History
United States
Ordered	as Sampson
Laid down	date unknown
Launched	1861
Acquired	30 September 1862
In service	30 September 1862
Out of service	c. 1 September 1868
Stricken	1868 (est.)
Homeport	Cairo, Illinois Vicksburg, Mississippi Mound City, Illinois
Fate	Sold, 1 September 1868
General characteristics
Displacement	46 tons
Length	not known
Beam	not known
Draught	not known
Propulsion	steam engine screw-propelled
Speed	not known
Complement	not known
Armament	one 12-pounder gun

USS Pansy was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy from the Union Army during the American Civil War. She served the Navy as a tugboat and as a dispatch boat.

She served in, and supported, several blockades of the Confederate States of America, including the Union Army’s Western Flotilla and the Union Navy’s Mississippi River Mortar Brigade.

Built in Missouri for the Union Army in 1861

Sampson, a screw tug built in 1861 at New Haven, Missouri, was purchased by the Union Army in the fall of 1861 for the use of the Western Flotilla; transferred to the Union Navy 30 September 1862; and placed in service the same day.

Acquired by the Navy and renamed Pansy

Renamed Pansy 24 October 1862 the tug served the Mississippi squadron throughout the Civil War. Operating primarily out of Cairo, Illinois, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, she towed larger ships and acted as a dispatch vessel.

Post-war service and deactivation

After the war she served as a tug at Mound City, Illinois, until sold there 1 September 1868.

See also

• Anaconda Plan
• Mississippi Squadron

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.