USS Seminole ( 1859 ) The first USS " Seminole " was a steam sloop in the United States Navy during the American Civil War . " Seminole " was launched by the Pensacola Navy Yard on 25 June 1859 ; sponsored by Ms . Mary Dallas ; and was commissioned there on 25 April 1860 , Commander Edward R . Thomson in command . Civil War service . " Seminole " sailed for Brazil on 16 July 1860 and served on the Brazil Station until called home soon after the outbreak of the American Civil War . The ship departed Rio de Janeiro on 23 May 1861 and reached Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 6 July . Rapidly fitted out for blockade duty , " Seminole " was ordered on 16 July to proceed to Hampton Roads . After reporting for duty in the Atlantic Blockading Squadron , the ship sailed , via Charleston , South Carolina , for Savannah , Georgia . Upon exhausting her coal on blockade duty off that port , the ship sailed for Hampton Roads on 19 August , towing the prize schooner " Albion " , and arrived off Newport News on the 23rd . A week later , on 30 August , the Confederate tug " Harmony " attacked the Union sailing sloop of war there . " Seminole " was in the vicinity and returned the fire , but her shells did not reach the Southern ship . On 9 September , " Seminole " and sailed for the Potomac River to check the threat posed by the concentration of a large Confederate force on the south bank of the river below Alexandria . On the 21st , a boat from " Seminole " captured the sloop " Maryland " in the Potomac . Four days later , " Seminole " and engaged a Confederate battery at Freestone Point , Virginia . After repairs at the Washington Navy Yard , " Seminole " returned to Hampton Roads on 16 October where she awaited the arrival of Flag Officer Samuel F . Du Pont , commander of the newly established South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . On 7 November , " Seminole " was in the task force which captured Port Royal , South Carolina . The ships bombarded Forts Walker and Beauregard and forced the Confederates to abandon them . This gave the Union Navy an invaluable base for blockade operations off South Carolina , Georgia , and Florida . On 1 December , " Seminole " seized the sloop " Lida " off St . Simons Sound , Georgia , attempting to slip into the South laden with coffee , lead , and sugar from Havana , Cuba . Early in March , " Seminole " participated in the expedition which captured Fernandina , Florida . On 25 March 1862 , " Seminole " was ordered to Hampton Roads to strengthen Union naval forces there which were threatened by the dreaded Confederate ironclad . Control of these strategic waters was especially important at that time because General George McClellan was about to launch his Peninsula Campaign against the Southern capital , Richmond , Virginia . On 8 May , " Seminole " joined , , , and in shelling Confederate batteries at Sewell ' s Point , Virginia . In response , " Virginia " came out , but not far enough to be rammed . Norfolk , Virginia was soon abandoned by Southern troops . Late in June , " Seminole " was ordered to the New York Navy Yard for repairs . The ship was recommissioned on 8 June 1863 and assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron . " En route " south , she captured the Confederate steamer on 11 July . On 11 September , she took the steamer " Sir William Peel " off the mouth of the Rio Grande . This British merchantman was carrying 1 , 000 bales of cotton at the time of her capture . The high point of her service in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron came on 5 August 1864 when she participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay . She passed the forts guarding the entrance to the bay lashed to but , as the action became general , cast off from her consort . After the Southern ironclad surrendered , prisoners taken from her were taken on board " Seminole " . In the days that followed , the ships of Farragut ' s fleet were busy clearing torpedoes from the waters and bombarding Fort Morgan until it surrendered on the 23rd . Five days later , " Seminole " was ordered to Pensacola , Florida for repairs . On 14 September , the ship was sent to Galveston , Texas , and she remained active along the coast of Texas through the end of the war , taking the schooner " Josephine " , which was attempting to slip out of Galveston laden with cotton on 14 January 1865 . Her final action of the war came on 23 May , when she sent a party on board " Denbigh " and helped to set the blockade runner aflame . " Seminole " sailed for the North on 20 July and was decommissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 11 August , where it was laid up until sold on 20 July 1870 to Mullen and Winchester .