USS Shokokon (1862)
Encyclopedia
USS Shokokon (1862) was a large (709-ton) steamer with powerful 30-pounder rifled guns, purchased by the Union Navy
during the beginning of the American Civil War
.
With a crew of 112 sailors, she was employed by the Union Navy as a heavy gunship
outfitted to pursue blockade runner
s of the Confederate States of America
, and to participate in river operations. When required, towards war's end, she acted as a minesweeper
, removing Confederate naval mine
s from Northern Virginia
rivers.
on 3 April 1863; altered for naval service there by J. Simonson; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 18 May 1863, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Samuel Huse in command.
, on the morning of 24 May 1863. Shokokon was first stationed in the outer blockade off New Inlet, North Carolina; but, late in June, she was recalled to Hampton Roads, Virginia, and ordered up the York River
to the Pamunkey River
to threaten Richmond, Virginia
, in the hope of diverting Southern reinforcements, munitions, and supplies from General Robert E. Lee
's Army of Northern Virginia
which had invaded the North and was endangering Washington, D.C.
On 4 July, as battered Confederate troops retreated from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
, she ascended the Pamunkey from White House, Virginia
, and destroyed an unidentified schooner
which had run aground some five miles upstream.
A week later, Shokokon was switched to the James River
where, on the 14th, the former ferryboat joined seven other Union fighting ships in capturing Confederate stronghold, Fort Powhatan. The force destroyed two magazines
and 20 gun platforms.
, and was stationed off Smith's Island. On the 18th, she assisted Niphon
in destroying steamer, Hebe, which Niphon had chased aground while that blockade runner
was attempting to slip through the Union cordon of warships with drugs and provisions badly needed by the South. Four days later, two boats from Shokokon destroyed schooner, Alexander Cooper
, in New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, and demolished extensive salt works in the vicinity.
and North Carolina
.
On 9 March, she joined Morse
and General Putnam
in escorting a Union Army
expedition up the York and Mattapony rivers
; covered the debarkation of troops at Sheppard's Landing; and returned to Yorktown, Virginia
, three days later.
, which established a Union bridgehead on the southern shore of the James.
During the ensuing months, she continued to shuttle between the York and James rivers to assist ground operations in General Ulysses S. Grant
's ever tightening stranglehold on Richmond.
In the autumn, Shokokon returned to North Carolina
waters and spent the remainder of the war supporting Army efforts in that theatre.
at New York City on 25 October 1865 and redocumented as Lone Star on 15 December 1865. She served for more than two decades before being abandoned in 1886.
Union Navy
The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
during the beginning of the American 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...
.
With a crew of 112 sailors, she was employed by the Union Navy as a heavy gunship
Gunship
The term "gunship" is used in several contexts, all sharing the general idea of a light craft armed with heavy guns.-In Navy:In the Navy, the term originally appeared in the mid-19th century as a less-common synonym for gunboat.-In military aviation:...
outfitted to pursue blockade runner
Blockade runner
A blockade runner is usually a lighter weight ship used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait, as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade. Very often blockade running is done in order to transport cargo, for example to bring food or arms to a blockaded city...
s of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, and to participate in river operations. When required, towards war's end, she acted as a minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
, removing Confederate naval mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s from Northern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
rivers.
Commissioned in New York City in 1862
Shokokon -- a wooden-hulled ferry built as Clifton in 1862 at Greenpoint, New York -- was purchased by the Navy at New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 3 April 1863; altered for naval service there by J. Simonson; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 18 May 1863, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Samuel Huse in command.
