USS Don

USS Don was a captured British steam-operated cargo ship acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War.

History
United States
Name	USS Don
Acquired	21 April 1864
Commissioned	15 May 1864
Decommissioned	18 May 1868
Captured	captured by the Union Navy, 4 March 1862
Fate	Sold, 29 August 1868
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Displacement	390 long tons (400 t)
Length	162 ft (49 m)
Beam	23 ft (7.0 m)
Draft	6 ft (1.8 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine, screw-propelled
Complement	94
Armament	2 × 20-pounder Dahlgren guns 6 × 24-pounder guns

She was put into service by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Service history

The British blockade runner Don was captured off Beaufort, North Carolina on 4 March 1862 by Pequot, and sent to Boston, Massachusetts for adjudication. She was purchased by the Navy Department and sent to Boston Navy Yard to be fitted for service, arriving on 21 April 1864. Don put out from Boston on 15 May 1864, under the command of Acting Master S. B. Gregory, to join the Potomac Flotilla. She patrolled the Potomac River and other waters in and bordering Virginia with her base at Washington Navy Yard until 26 September 1865, when she sailed for New York City. Don remained at New York until 28 October, when she joined the North Atlantic Blockade Squadron to cruise on the coasts of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and in the West Indies. She returned to New York on 11 May 1868, was decommissioned there on 18 May 1868, and sold on 29 August.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.