USS Niphon ( 1863 ) USS " Niphon " was a steam operated vessel 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 . " Niphon " , a wooden and iron screw steamer launched at Boston , Massachusetts , in February 1863 , delivered to the Navy at Boston on 22 April 1863 ; and commissioned at Boston Navy Yard on 24 April 1863 , Acting Ensign Joseph B . Breck in command ; and was formally purchased 9 May 1863 . Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockade . Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron , " Niphon " was first stationed off Fort Fisher , North Carolina , which protected Wilmington , North Carolina , from attack by sea . She captured the blockade runner " Banshee " at New Inlet , North Carolina on 29 July 1863 . On 18 August she chased the steamer " Hebe " , carrying drugs , clothing , coffee , and provisions for the Confederacy , and forced the blockade runner aground north of Fort Fisher where she was abandoned . The boats from " Niphon " were sent to destroy " Hebe " , but were swamped in heavy seas and their crews captured . Then opened fire on " Hebe " and she was burned to the waterline . " Niphon " captures the large blockade runner " Ella and Annie " . With , " Niphon " captured the steamer " Cornubia " north of New Inlet on 8 November . " Cornubia ’ s " papers exposed the whole scheme by which the Confederacy had clandestinely obtained ships in England . The next day " Niphon " captured the blockade runner " Ella and Annie " off Masonboro Inlet , North Carolina , attempting to slip in with a cargo of arms and provisions . Trying to escape , the runner rammed " Niphon " but surrendered to Federal bluejackets who boarded her when the ships had swung broadside . " Ella and Annie " was later commissioned in the Union Navy as . After capturing " Ella and Annie " , " Niphon " returned to Boston for repairs , but was back off New Inlet on 6 February 1864 . On 21 April , " Niphon " , , and destroyed the salt works at Masonboro Sound , North Carolina . On 27 August , " Niphon " and ventured up Masonboro Inlet to silence a Confederate battery . Landing parties from the ships captured arms , ammunition , and food stuffs . A boat expedition from " Niphon " landed at Masonboro Inlet on 19 September to gain intelligence on the defenses of Wilmington , North Carolina . They learned that raider and several blockade runners were at Wilmington . That day Acting Master Edmund Kemble relieved Breck in command . Attacking blockade runners . On 25 September , " Niphon " , " Howquah " , and , in an engagement with blockade runner " Lynx " and Confederate shore batteries , chased the blazing steamer ashore where she burned until consumed . Late on the night of 29 September , " Niphon " fired upon " Night Hawk " as she attempted to run into New Inlet , and observed her go aground . A boat crew led by Acting Ensign Semon boarded the steamer and , under fire from Fort Fisher , set her ablaze and brought off the crew as prisoners . Mrs . Rose O ’ Neal Greenhow drowns with a bag of gold around her neck . " Niphon " ran the British blockade runner " Condor " aground off New Inlet on 1 October , but was prevented from destroying the steamer by intense fire from Fort Fisher . Among the passengers on board " Condor " was one of the most famous Confederate agents of the war , Mrs . Rose O ' Neal Greenhow who , fearful of being captured with her important dispatches , set out in a boat for shore . Her craft overturned in the heavy surf . The crew managed to get ashore ; but the lady , weighted down by $ 2 , 000 in Confederate gold in a pouch around her neck , drowned . " Niphon " , under fire , saves a stranded " Berberry " . On the 7th , the Union blockader chased the blockade runner " Annie " ashore at New Inlet , under the guns of Fort Fisher , but the 285 - ton Federal wooden steamer ran aground herself and was destroyed to prevent capture . " Niphon " rescued " Aster ’ s " crew under a hail of fire from Confederate batteries and towed out , after the Northern steamer had become disabled trying to pull " Aster " off the shoal . On the last day of October , and " Niphon " seized another blockade runner named " Annie " off New Inlet , North Carolina . She was a British steamer with cargo of tobacco , cotton , and turpentine . End - of - war decommissioning and sale . Late in November " Niphon " , in need of extensive repairs , steamed to Boston where she was decommissioned on 1 December . She was sold at public auction there on 17 April 1865 , and was documented as " Tejuca " on 23 October 1865 and was sold abroad in 1867 .