Massachusetts, an iron-screw steamer built in 1860 at
Boston, Massachusetts, was purchased by the Union Navy on May 3, 1861, from the Boston & Southern Steamship Company. The ship was commissioned three weeks later, at
Boston Harbor, under the command of
Melancton Smith. Assigned to the
Gulf Blockading Squadron, USS
Massachusetts steamed south May 10, 1861, to anchor off
Key West, Florida, departing there June 8 for
Pensacola, Florida. The next day she took her first prize,
British ship
Perthshire, near Pensacola. She captured
Achilles June 17 and 2 days later took
Naham Stetson off
Pass a L’Outre in coastal
Louisiana. On June 23, she captured the Mexican
schooner Brilliant and the Confederate blockade-running schooners
Trois Freres,
Olive Branch,
Fanny, and
Basile in the
Gulf of Mexico. While
Massachusetts was absent, the South had fortified
Ship Island, and the batteries fired on her when she returned from Pensacola. She engaged the Confederate guns until she ran out of ammunition. On July 13 she seized schooner
Hiland near Ship Island, and next day engaged steamers
Arrow and
Oregon off
Chandeleur Islands, forcing them to withdraw. USS
Massachusetts captured blockade-running sloop
Charles Henry near Ship Island August 7 and gained information on
Fort Pike, which guarded the entrance to
Lake Pontchartrain for the South. After repairs in early September,
Massachusetts fortified Chandeleur Islands and set up a light there September 13. A landing party from the ship took possession of Ship Island September 17, thereby providing the Union Navy with a valuable shelter during storms and the base from which Admiral
David Farragut would launch his attack on
New Orleans, Louisiana. Returning to Ship Island September 20, USS
Massachusetts attacked, causing the South to burn the barracks and desert Ship Island passage. USS
Massachusetts operated near strategically important Ship Island through the remainder of the year. She thwarted Confederate efforts to transport freight through the passage December 2, captured a small fishing boat December 12, and turned back
Oregon,
Pamlico,
Gray Cloud, and
Florida at
Mississippi Sound December 19. Early in 1862
Massachusetts steamed northward to decommission at
New York City February 28. Fitted out as a transport and supply ship, she recommissioned April 16 and operated along the
Atlantic coast until decommissioning at New York City December 3. USS
Massachusetts recommissioned March 10, 1863, and, but for a brief period late that summer, served the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron through the end of the war. She captured
sloop Parsis in
Wassaw Sound March 12 and with
Commodore Perry captured
blockade runner Caledonia May 30, 1864, south of
Cape Fear after a 2-hour chase. In August she aided steamers
Gettysburg and
Keystone State in the capture of Confederate steamer
Lilian. On March 19, 1865, USS
Massachusetts struck a torpedo (
mine), which failed to explode, in
Charleston Harbor. She was decommissioned September 22, 1865, at
New York City and was sold there, at
public auction October 1, 1867. Documented February 11, 1868, as
Crescent City, she served American commerce until 1872. ==References==