USS Bibb ( 1853 ) USS " Bibb " ( 1853 ) was a Coast Survey vessel that performed survey work during the American Civil War . In 1864 , when Washington , D . C . appeared under threat after Lt Gen . Jubal Early ’ s Confederate army crossed the Potomac River , " Bibb " was commandeered and armed by the Union Navy . Construction . " Bibb " was laid down for the Coast Survey at the Charlestown Navy Yard on 24 February 1853 , by a private contractor ; launched on 12 May 1853 ; and got underway on 11 August for her first cruise . The engines for this vessel came from the , built for the Revenue Cutter Service at Pittsburgh in 1845 , and transferred to the Coast Survey in 1847 , following blockade duty during the war with Mexico . ( Many sources , including the Coast Guard Historian ' s office , consider these the same vessel . ) " Bibb " spent her career before the Southern rebellion in the Atlantic , on apparently unremarkable duty . Civil War Service . First assignment to the South Atlantic Blockade . At the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 , " Bibb " was transferred to the U . S . Revenue Cutter Service , but returned to the Coast Survey in November . Assigned to the Coast Survey contingent attached to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron , " Bibb " steamed to Port Royal , South Carolina , and reported to the head of the former organization , Assistant Charles O . Boutelle , USCS , in January 1862 , relieving and freeing that vessel to proceed north for repairs . " Bibb " served the Union cause in many ways : surveying and buoying harbors and channels along the Atlantic coast of the Confederacy between South Carolina and Florida ; escorting transports ; towing and piloting gunboats ; carrying dispatches ; and performing any other duties that were of assistance to the Union Army and Navy . Her labors won her the most generous praise of the leaders of both services . Repairs and emergency duty . " Bibb " spent the first half of 1864 in the Washington Navy Yard undergoing repairs . As this work was being completed , Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A . Early crossed the Potomac River on a raid with a sizable force that endangered Washington , D . C . Seeking to help parry this threat to the Union capital , Commander Foxhall A . Parker took command of " Bibb " from the Coast Survey , armed her and ordered her to the Gunpowder River , where Southern troops had been seen . Commanded by Acting Ensign George E . McConnell , " Bibb " then ascended the Gunpowder but could not move closer than a point some five miles below Gunpowder Bridge ; " Bibb " never exchanged fire with Confederate troops . After the crisis had passed , Parker returned " Bibb " to the Coast Survey , and she operated out of the Washington Navy Yard through the end of 1864 . Second assignment to the South Atlantic Blockade . Early in 1865 , " Bibb " rejoined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron , and worked along the Southern coast through the end of the war . Sometime in 1865 , " Bibb " struck a mine , which caused minor damage . Post - war service . Following the collapse of the Confederacy , " Bibb " resumed peacetime service with the Coast Survey and was retired and decommissioned in 1879 .