The first USS Saco was a gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

History
Union Navy Jack United States
NameUSS Saco
BuilderBoston Navy Yard, BostonMassachusetts
Launched28 August 1863
Commissioned11 July 1864
Decommissioned27 January 1865
Recommissioned10 June 1866
Decommissioned17 December 1868
Recommissioned22 July 1870
Decommissioned13 July 1876
FateSold 20 November 1883
General characteristics
TypeGunboat
Displacement593 long tons (603 t)
Length179 ft 6 in (54.71 m)
Beam30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)
Draft11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Speed9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)
Complement127 officers and enlisted
Armament
  • 1 × 100-pounder gun
  • 1 × 30-pounder Parrott rifle
  • 6 × 32-pounder guns
  • 1 × 24-pounder howitzer
  • 1 × 12-pounder rifle
  • 1 × 32-pounder smoothbore

Construction and commissioning

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Saco was launched on 28 August 1863 by the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, and commissioned there on 11 July 1864, Lieutenant Commander John G. Walker in command.

Service history

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Throughout the autumn and into the winter of 1864, the new gunboat cruised along the east coast of North America, ranging from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to Wilmington, North Carolina, in search of Confederate States Navy raiders and blockade runners. However, since boiler and engine trouble hampered the ship during much of this service, Saco was decommissioned at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on 27 January 1865 for repairs.

The American Civil War ended in April 1865 while work on Saco was still in progress, so Saco remained in ordinary during the demobilization program which followed the end of the fighting. She was recommissioned on 10 June 1866 and operated along the United States East Coast, in the Caribbean, and in the Gulf of Mexico. She also served as a training ship at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, before decommissioning at Norfolk, Virginia, on 17 December 1868.

Recommissioned on 22 July 1870, Saco departed Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 6 August 1870 and steamed to European waters. She cruised in the Mediterranean for over a year before getting underway from Naples, Italy, on 14 December 1871 and heading for the Suez Canal and the Far East.

After arriving at Shanghai on 6 May 1872, Saco remained in East Asian waters until returning to the United States in 1876. She was decommissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard in California on 13 July 1876 and remained in ordinary there until she was sold to William E. Mighell on 20 November 1883.

See also

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References

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