USS Guard ( 1857 ) USS " Guard " ( 1857 ) was a large steamship with powerful 8 - inch rifled guns , acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was placed into service as a storeship and assigned to support the ships blockading the ports of the Confederate States of America . Post - war she was recommissioned several times for various tasks including supporting the American fleet stationed in Europe with supplies and participating in the Darien expedition . Constructed in Connecticut in 1857 . " National Guard " was built by the S . Gildersleeve & Sons shipyard , Portland , Connecticut , in 1857 ; purchased 6 July 1861 by the Union Navy , and commissioned 23 December 1862 , Acting Master William Lee Hays in command . Service during the Civil War as the USS " National Guard " . From commissioning until she decommissioned in 1865 , " National Guard " served as supply ship for the West India Squadron based at Cap - Haïtien , Haiti . A routine trip to Key West , Florida , for supplies in June 1865 turned into a voyage to Boston , Massachusetts , for quarantine and decommissioning when yellow fever broke out among the crew , leaving " National Guard " with a sick list of over twenty . Recommissioned in 1865 and renamed as " Guard " in 1866 . Decommissioned at Boston , Massachusetts , 10 November 1865 , " Guard " recommissioned 13 March 1866 , Acting Master Lewis A . Brown in command . She was renamed as " Guard " on 2 June 1866 . Serving as supply ship to the American fleet in Europe . After a trip to Norfolk , Virginia , for supplies and minor repairs , she sailed for Cadiz , Spain , arriving there 16 August . For the next 3 years Guard served as supply ship for the European Fleet , carrying supplies and occasional passengers to such diverse ports as Lisbon , Portugal ; Cartagena , Spain ; Majorca , Spain ; Palermo , Italy ; Gibraltar , Naples , Italy ; Madeira , Spain ; and Villa Franca , France . During this period she also made three voyages to New York City , carrying passengers and some invalids for hospitals there and returning with fresh supplies . " Guard " returned to New York City 12 October 1869 and decommissioned 5 November . Recommissioned for the Darien Expedition in 1870 . " Guard " recommissioned 17 January 1870 , Lt . Comdr . Edward P . Lull in command , to take part in the Darien Expedition ; she sailed from New York City 28 January , arriving in Caledonia Bay , off the Isthmus of Darien , 18 February . Exploring the potential for a canal being dug at Panama . In company with and , under the overall command of Comdr . Thomas O . Selfridge , Jr . , " Guard " conducted hydrographic surveys to determine what route , if any , would be best for a ship canal across the isthmus . The five routes explored during the 2 years she was on this special duty all proved impractical at the time , and the dream of an inter - ocean canal went unfulfilled until the completion of the Panama Canal two generations later . " Guard ' s " duty in Central America was interrupted 12 August 1870 – 3 October 1870 when she sailed from New York City to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia with supplies . Leaving the Darien Expedition in June 1870 , " Guard " returned to New York City 22 July and decommissioned there 3 August . Recommissioned to carry exhibits to the Vienna Exposition of 1873 . On 1 February 1873 , " Guard " again recommissioned , Comdr . Charles A . Babcock commanding , and sailed from New York City 22 March with goods , exhibits , and construction materiel for the Vienna Exposition of 1873 . She arrived at Trieste , then a part of Austro - Hungary , via Gibraltar and Brindisi 3 May . After discharging her cargo for the exposition , " Guard " remained there undergoing minor repairs . Many of the articles not disposed of at the exposition were then reloaded , as well as some European goods intended for the American Centennial Exposition in 1876 , and " Guard " sailed for New York City 31 December 1873 , arriving there 14 April 1874 via Messina , Sicily , and Gibraltar . She decommissioned 27 April and remained laid up in ordinary until 1877 . Recommissioned for survey work in 1877 . " Guard ' s " final tour of duty began 18 August 1877 as she recommissioned at New York City , Lt . Comdr . F . M . Green commanding . Her mission was to determine by means of the submarine communications cable the longitudes between Lisbon , Madeira , the Cape de Verde Islands , Pernambuco , and Buenos Aires . Sailing from New York 29 October , she reached Lisbon 30 November and remained there until 3 February 1878 , when she sailed to Madeira and from there to the Cape de Verde Islands . Her next stop was Porto Grande , St . Vincente , where she delivered a shipment of astronomical equipment for the observatory there before sailing for Rio de Janeiro 20 April . Arriving there 1 June , " Guard " conducted further astronomical surveys of the Brazilian coast until , her work completed , she sailed for Portsmouth , New Hampshire , arriving there via Norfolk , Virginia , 4 December . Final decommissioning and disposal by sale . She decommissioned 15 December 1878 and was laid up in ordinary until 27 September 1883 , when she was sold to C . A . Williams & Co . of New London , Connecticut .