USS Hornet (1865)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Hornet.
Career (CSA / USA)
Laid down: 1864
Launched: 1864
Christened: Lady Stirling
Completed: 1864
Acquired: 28 October 1864
Decommissioned: 15 December 1865
Renamed: USS Hornet, 25 April 1865
Captured: 1864
Fate: Captured 28 October 1864, sold 1869
General characteristics
Type:sidewheel steamer, blockade runner
Displacement:835 tons
Length:242 ft (74 m)
Beam:26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draft:13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)

The USS Hornet (1865) was the fifth United States Navy ship to bear the name Hornet. [Note 1] She was originally the CSS Lady Stirling, a blockade runner built by James Ash at Cubitt Town, London in 1864 for the Confederate States Navy. She was badly damaged and captured by the United States Navy on 28 October 1864 off Wilmington, North Carolina.

History

Following condemnation by a prize court, Lady Sterling was bought by the U.S. Navy, repaired, armed, and commissioned as USS Lady Sterling and later renamed USS Hornet on 25 April 1865 In navy service she mainly operated in the Chesapeake Bay squadron. In October 1865, Hornet escorted the Confederate ironclad CSS Stonewall from Cuba to the United States.

Hornet was decommissioned on 15 December 1865 and sold into private ownership in 1869. After the war Hornet was involved in several filibustering expeditions to Cuba under the names Hornet and Cuba, including an unsuccessful mission in January 1871 to deliver weapons and ammunition to Cuban rebels during the Ten Years' War.[1][2]

See also

Notes

  1. Not to be confused with the USS Hornet a sloop built in 1805 or the Hornet a brig also built in 1805,

References

Bibliography