USS Potomska ( 1861 ) USS Potomska was a wooden screw steamer rigged as a three masted schooner purchased at New York from H . Haldrege on 25 September 1861 . She was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 20 December 1861 . Assigned blockading duties , 1861 – 1862 . Upon commissioning she was ordered to Port Royal , South Carolina , for duty with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . " Potomska " assisted in covering the landing of U . S . troops at the mouth of the Savannah River , Georgia , 28 January 1862 . She was in the squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont that took possession of Fernandina , Florida on 4 March 1862 . On 9 March , with and , she took possession of St . Simons Island and Jekyl Island and landed at Brunswick , Georgia . All locations were found to be abandoned in keeping with the general Confederate withdrawal from the seacoast and coastal islands . On 11 April " Potomska " was involved in an expedition to St . Catherine ' s Sound , Georgia . On 27 April she ascended the Riceboro River , Georgia , inducing the Confederates to fire a British brig , then exchanged fire with dismounted Confederate cavalry concealed in the woods of Woodville Island , effectively silencing them . She was involved in an expedition to Darien , Georgia on 9 May , and made a reconnaissance in Great Ogeechee River , Georgia , 1 July , exchanging fire with a Confederate battery there . " Potomska " was briefly decommissioned at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in August for repairs . Second commission , 1862 – 1864 . In September 1862 " Potomska " steamed back to Port Royal for duty in St . Simons Sound . In late October she proceeded to blockade Sapelo Sound . On 7 November " Polontska " escorted Army transport up the Sapelo River , Georgia , shelling the shore to cover a landing at Spaulding ' s . On 23 February 1863 " Potomska " captured blockade - running British schooner " Belle " in Sapelo Sound with a cargo of coffee and salt . A week later she returned to St . Simons Sound . On 1 June she was ordered to move her blockade to Fernandina where she remained until September . She then returned to Port Royal for repairs which lasted into December when she was laid up prior to going north for further repairs . " Potomska " decommissioned for repairs at Baltimore , Maryland in March 1864 . Third commission , 1864 – 1865 . " Potomska " was recommissioned on 21 June 1864 , returning to Port Royal on 11 July . On 30 July a landing party from " Potomska " destroyed two large Confederate salt works near the Back River , Georgia . On their return the party was taken under fire by Confederates and a sharp battle ensued before they safely reached the ship , later receiving a commendation from Rear Admiral John A . Dahlgren . On 22 – 24 August " Potomska ' s " men raided a turpentine still near White Oak River , Georgia . As of September 1864 " Potomska " was blockading Charleston , South Carolina . In October she was stationed at Georgetown . In November she was commanded briefly by Lt . A . T . Mahan who returned her to Charleston , where she remained occasionally chasing and firing on blockade runners . On 16 and 17 February 1865 ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron , including " Polomska " and six others , and boats and launches from these vessels supported the amphibious U . S . Army landing at Bull ' s Bay , South Carolina . This was a successful diversionary movement in the major thrust to take Charleston , designed to contain Confederate strength away from General Sherman ' s route . In March " Potomska " was up the Cooper River . On 1 June she was off Charleston , then steamed north . Final decommissioning . " Potomska " decommissioned at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 16 June 1865 , and was sold at auction there on 10 August 1865 , for $ 7 , 100 .