USS De Soto ( 1859 ) USS " De Soto " was a fast wooden - hulled sidewheel steamship that saw service as a U . S . Navy gunboat during the American Civil War . " De Soto " was originally a privately owned vessel , built for passenger service between New York and New Orleans . With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 , she was purchased by the Navy , commissioned as USS " De Soto " , and sent to assist with the blockade of Confederate ports . " De Soto " s speed made her an effective pursuit ship , and she would capture or bring about the destruction of a total of eighteen blockade runner s during the war . In the postwar period , " De Soto " continued to serve with the Navy , mostly in South American waters , until resold to her original owners in 1868 for resumption of service as a passenger ship . She caught fire and was burned to the waterline in December 1870 . Construction and design . " De Soto " was built by Lawrence & Foulks of Brooklyn , New York in 1859 for Livingston , Crocheron & Co . , which ran a line of passenger steamships between New York and New Orleans . At 1 , 675 tons and in length , " De Soto " was quite a large steamer for her time , and considered a fine example of her type . She was named after Hernando De Soto , a Spanish explorer and conquistador . " De Soto " was powered by a cylinder , stroke vertical beam engine , built by the Morgan Iron Works of New York . The engine , which drove a pair of 30 - foot sidewheels , was capable of delivering up to 14 mph ( 12 knots ) — a good speed for the time , which would soon make " De Soto " a favorite with the travelling public and which would later prove invaluable for pursuing blockade runner s during the Civil War . The ship had a single , raked smokestack forward of the engine , and two masts , one fore and one aft — the fore mast square rigged — to provide auxiliary sail power . Commercial service , 1859 – 61 . " De Soto " appears to have entered service in August 1859 , carrying mail , passengers and specie between New York and New Orleans , with an intermediate stop at Havana , Cuba . She would maintain a regular service on this route , making a round trip about once a month , until shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 . The ship made a fast passage of less than four days from Havana to New York in April 1860 , at an average speed of around 14 mph . By this time she had already earned a reputation as a " fast and popular steamship " . Another fast run , again at an average speed of about 14 mph , was made in June following . In addition to her passengers and cargo , " De Soto " also acted as a conduit for news between Cuba and the United States . Most of the news conveyed by " De Soto " was of a mundane character — for example , reports of activity on the Havana sugar market — but sometimes it was of more interest . In October 1860 for instance , " De Soto " reported the interception at Sierra Morena , Cuba of an illegal slave ship carrying 800 African slaves . The captain and crew of the slave ship were detained by local authorities , but about 400 of the slaves had already been dispersed ashore and could not be retrieved . " De Soto " became one of the last steamships to engage in trade between the North and the breakaway Southern states when she departed New York for New Orleans on 23 April 1861 , eleven days after the outbreak of the Civil War . The Confederacy however missed the opportunity to seize the vessel , and she returned safely to New York . On 6 May , " De Soto " departed New York for Havana once again , but on this occasion it was " not considered prudent " for the ship to continue on to New Orleans . " De Soto " made one further voyage to Havana in June . On 21 August 1861 , she was purchased for the sum of $ 161 , 250 by the U . S . Navy for conversion into a gunboat . American Civil War , 1861 – 65 . Gulf Blockading Squadron . At the New York Navy Yard , " De Soto " was fitted out for naval service , including the installation of a battery consisting of one 30 - pounder Parrott rifle and eight 32 - pound guns . She was then commissioned as USS " De Soto " , with Commander William M . Walker placed in command . The steamer put to sea on 19 November with ordnance stores for Fort Pickens , Florida , and vessels in the Gulf of Mexico , arriving off Southwest Pass , Mississippi River , after 11 December . Joining the Gulf Blockading Squadron at that time , " De Soto " patrolled for Confederate blockade runners near Barataria Bay . Given the sometimes light winds of the Gulf and inshore waters , the vessel ' s shallow draft and steam power gave " De Soto " an advantage over her mainly sail - powered prey . Cmdr . Walker ' s