.gif)
USS Cambridge (1860)
Encyclopedia
USS Cambridge (1861) was a heavy (868 LT (881.9 t)) steamship purchased by the Union Navy
Union Navy
The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
at the start of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
She was outfitted as a gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
, with two powerful 8 in (203.2 mm) rifled guns, and assigned to the blockade of ports and waterways of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
.
Built in Massachusetts in 1861
Cambridge — an armed steamer — was built in 1860 by Paul Curtis, Medford, MassachusettsMedford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
; purchased at Boston, Massachusetts on 30 July 1861; and commissioned on 29 August 1861, Commander
Commander (United States)
In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...
W. A. Parker in command.
Assigned to the North Atlantic blockade
Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron from 9 September 1861-5 October 1864, and to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron from 9 February 1865 until the close of the war, Cambridge helped tighten the stranglehold on the Confederacy as she cruised off the coasts of VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
.
Determined vigilance and alert action won her 11 prizes, some of them taken under the guns of Confederate shore batteries. In a brief five days, she and two other ships in company took four blockade runner
Blockade runner
A blockade runner is usually a lighter weight ship used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait, as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade. Very often blockade running is done in order to transport cargo, for example to bring food or arms to a blockaded city...
s, and chased a fifth ashore.
Shore party captured
In one of her most daring exploits, Cambridges guns drove a schoonerSchooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
ashore near Masonboro Inlet
Masonboro Inlet
Masonboro Inlet is an inlet in New Hanover County, North Carolina, separating the town of Wrightsville Beach from Masonboro Island. The inlet was used as a hideout by Confederate blockade runners during the Civil War. The blockade runners would hide in the inlet until nightfall, then sail to the...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
on 17 November 1862. Boat parties from Cambridge rowed through boiling surf, which swamped one of the boats, to burn the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
, only to be made prisoner themselves by a party of armed Confederate men who sprang out of the brush.
Decommissioning
Cambridge was decommissioned at Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, and sold there on 20 June 1865.
Historical Relevance
Cambridge is notable for having picked up escaped slave William B. Gould IWilliam B. Gould I
William B. Gould was a former slave and veteran of the American Civil War.On September 21, 1862, a slave named William Benjamin Gould escaped with seven other slaves by rowing a small boat down the Cape Fear River and out into the Atlantic Ocean where the USS Cambridge of the North Atlantic...
off Cape Fear, North Carolina.