USS Quaker City ( 1854 ) USS " Quaker City " ( 1854 ) was a heavy , sidewheel steamship leased by the Union Navy at the start of the American Civil War . She was subsequently purchased by the navy , outfitted with a powerful 20 - pounder long rifle , and assigned to help enforce the Union blockade of the ports of the Confederate States of America . Constructed at Philadelphia in 1854 . " Quaker City " — a sidewheel steamer built at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in 1854 — was chartered by the navy for 30 days on 25 April 1861 from Hargous & Co . , re - chartered for three months on 25 May ; purchased on 12 August 1861 , and commissioned at New York City on 14 December 1861 , Commander James M . Frailey in command . Civil War service . Operating under lease . Placed in service only six days after President Abraham Lincoln declared a blockade of the Confederate coast , " Quaker City " was one of the most active and effective blockaders in the Union Navy . Stationed off the entrance to Chesapeake Bay , she shared in the capture of ship " North Carolina " on 14 May , of bark " Pioneer " in Hampton Roads on the 25th , and of bark " Winifred " off Cape Henry the same day . She captured schooner " Lynchburg " , carrying coffee in the Chesapeake Bay on 30 May and took bark " General Green " off Cape Henry on 4 June . Already a veteran , she shared in the capture of " Amy Warwick " in Hampton Roads on the 10th , took bark " Sally Magee " there on the 26th , and shared in taking schooner " Sally Mears " on 1 July . Schooner " Fair Wind " became her prize on 29 August , and the sidewheeler shared in the capture of steamer " Elsie " on 4 September . Three days later she sailed north for repairs and to receive a naval crew and organization . Assigned to search for commerce raiders . Commissioned at New York City on 14 December , " Quaker City " was detached from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron to cruise in search of CSS " Sumter " and turned her attention to hunting Confederate raiders . She captured " Model " in the Gulf of Mexico on 30 June 1862 and " Lilla " carrying drugs off Hole - in - Wall , Virginia on 3 July . Four days later , she helped take " Adela " off the Bahamas , and on the 24th blockade runner " Orion " at Champeche Bank , south of Key West , Florida . " Mercury " struck to the sidewheeler off Charleston , South Carolina on 4 January 1863 , and " Quaker City " shared in the capture of " Princess Royal " on the 29th . Two days later she helped fight CSS " Chicora " and " Palmetto State " when the Confederate rams attacked the Union squadron in the morning fog off Charleston . She suffered considerable damage from a shell which entered about seven feet above the water line and exploded in the engine room . This damage and the wear from her hard service took its toll forcing her north for overhaul . Departing Port Royal on 8 March , she took schooner " Douro " off Wilmington , North Carolina , the following day , heading for Nassau with a cargo of cotton , turpentine , and tobacco . Back in action she picked up 40 bales of cotton at sea on 26 June 1864 and shared in the capture of steamer " Elsie " off Charleston on 5 September . She participated in the abortive attack on Fort Fisher , North Carolina , on Christmas Eve . Gulf of Mexico operations . Cruising in the Gulf of Mexico , she took schooner " R . H . Vermilyea " on 12 March 1865 , " Telemico " on the 16th and " George Burkhart " the next day . Steamer " Cora " surrendered to her near Brazos Santiago , Texas , on the 24th . She chased CSS " Webb " as the Confederate steamer attempted to run down the Mississippi River and escape to sea on 24 April . Post - war decommissioning and subsequent career . After the war , " Quaker City " decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 18 May and was sold at auction there on 20 June . Redocumented on 11 August , " Quaker City " served American commerce under U . S . registry until sold abroad in 1869 . During a trip to Europe in 1867 , she was the scene of some of the tales related by Mark Twain in his book " The Innocents Abroad " . The steamer was sold and renamed " Columbia " in 1869 , then , after joining the Haitian Navy in the same year , became " Mont Organisé " . Sold again in February 1871 , she was renamed " République " , but was lost at sea off Bermuda later in that month .