first month in the region began poorly , however , when his ship collided with the French war steamer " Milan " , then adrift off South West Pass , Mississippi River . Although damage to " De Soto " was slight , the " Milan " was disabled and thus needed a tow into the Union anchorage . In spite of this initial mishap , " De Soto " s first capture did not take long , as she and a bluejacket - crewed lugger took schooner " Major Barbour " off Isles Dernières , Louisiana on 28 January 1862 . Cmdr . Walker ' s crew discovered 8 barrels of gunpowder and 198 cases of gunpowder , nitrate s , sulfur , and percussion caps in the blockade runner . On 8 February , the steamer caught the small schooner " Star " out of Bayou Lafourche , taking her four - man crew prisoner . Western Blockading Squadron . Upon Rear Admiral David G . Farragut ' s arrival at Key West , Florida , in steam sloop - of - war in late February , the Gulf Blockading Squadron was split into parts , the Eastern and Western Gulf Blockading Squadrons . " De Soto " came under the command of the Western Blockading Squadron at that time , although she did not change her patrol station at Barataria , Louisiana . As the steamer continued blockade operations through the spring , " De Soto " also served as a mobile storeship , carrying extra bread and ordnance supplies . She remained there until early July , when she made a quick run up the Mississippi River , carrying letters and passengers to the warships participating in the siege of Vicksburg , Mississippi . Returning down river , " De Soto " sailed southeast along the coast of Texas , patrolling off Sabine Pass , the Brazos River and Brazos Santiago at the mouth of the Rio Grande . Repair and refit . Three months of hot weather and lack of maintenance facilities took a toll on " De Soto ' s " boilers and she returned to New Orleans , Louisiana , for temporary repairs in early October . A backlog of work and lack of funds forced Rear Adm . David Farragut to send " De Soto " north , however , and the steamer arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard only on 18 November . Two months of repair work followed , during which time Cmdr . Walker was promoted to Captain . At this time , " De Soto " s battery was also changed , to one Dahlgren , one 30 - pounder Parrot rifle , six 32 - pound rifles and two 12 - pound smoothbore s . " De Soto " stood down the Delaware River on 3 February 1863 and , after stops at Havana , Cuba and Santo Domingo , arrived back at Key West , Florida on the 15th . Eastern Gulf Blockade . Assigned to the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron under Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey , " De Soto " spent March and April fruitlessly cruising for CSS " Alabama " in the Gulf of Mexico . As one of the few fast steamers in Bailey ' s command , " De Soto " possessed a speed advantage over most of her blockade running prey . This was demonstrated on 24 April , when " De Soto " sailors boarded and seized two sloops , " Jane Adelie " and " Bright " , sixteen hours out of Mobile , Alabama , and each laden with cotton . Two schooners , " General Prim " and " Rapid " , were then taken the very next day , and they too carried cotton . All four prizes were sent to Key West for adjudication . On 27 April , " De Soto " continued the run of good luck , seizing the British schooner " Clarita " en route from Havana , Cuba to Matamoras . Patrolling north and west of the Tortugas , the warship then captured the schooner " Sea Bird " on 14 May . Three days later , " De Soto " pursued the smoke of an unknown steamer and , after an 18 - hour chase , forced her to stop in open water well south of Mobile Bay . Before " De Soto ' s " boats could board , however , the enemy steamer ' s crew set fires and abandoned ship , sinking what turned out to be Confederate steamer " Cuba " beneath the waves . " De Soto " continued her fast pace of operations the next day , capturing schooner " Mississippian " on 19 May before finally returning to Key West for repairs . Returning to sea in mid - June , " De Soto ' s " luck held and she captured schooner " Lady Maria " north of Tampa Bay on 6 July , laden with 104 bales of cotton . On the 18th , while cruising near Mobile Bay , " De Soto " spotted a steamer and closed and took the steamer " James Battle " , laden with rosin and cotton . At that point , two screw steamers from the West Gulf Blockading Squadron , and , closed with some disappointment , as they had been chasing the blockade runner . Later that same evening , as " De Soto " and " Ossipee " independently chased a second steamer , Capt . Walker closed and took " William Bagley " before the other Union ship