USS Western World ( 1856 ) USS " Western World " ( 1856 ) was a ship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries . " Western World " — a screw steamer built in 1856 at Brooklyn , New York — was purchased by the Navy on 21 September 1861 at New York City from S . Schuyler ; and commissioned on 3 January 1862 at the New York Navy Yard , Acting Master Samuel B . Gregory in command . Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockade . On 2 January 1862 , " Western World " was ordered to Port Royal , South Carolina , to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . On the 26th , she participated in a major reconnaissance sweep of the Savannah River , Georgia , and its tributaries . The force included the gunboats and ; armed steamers , , and ; and transports " Cosmopolitan " , , and " Boston " carrying over 2 , 400 troops under the command of Brigadier General H . G . Wright . The Union flotilla repulsed an attack by five Confederate vessels on 28 January and the next day completed invaluable survey work . On 14 February 1862 , " Western World " and drove off four Confederate vessels which attempted to break the Union blockade of the Mud and Wright ' s Rivers , tributaries of the Savannah River . This restricted Confederate activity upon the Savannah River and protected the newly installed Federal battery at Venus Point . After remaining off the Savannah through May , " Western World " returned to Port Royal on 2 June . On the 6th , " Western World " called briefly at St . Johns River , Florida , to reprovision Union ships on blockade duty there . She immediately returned to Port Royal and was dispatched on the 10th to the blockade off Georgetown , South Carolina , commanded by Comdr . G . A . Prentiss on board . Setting fire to plantations and carrying away escaped slaves . On 25 June 1862 , " Western World " , " Andrew " , and " E . B . Hale " entered the North Santee River , South Carolina , intending to destroy an important railroad bridge inland . En route , parties from the warships set fire to several plantations and took over 400 slaves on board the steamers . During an expedition in Winyah Bay , South Carolina , " Western World " captured the British schooner " Volante " on 2 July . However , intense shore fire and the sharp , unnavigable bends of the river prompted Comdr . Prentiss to abandon the expedition the following day . On the 25th , " Western World " sailed for Port Royal carrying contraband . However , she soon left the squadron base for blockade duty off Doboy Sound , Georgia , which occupied the ship until the end of October when she sailed north to the New York Navy Yard for extensive overhaul . Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockade . " Western World " departed New York on 16 February 1863 and arrived at Newport News , Virginia , on 11 March for duty with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron . A week later , she towed to Baltimore , Maryland , for repairs . Structural problems forced " Western World " , herself , to the Philadelphia Navy Yard late in the month ; but she departed Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , on 1 April for Yorktown , Virginia , and blockade duty between the Piankatank River and Fort Monroe , Virginia . Operating in the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia coast waters . Through the spring and summer , " Western World " participated actively in operations along the Virginia coast and in the Chesapeake Bay . On 19 April , she and escorted transport units of the Army of the Potomac up the York as far as the Pamunkey River . Together with , she captured schooners " Martha Ann " and " A . Carson " off Horn Harbor , Virginia , on the 24th . With , she destroyed two abandoned schooner s in Milford Haven , Virginia , on 1 May 1863 . On the 27th , she captured two large sailboats , took two prisoners , and confiscated Confederate coin and currency in Stokes Creek , Virginia . On 13 June 1863 , " Western World " proceeded north to search for Confederate commerce raider " Tacony " . However , she lost her rudderhead during a storm and returned to the Norfolk Navy Yard for repairs on 17 June 1863 . Carrying 300 cavalry to Virginia . " Western World " was back in action within a week . Beginning on 23 June 1863 , with gunboats , , , " Smith Briggs " , and " Jesup " , she escorted and covered a troop landing at White House , Virginia . During the week - long operation , " Western World " brought up and landed nearly 300 cavalry . On 1 July 1863 , she was deployed in the Pamunkey River , " Virginia " . Late in the month , " Western World " returned to Hampton Roads where she picked up mail for delivery to blockade ships off Wilmington , North Carolina . On the voyage to North Carolina waters , she also carried 150 seamen to Beaufort , North Carolina , for blockade duty in the sounds . On 10 September 1863 , the worn - out vessel proceeded to the Washington Navy Yard for repairs . Reassigned to the Potomac Flotilla . Repairs completed , " Western World " was assigned on 2 February 1864 to the Second Division of the Potomac Flotilla but , a week later , was transferred to the First Division and assigned to patrol duty from Piankatank River to Blakistone Island . However , the ship returned to the Washington Navy Yard on 1 April for more repairs and remained there until early November . Reassigned to the North Atlantic Blockade . " Western World " was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron on 10 November 1864 . She patrolled the Virginia coast between the Nansemond River and Lawn ' s Creek and , on 15 December 1864 , helped to refloat the grounded monitor . On 5 March 1865 , she arrived in the Rappahannock River to support the Army of the Potomac in operations against Fredericksburg , Virginia . Later transferred to White House , Virginia , she sailed on 21 March for St . Inigoes , Maryland , and duty in the Potomac Flotilla . " Western World " was deployed in Virginia ' s Mobjack Bay on 6 April and , on 5 May , proceeded to the Washington Navy Yard . Post - war decommissioning and sale . She was decommissioned there on 26 May 1865 and was sold at public auction on 24 June 1865 to H . R . Hazelhurst .