron ( 22 December 1862 - 17 July 1865 ) , pages 593 - 601 http : / / cdl . library . cornell . edu / cgi - bin / moa / pageviewer ? frames = 1 & cite = http % 3A % 2F % 2Fcdl . library . cornell . edu % 2Fcgi - bin % 2Fmoa % 2Fmoa - cgi % 3Fnotisid % 3DANU4547 - 0017 & coll = moa & view = 50 & root = % 2Fmoa % 2Fofre % 2Fofre0017 % 2F & tif = 00632 . TIF & pagenum = 593