USS Alpha ( 1864 ) USS " Alpha " ( 1864 ) was a side wheel Paddle steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . " Alpha " was used by the Union Navy as a tugboat – with a spar torpedo as a weapon — in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways . Civil War service . Concern over the dangers posed by CSS " Virginia " and " Albemarle " . " Alpha " – a screw tug built at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , in 1863 as " Fred Wheeler " – was one of six similar vessels purchased by the Union Navy at Philadelphia on 3 June 1864 to support its warships in widely varied ways and to help protect them and Army transports against surprise attacks by Confederate rams , torpedo boats , or other novel craft . Such raids had been a cause of great concern since the foray of the CSS " Virginia " into Hampton Roads , Virginia , on 8 March 1862 and the threat they posed had been underscored more recently by the Southern submarine H . L . Hunley ' s sinking of the Federal Navy ' s screw sloop of war " Housatonic " and the ironclad ram CSS " Albermarle ' s " destruction of the " Southfield " . Assigned to the North Atlantic blockade of the South . Designated " Picket Boat No . 1 " , the tug — commanded by Acting Ensign Nathaniel R . Davis — was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and first appeared on its list of vessels on 1 November 1864 . She served on the James River for the last months of the Civil War protecting the Union shipping which supported General Ulysses S . Grant ' s troops operating against Richmond , Virginia . A confusion of names . However , when she and her sister tugs joined their squadron at Hampton Roads , Virginia , there were already six other smaller vessels on its rolls designated " Picket Launch No . 1 " through " Picket Launch No . 6 " . Great confusion resulted and prompted the Navy — sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864 — to rename the former " Fred Wheeler " and her five sisters for the first six letters of the Greek alphabet – " Alpha " through " Zeta " . Thus , " Picket Boat No . 1 " became " Alpha " . Some sources indicate that " Alpha " – which was also called " Tug No . 1 " – entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for the installation of a spar torpedo ; but , since " Picket Launch No . 1 " did carry a spar torpedo which Lt . William B . Gushing used to destroy " Albemarle " , it is reasonable to assume that similarity of names caused the two vessels to be confused and " Alpha " never received such a weapon . Protecting the James against passage of Confederate ships . " Alpha ' s " most exciting service occurred late in January 1865 , when most of the more powerful Union warships had withdrawn from the James to participate in an attack on Fort Fisher , North Carolina , which defended Wilmington , North Carolina , the South ' s last open port . The Confederate Navy ' s squadron on that river had remained between Richmond , Virginia , and a line of obstructions across the James , awaiting a chance to engage its Union counterpart on favorable terms . Thinking that this temporary Federal weakness afloat in the area was just such an opportunity , Commodore John K . Mitchell , CSN , removed some of the obstructions ; and , on the evening of 23 January , led the Southern Navy ' s James River Squadron downstream and attempted to slip through the new gap in the cordon of hulks which separated them from the Union warships . The Davis Administration joined Mitchell in hoping that a Confederate naval victory on James would break General Grant ' s line of supply and communication and lift his siege of the Confederate capital . Preparing for battle on the James . When word of this threatening thrust reached Comdr . William Albert Parker – who commanded the Union naval forces remaining on the James — he dropped his ships downstream to a position where they could maneuver effectively during the expected battle . His vessels experienced great difficulty turning in the narrow , shallow , and meandering channel of the upper river ; and " Alpha " assisted them to reach their new positions downstream . During the movement , several of Parker ' s warships — including his flagship , the double - turreted monitor " Onondaga " – ran aground ; and " Alpha " proved to be invaluable by helping to refloat them . " Drewry " explodes , and the Confederates withdraw . However , the navigational difficulties of the upper James impartially plagued both sides ; and two of Mitchell ' s ironclads , one gunboat , and a torpedo boat also ran aground while attempting to slip through the gap despite fire from Union shore batteries . This development prompted Parker to return upstream to join in the bombardment . A shell soon struck the stranded gunboat " Drewry " , detonating her magazine ; and the resulting explosion so damaged " Scorpion " , grounded nearby , that Mitchell ordered that gunboat abandoned . Then when the stranded ironclads were again afloat , the surviving Confederate warships retired to Richmond . Participating in the expedition into a captured Richmond . The highlight of " Alpha ' s " service on the James River was her participation in the expedition upstream to Richmond immediately after General Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia abandoned the desperately defended city . During this operation " Malvern " carried President Abraham Lincoln to the former Confederate capital where former slaves paid the President homage and showed him their warm appreciation . Post - war decommissioning , sale , and subsequent career . " Alpha " left the James in July 1865 and steamed to Washington , D . C . She was sold at public auction at the Washington Navy Yard on 23 September 1865 to William L . Wall and Company of Baltimore , Maryland . Redocumented as " Alpha " on 7 October 1865 , she operated as a merchant tug for more than two decades . Her career was finally ended when she was destroyed by fire on 5 June 1886 . Other details of her loss have not been found .