USS Pawnee (1860-1884)
USS Pawnee, 1533-ton
(displacement) light-draft steam sloop of war, was built at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. Commissioned in June 1860, she
operated off Mexico in October and November of that year, then returned
to the U.S. In April 1861 Pawnee was sent to assist in the relief
of Fort Sumter, at the entrance to Charleston harbor, South Carolina,
but arrived after the fort had surrendered. On 20 April she towed the
sailing warship
Cumberland away from the Norfolk Navy
Yard, Virginia, as the facility was falling into Confederate hands. For
the rest of the spring and into the summer Pawnee served on the
Potomac River, assisting with the defense of Washington, D.C., and
participating in the North's initial offensive operations against the
river's Virginia shore. Among her activities during this time were the
occupation of Alexandria on 24 May and engagements with Confederate
artillery batteries at Aquia Creek in late May and early June.
In late August 1861 Pawnee
was part of the fleet that landed troops to capture Hatteras Inlet,
North Carolina. She repeated that kind of amphibious attack in November,
when Port Royal, South Carolina, was taken to provide a base for further
operations against the Confederacy's Atlantic seaboard. While engaging
enemy forces there she was hit several times and suffered the loss of
two crewmen.
Pawnee was active in South
Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida waters for the rest of the Civil
War, ultimately focusing on the siege of Charleston, S.C. She
participated in the capture of Fernandia, Florida, in March 1862, was a
participant in several expeditions into South Carolina's coastal rivers,
helped enforce the blockade, and at times served as flagship for the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
With the war at an end, in late
July 1865 Pawnee was decommissioned for repairs. She
recommissioned at the beginning of 1867 and, from April of that year
until May 1869, operated with the Brazil Squadron off eastern South
America. Again decommissioned in July 1869, her engines were removed and
she was fitted for use as a floating hospital and storeship. Pawnee
returned to commissioned service in those roles in December 1870 and was
stationed at Key West, Florida, from early 1871 until the spring of
1875. She was then transferred to Port Royal, South Carolina, remaining
there some seven years. USS Pawnee decommissioned for the final
time in November 1882 and was sold in May 1884.
