USS Cambridge (1860)
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| Career (US) |   |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1860 at Medford, Massachusetts |
| Acquired: | 30 July 1861 |
| Commissioned: | 29 August 1861 |
| Decommissioned: | circa June 1865 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, 20 June 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 868 tons |
| Length: | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Beam: | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Draught: | 13 ft 6 in (4.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | steam engine screw-propelled |
| Speed: | 10 knots |
| Complement: | 96 |
| Armament: | two 8-inch rifles |
USS Cambridge (1861) was a heavy (868-ton) steamship purchased by the Union Navy at the start of the American Civil War.
She was outfitted as a gunboat, with two powerful 8-inch rifled guns, and assigned to the blockade of ports and waterways of the Confederate States of America.
Contents |
[edit] Built in Massachusetts in 1861
Cambridge, an armed steamer, was built in 1860 by Paul Curtis, Medford, Massachusetts; purchased at Boston, Massachusetts, 30 July 1861; and commissioned 29 August 1861, Commander W. A. Parker in command.
[edit] Civil War blockade duties
[edit] Assigned to the North Atlantic blockade
Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron from 9 September 1861 to 5 October 1864, and to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron from 9 February 1865 until the close of the war, Cambridge helped tighten the stranglehold on the Confederacy as she cruised off the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina and South Carolina.
Determined vigilance and alert action won her eleven prizes, some of them taken under the guns of Confederate shore batteries. In a brief 5 days, she and two other ships in company took four blockade runners, and chased a fifth ashore.
[edit] Shore party captured
In one of her most daring exploits, Cambridge's' guns drove a schooner ashore near Masonboro Inlet, North Carolina, on 17 November 1862. Boat parties from Cambridge rowed through boiling surf, which swamped one of the boats, to burn the schooner, only to be made prisoner themselves by a party of armed Confederate men who sprang out of the brush.
[edit] Decommissioning
Cambridge was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and sold there 20 June 1865.
[edit] Historical Relevance
The USS Cambridge is notable for having picked up escaped slave William B. Gould I off Cape Fear, North Carolina.
[edit] References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
[edit] See also
- List of United States Navy ships
- American Civil War
- Union Navy
- Confederate States Navy
- USS Chenango (1863)