could do so . Those actions by " De Soto " , which put Capt . Jonathan P . Gillis of the " Ossipee " in mind of " a voracious aquatic bird " , led to a dispute over prize claims . The controversy was resolved later in the month when Rear Admiral Bailey and Rear Admiral David G . Farragut , commander of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron , agreed to split prize shares . " De Soto " continued her patrols in the Gulf of Mexico into the month of August , braving the sweltering heat to board and inspect coastal and seaborne traffic . The steamer " Alice Vivian " was seized on 16 August , as she had no papers , and the steamer " Nita " was taken the next day for the same reason . During this month , wear and tear on the steamer ' s boilers began to show and , despite attempts at repair , " De Soto " steadily lost speed . On 12 September , following a nine - hour chase under steam and sail , the Union ship finally took the blockade runner " Montgomery " , a chase Capt . Walker claimed should have taken one fourth the time if the boilers were in good order . Tinkering helped build up steam pressure to a point , and " De Soto " managed to chase down the screw steamer " Leviathan " on 22 September . Returning to Key West in late October , " De Soto " received minor repairs and re - coaled . Capt . Walker was relieved of command in early November by Capt . Gustavus H . Scott , before spending the next six weeks patrolling off N . E . Providence Channel . After coaling at Key West in early January 1864 , " De Soto " patrolled off Mobile Bay , where she chased and captured steamer " Cumberland " on 5 February . The " Anglo - rebel " steamer had loaded arms , ammunition and 100 barrels of gunpowder at Havana in late 1863 and was trying to slip into Mobile when taken . " De Soto " proceeded to Havana in late February , for dry docking and repairs to her hull , before taking up a patrol station off the east coast of Florida in mid - March . A month later , she was back in Key West for coaling and repairs before returning to her familiar hunting grounds southeast of Mobile Bay . Yellow fever outbreak . Sometime in April or May , " De Soto ' s " crew began coming down with yellow fever and the steamer was sent north in early June , arriving at Portsmouth , New Hampshire , on 16 June . As per normal practice , the warship was decommissioned that same day and the crew quarantined until the fever burned out . On 12 January 1865 , " De Soto " was sent to Baltimore , Maryland for the installation of new boilers . She was still there when the war ended on 9 April 1865 . Postwar naval service , 1865 – 68 . North Atlantic Squadron . " De Soto " was recommissioned at Baltimore on 12 August 1865 , with Captain Walker placed back in command . The steamer stood out for Norfolk , Virginia , on 7 September and joined the newly organized North Atlantic Squadron , whose cruising ground covered the Atlantic Ocean south to the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico . Haiti rebellion . At this time , " revolutionists " in Haiti were fighting the government of President Geffrard from a base at Cap - Haïtien , and " De Soto " steamed to that port to safeguard Americans residing in that area . On 19 October , following a confrontation between the rebel steamer " Providence " and HMS " Bulldog " , revolutionaries in the port seized refugees out of the British Consulate , which was viewed as a " gross outrage against the British flag . " On 23 October , despite Capt . Walker ' s attempts at mediation , HMS " Bulldog " attacked both the fort guarding the harbor and batteries in town . While so doing , the Royal Navy steamer ran hard aground inside the harbor . She continued to fire , however , and her cannon sank " Providence " and destroyed many buildings ashore . Being in cold iron , " De Soto " could not immediately move , but Capt . Walker did send his boats ashore to take off foreigners . A short while later , Captain Wake in HMS " Bulldog " asked for towing assistance , which Capt . Walker denied , though " De Soto ' s " boats did take off the sick and wounded . Following a boiler explosion , and unable to get off the reef , the British blew up their warship and withdrew from the harbor in their boats . " De Soto " withdrew the next day as well , carrying the wounded British sailors to Jamaica before putting into Port - au - Prince , to debark the many foreign refugees picked up at Cape Haiten . After consultations with the American Consul , Capt . Walker took " De Soto " back to Cap - Haïtien on 7 November . There , he negotiated with a British squadron under Captain Macguire in HMS " Galatea " in the hopes of averting a retaliatory bombardment