USS Cambridge (1860)

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.

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.

Civil War blockade duties

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.

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.

Decommissioning

"Cambridge" was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and sold there 20 June 1865.

Historical Relevance

The USS "Cambridge " is notable for having picked up escaped slave William B. Gould I off Cape Fear, North Carolina.

References

ee also

* List of United States Navy ships
* American Civil War
* Union Navy
* Confederate States Navy
* USS Chenango (1863)

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c2/cambridge-i.htm USS Cambridge]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/cambridg.htm USS Cambridge (1861-1865)]
* [http://goulddiary.stanford.edu/ Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor]