Capture of the blockade runner Emma, 1863.
History
United States
BuilderBarclay Curle[1]
Laid downdate unknown
Launched24 November 1862[1]
Acquired30 September 1863
Commissioned4 November 1863
Decommissioned30 August 1865
Stricken1865 (est.)
Captured
FateSold, 1 November 1865
General characteristics
Displacement350 tons
Length156 ft (48 m)
Beam21 ft (6.4 m)
Draught9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Propulsion
Speed12 knots
Complement68[1]
Armament
  • six 24-pounder howitzers
  • two 12-pounder rifles

The first USS Emma was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a picket and patrol vessel on Confederate waterways.

Emma captured and placed into Union Navy service

Emma, a single screw steamer, was built in Glasgow, Scotland[1][3] for Thomas S. Begbie. Emma and her sister ship, Gertrude were named for Begbie's two daughters.[2] Emma was captured on 24 July 1863 by the Army transport SS Arago off the coast of Wilmington, North Carolina on its third voyage.[3] Purchased by the Navy from the New York City prize court on 30 September 1863; it was fitted out at New York Navy Yard; and put to sea on 4 November 1863, Acting Master G. B. Livingston in command.[3][4]

Assigned to patrol with the North Atlantic Blockade

Emma arrived at Newport News, Virginia, 7 November 1863 to patrol with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron until the end of the war. Enforcing the blockade, she played a significant role in the Navy's indispensable contribution to victory through isolating the South from oversea sources of supply. Emma joined in the destruction of blockade runner Ella off Wilmington, North Carolina, 6 December 1864, and the attacks on Fort Fisher of 24 and 25 December 1864 and 13 to 15 January 1865.[4]

Supporting the effort to prevent Jefferson Davis from fleeing

On 26 April 1865, Emma sailed from Fort Caswell, North Carolina, with an urgent message from General William Tecumseh Sherman to Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which warned the Admiral that Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet, not yet located, might attempt to escape by way of Florida to Cuba. Emma put into Key West, Florida, on this cruise, then returned to patrol the Carolina coast until 24 August, when she arrived at Boston, Massachusetts.[4]

End-of-war decommissioning and disposal

In Boston, Emma was decommissioned 30 August 1865 and sold 1 November 1865.[4]

She was placed back in service as a merchant steamer, operated as the SS Gaspe, from 1866[1] until her sinking near Miquelon Island on 14 June 1872.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Silverstone, Paul (2006). Civil War Navies, 1855-1883. New York: Routledge. p. 55. ISBN 9781135865498. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 Kane, William; Gillen, Vincent P. Scotts of Greenock - An Illustrated History. Lulu.com. p. 39. ISBN 9781471075896.
  3. 1 2 3 "A Blockade Runner, How She Was Captured by a Transport". The National Tribune. Washington, D.C. 6 January 1898. p. 6. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Emma I". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Ocean Steamer Lost". Memphis Daily Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. 23 June 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
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