View source for USS Shawmut (1863)

{{short description|Gunboat of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Shawmut}}
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|Ship image=USS Shawmut (1863).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Shawmut'' in the [[Potomac River]]
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag=[[Image:US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg|48px|Union Navy Jack]] {{USN flag|1861}}
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|Ship laid down=2 February 1863
|Ship launched=*17 April 1863
*at the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]]
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|Ship acquired=*16 October 1864
*at [[New York City]]
|Ship commissioned=*on 1 November 1864
*at the [[New York Navy Yard]]
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|Ship decommissioned=*circa 22 January 1877
*at the [[Norfolk Navy Yard]]
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|Ship fate=Sold, 27 September 1877
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship displacement=593 tons
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|Ship length={{cvt|179|ft|6|in}}
|Ship beam={{cvt|30|ft|0|in}}
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|Ship propulsion=*[[steam engine]]
*screw-propelled
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|Ship speed=11 knots
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|Ship complement=35
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|Ship armament=*one 100-pounder [[Parrott rifle]]
*two 9" [[Dahlgren gun|Dahlgren]] smoothbores
*one 30-pounder Parrott rifle
*two 24-pounder [[howitzers]]
*two 12-pounder rifles
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'''USS ''Shawmut''''' was a 593-ton  [[Steamship|steamer]] acquired  by the U.S. Navy and put to use by the Union during the [[American Civil War]].

''Shawmut'' served the [[Union Navy]] primarily as a [[gunboat]] with [[howitzers]] for bombardment, and various other rifles and cannon for use at sea in apprehending [[blockade runners]] attempting to "run" the Union blockade of the [[Confederate States of America]].

== Built in Maine in 1863 ==

''Shawmut''—a screw gunboat begun on 2 February 1863 by the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] ([[Kittery, Maine]]) -- was launched on 17 April 1863; sponsored by Miss Lucy Hall; departed [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], on 20 October 1863; was towed to [[New York City]] where her engine and machinery were installed by the [[Brooklyn, New York|South Brooklyn]] Works; was delivered to the Union Navy on 16 October 1864; and commissioned at the [[New York Navy Yard]] on 1 November 1864, Lt. Comdr. George U. Morris in command.

== Civil War service ==

=== Searching for CSS ''Tallahassee'' ===

Two days later, ''Shawmut'' got underway to search for Confederate Navy commerce raider, [[CSS Tallahassee|CSS ''Tallahassee'']] (renamed ''Olustee''), which had recently preyed upon Northern shipping off the [[Delaware capes]]. After cruising in [[Nova Scotia]]n waters without seeing or hearing of her quarry, ''Shawmut'' returned to the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] on the 20th.

On 9 January 1865, the gunboat was ordered to proceed to [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], to join the [[North Atlantic Blockading Squadron]]. She participated in the attack on and capture of [[Fort Anderson (North Carolina)|Fort Anderson]], [[North Carolina]], from 18 to 20 February. On the latter day, a boat from ''Shawmut'' was destroyed by a [[Naval mine|torpedo]] (the Civil War term for a mine) as it swept waters in the area.

=== Supporting Grant on the York River ===

In March, as General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s operations around [[Richmond, Virginia]], approached their climax, ''Shawmut'' was called back to [[Hampton Roads, Virginia]], and stationed in the [[York River (Virginia)|York River]] "to keep open free navigation between White House and the mouth of the York River." With the fall of Richmond and General [[Robert E. Lee]]'s surrender, ''Shawmut'' was ordered north and decommissioned at the [[New York Navy Yard]] on 17 April 1865.

== Post-Civil War service ==

=== Assigned to the Brazil station ===

Refitted for foreign service, the gunboat was recommissioned on 15 June 1865 and soon sailed for [[Bahia, Brazil]]. Following over a year's service on the Brazil Station protecting "our flag from insult and the property of our citizens from unlawful seizure," ''Shawmut'' returned home and was decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 8 December 1866.

Recommissioned on 12 August 1867, ''Shawmut'' served in the [[North Atlantic Blockading Squadron]] until she was laid up again at [[New York City]] on 7 July 1868. Reactivated once more on 18 March 1871, the ship resumed service in the North Atlantic and served along the Atlantic seaboard until finally laid up at the [[Norfolk Navy Yard]] on 22 January 1877.

== Final decommissioning and sale ==

She was sold on 27 September to E. Stannard & Co., [[Westbrook, Connecticut]].

== References == 
{{portal|American Civil War}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s11/shawmut-i.htm}}

{{Nipsic class gunboat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shawmut}}
[[Category:Ships of the Union Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Kittery, Maine]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Gunboats of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:1863 ships]]