Mosquito Fleet

Virginia V, last of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet

The term Mosquito Fleet has had nine main meanings in U.S. naval and maritime history:

1. It is the term used to describe the United States Navy's fleet of small gunboats, leading up to and during the War of 1812, most were part of the New Orleans Squadron.
2. It is the term for a squadron of shallow-draft schooners sent to the West Indies under the command of Commodore David Porter to suppress piracy between 1823 and 1825, founding the West Indies Squadron.
3. It was the name of a United States Navy squadron detachment, commanded by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, that fought against the Mexican fortresses at Tuxpan and Villahermosa during the Mexican-American War.
4. In the Civil War, it was the name of a group of converted gunboats originally of the North Carolina Navy, later transferred to the Confederate States Navy, that operated in and near the North Carolina Sounds from the start of the war until the Battle of Elizabeth City.
5. In the Civil War, it was the name of Commodore George Hollins River defense fleet that opposed the Union Gulf Blockade fleet in the Battle of the Head of Passes.^[1]
6. It is the term used to describe a fleet of small steam vessels which plied the waters of Puget Sound during the late 19th century and early 20th century (see Washington State Ferries and Puget Sound Navigation Company). It was also used to describe the various steamboats and other small craft that served on the rivers and bays of the Oregon coast. (See Steamboats of the Oregon Coast). There was also a similar fleet on the east coast of the United States; see Sabino.
7. It is the term used to describe a fleet of converted yachts used by the US Navy during World War I off the Atlantic Coast of France to patrol for U-boats and provide support for convoys into Brest, France. This fleet was also called the 'Suicide Fleet'.
8. A term used for the fast, wooden PT boat used by the American navy in World War II. The most famous being PT-109, skippered by Lieutenant Junior Grade John F. Kennedy, a future president of the United States.
9. A term used for the fleet of sailing ships that plied the waters off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia in the mid-19th century, trawling for shrimp and selling their catch in local markets; the fleet was primarily crewed by Gullah fishermen.

Notes

Abbreviations used in these notes

Official atlas: Atlas to accompany the official records of the Union and Confederate armies.

ORA (Official records, armies): War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies.

ORN (Official records, navies): Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.

1. ^ ORN I, v. 16, p. 725.