USS Octorara (1861)
Watercolor of USS Octorara by Alex Stuart.
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| History | |
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  United States
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| Name: | USS Octorara |
| Namesake: | A creek in Pennsylvania named for an Indian word meaning running water. |
| Builder: | Brooklyn Navy Yard |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 7 December 1861 |
| Commissioned: | 28 February 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 5 August 1865 at New York City |
| Struck: | 1866 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, 9 November 1866 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 829 tons |
| Length: | 193 ft 2 in (58.88 m) |
| Beam: | 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m) |
| Draught: | 4 ft 9.5 in (1.461 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 11 knots |
| Complement: | 102 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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| Notes: | Ship was double ended. |
USS Octorara (1861) was a steamer 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.
Octorara was launched by the Brooklyn Navy Yard 7 December 1861, sponsored by Miss Emma Hartt, daughter of Naval Constructor E. Hartt; and commissioned 28 February 1862, Lt. George Brown in command.
The new double-ended, side-wheel steamer departed New York City 17 March 1862 and served briefly on blockade duty with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron before reporting to Commander David D. Porter at Ship Island, Mississippi.
She acted as flagship for David Dixon Porter’s Mortar Flotilla during Flag Officer David Farragut’s expedition up the Mississippi River to attack Vicksburg, Mississippi. Before dawn 28 June, Porter’s ships opened fire on the Confederate fortress and shelled the southern batteries while Farragut dashed by the river stronghold.
At the height of the fight, Octorara became unmanageable when her wheel ropes jammed. She drifted down stream into USS Brooklyn’s line of fire. She was damaged when shells from the steam sloop of war burst off her port beam.
On 24 July, en route to Baltimore, Maryland, for repairs, she captured Tubal Cain east of Savannah, Georgia, as the British blockade running steamer tried to slip into Charleston, South Carolina, with munitions.
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