of the town , particularly as the Americans feared such an act would provoke widespread unrest and attacks on foreigners throughout Haiti . These talks failed and on 9 November , the British squadron bombarded the town in conjunction with an attack by President Geffrard ' s forces . With the defensive works destroyed and the town falling to government forces , the rebel leaders took refuge on " De Soto " . Capt . Walker then carried them to Monte Christo in the Dominican Republic . " De Soto " returned to Cape Haiten to keep an eye on events until 13 December when she sailed for home , arriving in Hampton Roads on 19 December . Later South American service . Three days later , " De Soto " stood up the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River to the Washington Navy Yard , where she picked up letters for the West Indies . Steaming south on 1 January 1866 , the warship stopped at Santo Domingo , Port - au - Prince and Havana before returning to Washington , D . C . , on the 28th . She remained there until 19 March when she proceeded down river and into the Bay , reaching Hampton Roads on the 23d . On 10 April the warship was placed under the command of Captain Charles S . Boggs . As the revolutionary disturbances in , and friction between , Haiti and the Dominican Republic continued apace , " De Soto " returned to the West Indies in June , arriving at Port - au - Prince on the 19th . The steamer also patrolled in the Gulf of Mexico , with an eye on the unsettled conditions in Mexico , where a guerrilla war raged against the French occupation of the country . " De Soto " remained in the region through the rest of the year before returning to Hampton Roads in the spring of 1867 . Earthquake and tsunami . Following a repair period at the Norfolk Navy Yard , " De Soto " conducted a cruise to New Orleans in May and June , putting in at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 21 June . She stood down on the Delaware River five weeks later , this time sailing to Mexico . Off Vera Cruz , Mexico , on 17 September , the steamer watched the last of the French occupation end before sailing to Pensacola , Florida , for repairs in mid - October . " De Soto " proceeded south along the Florida coast on 22 October , stopping at Tampa Bay and Key West before arriving at St . Thomas , Virgin Islands , on 17 November . The ship , in company with sidewheel steamer and screw sloop - of - war , was there as part of Secretary of State William H . Seward ' s plan to purchase the Danish West Indies . The day after " De Soto " s arrival , however , a magnitude 7 . 5 earthquake struck the region and a tsunami swept the steamer from her moorings and threw the ship onto a wharf . Luckily , the next wave lifted the ship and carried her back to deep water . With her bottom damaged and leaking badly , " De Soto " s sailors and carpenters spent the next ten days pumping water and repairing the hull . On 5 December , the steamer sailed north with the Danish Commissioner on board and the ship arrived at Norfolk , Virginia , on the 17th . Final naval mission . After completing more substantial repairs over the winter , " De Soto " sailed to Venezuela on 3 March 1868 , to secure the release of crewmen from the whaling schooner " Hannah Grant " , who had been captured on the peninsula of Paraguano . At Curaçao , Capt . Boggs learned that the crew had already been released , but he remained in Venezuelan waters in support of the American minister during interviews with the Venezuelan vice - president and other officials of the Republic . " De Soto " steamed to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 28 August , and then proceeded to the New York Navy Yard in early September . There she was decommissioned on 11 September 1868 . Return to commercial service , 1868 – 70 . On 30 September 1868 , " De Soto " was resold to her original owners , now known as Livingston , Fox & Co . After a thorough reconditioning , she was returned to service as a commercial steamship , operating on her old route between New York and New Orleans with a port of call at Havana . She maintained a monthly service on this route for another two years . On 25 December 1870 , " De Soto " cleared New Orleans for New York but collided with a towboat and was forced to return to dock for repairs . On 31 December , she set out for New York again , with a cargo of 988 bales of cotton , 200 hogsheads of sugar , 1000 barrels of molasses and sundries . After travelling only 27 miles , a fire broke out onboard and the steamer was beached at McCalls Flat , where she burned to the waterline . The ship and cargo , with a combined value of $ 250 , 000 , were deemed " almost a total loss " .