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USS Iosco (1864)
Encyclopedia
The USS Iosco was a 1173 ton Sassacus
USS Sassacus (1862)
The first USS Sassacus, a wooden, double-ended, side-wheel steamer, was launched on December 23, 1862 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, sponsored by Miss Wilhelmina G. Lambert. Sassacus was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on October 5, 1863, Lieutenant Commander Francis A...
class "double-ender" steam gunboat built at Bath, Maine
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...
. The ship fought during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and was an important combatant during the battles at Fort Fisher. The ship was named Iosco after a Native American word meaning "water of light," the namesake for Iosco County, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Service history
Commissioned in April 1864, she protected shipping in the Gulf of Saint LawrenceGulf of Saint Lawrence
The Gulf of Saint Lawrence , the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean...
during that summer. She assisted several ships caught in heavy storms. On 15 September, Iosco towed the General Burnside, which had been stuck on a reef, and was then sent to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Iosco also assisted Colonel Ellsworth, and the British barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
Empress 2.
Attacks on Fort Fisher
While operating off Wilmington, North CarolinaWilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, on 21 November, Iosco captured the blockade runner CSS Sybil. During December 1864 and January 1865, she participated in the assaults on Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865....
, which ultimately closed Wilmington as a Confederate port.
First Battle of Fort Fisher
The First Battle of Fort Fisher, was a siege fought from December 23 to December 27, 1864, was a failed attempt by Union forces to capture the fort guarding Wilmington, North Carolina, the South's last major port on the Atlantic Ocean...
, Iosco engaged the batteries at Mound Fort, and hit the Confederate flag flying over the fortification, knocking it down. A Confederate shot hit the Iosco's foremast, causing minor damage. The following day, Iosco led nine other ships in another attack on the fortress. The ships got as close to shore as they could.
On 13 January, Iosco assisted in the landing of troops at Fort Fisher, during the second attack
Second Battle of Fort Fisher
The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a joint assault by Union Army and naval forces against Fort Fisher, outside Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War...
.. Forty four of Iosco's own men also participated in the ground fighting, while the ship herself provided fire support during the assault. The Confederate garrison surrrendered two days later on 15 January.
End of the war
In 1865, she was active on the North Carolina Sounds, taking part in an expedition up the Roanoke RiverRoanoke River
The Roanoke River is a river in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States, 410 mi long. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains southeast across the Piedmont...
in mid-May. USS Iosco was decommissioned in July 1865 and in February 1868 was converted into a coal hulk for service at the New York Navy Yard.