USS Para (1861)
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 USS Para with ships at right |
|
| Career (US) |   |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | date unknown |
| Acquired: | 9 September 1861 |
| Commissioned: | 4 February 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 5 August 1865 |
| Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, 8 September 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 200 tons |
| Length: | 98 ft (30 m) |
| Beam: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | sail |
| Speed: | varied |
| Complement: | not known |
| Armament: | one 13” gun two 32-pounder guns |
| Armour: | wood |
USS Para (1861) was a schooner 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.
Contents |
[edit] Purchased in New York City in 1862
Para, a wooden schooner, was purchased from James Bishop & Co., New York City, 9 September 1861 and commissioned 4 February 1862, Acting Master Edward J. Furber in command.
[edit] Civil War service
[edit] Assigned to the Gulf Squadron Blockade
Assigned first to the Gulf Squadron, Para participated in the bombardment of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, 18–24 April 1862. Later transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she operated along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina for the remainder of the war.
[edit] Operations with the South Atlantic Blockade
On 19 June 1863 she captured blockade running schooner Emma off Mosquito Inlet, South Carolina. Off Florida on 18 July, she sent men ashore in boats to participate in the attack on New Smyrna, Florida. The Union force captured a sloop loaded with cotton and an unladen schooner, burnt several other vessels, and destroyed all buildings which had been occupied by troops.
[edit] Covering troop movements up the St. Mary’s River
Continuing operations off the southeastern seaboard, she escorted troops up the St. Mary’s River to Woodstock, Florida, to obtain lumber, engaged Confederate forces along the river banks to cover the transports as they took on the lumber, captured steamer Hard Times, then covered the retirement of the transports, 16–23 February 1864.
[edit] Post-war decommissioning and sale
Para decommissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, 5 August 1865 and was sold at auction to J. C. Osgood, 8 September 1865.
[edit] References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
