The first USS Mount Vernon was a wooden-screw steamer in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

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Mount Vernon was built at Brooklyn, New York, in 1859; chartered by the Navy in May 1861 for three months; purchased by the Navy at New York on 12 September 1861; and commissioned at New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Commander Oliver S. Glisson in command.

Service history

After charter, Mount Vernon convoyed two steamers and two sailing ships to the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 in May. While in the gulf, she took brigantine

Brigantine

In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...

 East, suspected of communicating with Confederate

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...

-held shore territory, and towed damaged Parkersburg from Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

 to Key West

Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....

. Ordered to Fortress Monroe, Virginia

Virginia

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...

, 3 July, Mount Vernon gave refuge to Unionists preparing to travel north.

From 17 July, Mount Vernon patrolled in and off the Rappahannock River

Rappahannock River

The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...

, capturing sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 Wild Pigeon in an attempted escape at night 20 July. On 1 September she sailed for Mobjack Bay

Mobjack Bay

Mobjack Bay is a bay on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in the United States. It lies between the York River on the south and the Rappahannock River on the north....

 to relieve , and in November proceeded to Beaufort, North Carolina

Beaufort, North Carolina

Beaufort is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1709, it is the third-oldest town in North Carolina.The population was 4,189 at the 2008 census and it is the county seat of Carteret County...

. She engaged British

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 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....

 Phantom off Cape Lookout 2 December, and on the 31st sent an armed party to aid in firing a ship being used by the Confederates as a beacon.

In continued blockade and patrol service off 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...

, Mount Vernon took British schooners British Queen on 1 March 1862 and Mary Jane on 24 March 1863. With and , Mount Vernon chased Confederate schooner Kate ashore near Fort Casswell 2 April, and later in the month captured St. George.

After joining in the attack on Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point

Sewell's Point

Sewells Point is a peninsula of land in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States, located at the mouth of the salt-water port of Hampton Roads. Sewells Point is bordered by water on three sides, with Willoughby Bay to the north, Hampton Roads to the west, and the Lafayette...

 2 May, Mount Vernon returned to blockade duty, playing a key role in the Navy’s efforts to block the flow of materials from overseas and from one point to another in the Confederacy. She took Constitution 23 May, forced an unknown schooner to ground and set herself on fire 26 June, then in July took up close blockade of New Inlet

New Inlet

New Inlet was an inlet along the Outer Banks of North Carolina joining the Pamlico Sound with the Atlantic Ocean. It has not existed since 1933.-History:...

 and Little River Inlet. With Cambridge, in December Mount Vernon chased another schooner ashore, a feat duplicated on 12 June 1863. Mount Vernon, , and together cut out a blockade runner on 1 August near New Inlet.

Arriving Newport News, Virginia

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

 early in 1864, Mount Vernon remained there until May 1864. She was in the group of Union ships attacked by North Carolina

CSS North Carolina

CSS North Carolina, an ironclad gunboat, was built by Berry & Brothers at Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1863 at a cost of $76,000. The ship's bulkheads above the waterline were sloped inward and armored with railroad iron, similar to the CSS Virginia...

 off the mouth of Cape Fear River

Cape Fear River

The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...

 in May, and she searched for Florida

CSS Florida (cruiser)

CSS Florida was a cruiser in the Confederate States Navy.Florida was built by the British firm of William C. Miller & Sons of Toxteth, Liverpool, and purchased by the Confederacy from Fawcett, Preston & Co., also of Liverpool, who engined her...

 in July. She joined in the abortive attack on Fort Fisher

Fort Fisher

Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865....

 23 and 24 December, and renewed the attack in mid-January 1865.

Decommissioning at New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 on 27 June 1865, she was sold at public auction

Public auction

A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....

12 July 1865.