Assigned to the North Atlantic blockade
The double-ender was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and arrived at Newport News, VirginiaNewport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
, on the morning of 24 May 1863. Shokokon was first stationed in the outer blockade off New Inlet, North Carolina; but, late in June, she was recalled to Hampton Roads, Virginia, and ordered up the York River
York River (Virginia)
The York River is a navigable estuary, approximately long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from at its head to near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area including portions of 17 counties of the coastal plain of Virginia north...
to the Pamunkey River
Pamunkey River
The Pamunkey River is a tributary of the York River, about long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. Via the York River it is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay.-Course:...
to threaten Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, in the hope of diverting Southern reinforcements, munitions, and supplies from General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
which had invaded the North and was endangering Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
On 4 July, as battered Confederate troops retreated from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
, she ascended the Pamunkey from White House, Virginia
White House, Virginia
White House is an unincorporated community in New Kent County, Virginia, United States, on the south shore of the Pamunkey River. White House Plantation, for which it is named, was the home of Martha Dandridge Custis in the 18th century, who as a widow, there courted her future husband, Colonel...
, and destroyed an unidentified schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
which had run aground some five miles upstream.
A week later, Shokokon was switched to the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
where, on the 14th, the former ferryboat joined seven other Union fighting ships in capturing Confederate stronghold, Fort Powhatan. The force destroyed two magazines
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
and 20 gun platforms.
Repaired at the Norfolk Navy Yard
On 10 August, after repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Shokokon returned to blockade duty 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...
, and was stationed off Smith's Island. On the 18th, she assisted Niphon
USS Niphon (1863)
USS Niphon was a steam operated vessel acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries....
in destroying steamer, Hebe, which Niphon had chased aground while that blockade runner
Blockade runner
A blockade runner is usually a lighter weight ship used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait, as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade. Very often blockade running is done in order to transport cargo, for example to bring food or arms to a blockaded city...
was attempting to slip through the Union cordon of warships with drugs and provisions badly needed by the South. Four days later, two boats from Shokokon destroyed schooner, Alexander Cooper
Alexander Cooper
Alexander Cooper was an English Baroque miniature painter.-Biography:He was the elder brother of the painter Samuel Cooper. He learned painting from Peter Oliver and was active in London from 1633 - 1642, whereupon he traveled to The Hague...
, in New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, and demolished extensive salt works in the vicinity.
Hurricane damage
Late in August 1863, the ship was damaged in a hurricane and sent north for repairs which lasted through the end of the year. She returned to Newport News on the morning of 16 January 1864 and, for the remainder of the war, was active in supporting Union ground forces in the rivers of VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
On 9 March, she joined Morse
USS Morse (1861)
USS Morse was a ferryboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Ferryboats were of great value, since, because of their flat bottom and shallow draft, they could navigate streams and shallow waters that other ships could not....
and General Putnam
USS General Putnam (1857)
USS General Putnam -– also known as the USS William G. Putnam -- was acquired by the Union Navy during the first year of the American Civil War and outfitted as a gunship and assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America. She also served as a tugboat and as a ship's tender...
in escorting a Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
expedition up the York and Mattapony rivers
Mattaponi River
The Mattaponi River is a tributary of the York River estuary in eastern Virginia in the United States.It rises as four streams in Spotsylvania County, each of which is given a shorter piece of the Mattaponi's name:...
; covered the debarkation of troops at Sheppard's Landing; and returned to Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....
, three days later.
Supporting General Grant’s operations
On 5 May, she was one of the warships which swept the river to clear away Confederate torpedoes (naval mines) and then supported the crossing of the landings at Bermuda Hundred and City Point, VirginiaCity Point, Virginia
City Point was a town in Prince George County, Virginia that was annexed by the independent city of Hopewell in 1923. It served as headquarters of the Union Army during the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War.- History :...
, which established a Union bridgehead on the southern shore of the James.
During the ensuing months, she continued to shuttle between the York and James rivers to assist ground operations in General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
's ever tightening stranglehold on Richmond.
In the autumn, Shokokon returned to North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
waters and spent the remainder of the war supporting Army efforts in that theatre.
Post-war deactivation and subsequent career
When peace finally was restored, the double-ender returned north and was decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard. She was sold at public auctionPublic auction
A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....
at New York City on 25 October 1865 and redocumented as Lone Star on 15 December 1865. She served for more than two decades before being abandoned in 1886.