USS Britannia
Gunboat of the United States Navy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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USS Britannia was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat and patrol vessel in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Namesake | Britannia |
Laid down | date unknown |
Launched | 1862 |
Acquired | September 29, 1863 |
Commissioned | September 16, 1863 |
Decommissioned | June 28, 1865 |
Stricken | 1865 (est.) |
Captured |
|
Fate | Sold, August 10, 1865 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 495 tons |
Length | 189 ft (58 m) |
Beam | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
Draft | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
Depth of hold | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 12.5 knots |
Complement | 75 |
Armament |
|
Armour | iron hulled |
In 1862, Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd., Glasgow, shipbuilders launched the iron-hulled, side-wheel paddle steamer Britannia.[1] She was first registered to the Leith, Hull & Hamburg company of Leith, Scotland. In January 1863, she was acquired by Leach, Harrison & Forward of Liverpool to run through the Union Navy's blockade of the Confederate coast during the American Civil War.
After three successful voyages carrying munitions and supplies to the beleaguered South, Britannia departed Charleston, South Carolina, on June 21, 1863 and headed for Nassau, New Providence, with a cargo of cotton.