USS Bibb (1853)

USS "Bibb" (1853) was a Coast and Survey vessel that performed survey work during the American Civil War.

In 1864, when Washington, D.C., appeared under threat when Jubal Early’s Confederate Army crossed the Potomac River, "Bibb" was quickly commandeered and armed by the Union Navy.

Built at the Boston Navy Yard in 1853

"Bibb" was laid down for the Coast Survey by the Boston Navy Yard on 24 February 1853; launched on 12 May 1853; and got underway on 11 August for her first cruise.

Civil War service

Service in the war with the South Atlantic Blockade

At the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, she was transferred to the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, but returned to the Coast Survey in November.

Assigned to the contingent of that organization attached to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she steamed to Port Royal, South Carolina, and reported to the head of the former organization, Assistant Charles O. Boutelle, USCS, in January 1862 and relieved "Vixen", freeing that vessel to proceed north for repairs.

She served the Union cause in a variety of ways: surveying and buoying harbors and channels along the Atlantic coast of the Confederacy between South Carolina and Florida; escorting transports; towing and piloting gunboats; carrying dispatches; and performing any other duties that were of assistance to the Union Army and Navy. Her labors won her the most generous praise of the leaders of both services.

Borrowed by the Union Navy when Washington was threatened

The ship spent the first half of 1864 in the Washington Navy Yard undergoing repairs. As this work was being completed, Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early crossed the Potomac River on a raid that endangered Washington, D.C.

In an effort to help parry this threat to the Union capital, Comdr. Foxhall A. Parker took over "Bibb" from the Coast Survey, armed her, and ordered her to the Gunpowder River where Southern troops had been seen.

Commanded by Acting Ensign George E. McConnell, the steamer then ascended that stream but could not move closer than a point some five miles below Gunpowder Bridge and hence never got into contact with the Confederate troops. After the crisis had passed, Parker returned "Bibb" to the Coast Survey for which she operated out of the Washington Navy Yard through the end of 1864.

Reassigned by the Coast Survey to the South Atlantic Blockade

Early in 1865, the steamer rejoined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron; and she worked along the Southern coast through the end of the war.

Post-war service

Following the collapse of the Confederacy, she resumed peacetime service with the Coast Survey.

References

See also

* United States Navy
* American Civil War

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b6/bibb-ii.htm USS Bibb]