USS Nina, a 4th rate iron screw

Propeller

A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...

 steamer

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

, was laid down by Reaney, Son & Archbold

Reaney, Son & Archbold

Reaney, Son & Archbold was a short-lived 19th-century American iron shipbuilding company located on the Delaware River at Chester, Pennsylvania...

, at Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...

, in 1864; launched 27 May 1865; delivered at New York Navy Yard 26 September 1865; and placed in service as a yard tug

Tug

Tuğ is a village in the Khojavend Rayon of Azerbaijan....

 at the Washington Navy Yard

Washington Navy Yard

The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...

 6 January 1866, Ensign F. C. Hall commanding that ship and sister tugs Primrose and Rescue.

Tug and torpedo boat

Nina operated as a yard tug for the Washington Navy Yard and Naval Gun Factory through May 1869 and was then converted to a torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

. She commissioned 31 March 1870, Lt. Godfrey Hunter in command, and then sailed for Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

, arriving at the Naval Station 14 April. The ship served as a torpedo boat at Newport through 1883.

Salvage vessel and tugboat

Nina was refitted in May 1884 for special service, and next operated from August to October salvaging the wreck of sidewheel 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:...

 Tallapoosa sunk in Martha’s Vineyard Sound. From 1885 to 1889, Nina served in various capacities at New York Navy Yard, and then returned to Newport from 1890 to 1891.

The converted tugboat returned to New York Navy Yard in 1892 to resume her original duties, continuing her yard work and towing services there for a decade.

Tender and supply vessel

On 8 October 1902, she commissioned as tender and supply vessel to the Torpedo Boat Flotilla during winter maneuvers in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. The ship returned to 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...

 15 March 1903 and decommissioned 6 days later, once again taking up her yard towing chores. Nina was next loaned to the Lighthouse Department to verify aids to navigation near Puerto Rica

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

n waters to protect the Fleet conducting Winter maneuvers from October 1903 to April 1904. She recommissioned 9 September 1905 for special service with the Board of Inspection and Survey, Rockland, Maine

Rockland, Maine

Rockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,297. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination...

.

Submarine tender

Nina was ordered converted into a submarine tender

Submarine tender

A submarine tender is a type of ship that supplies and supports submarines.Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies, nor to carry a full array of maintenance equipment and...

 28 December 1905. On 25 May 1906, she arrived at the Newport Naval Torpedo Station, and, following a year’s service, was assigned as tender for the 1st Torpedo Flotilla. For the next four years, she served with the Atlantic Fleet’s infant submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 force in its pioneer coastal operations from Newport to Annapolis and Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

. From 1 December 1908 to 22 February 1909, she participated in the great Review in Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 following the return of the Great White Fleet

Great White Fleet

The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with...

 from its globe girdling cruise and joined submarines in exercises off the 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...

 coast.

Loss

At 0630, 6 February 1910, Nina departed Norfolk for Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 and was last sighted off the Capes of the Chesapeake

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

in the midst of a gale. She was never heard from again. The warship was declared lost and struck from the Navy List 15 March 1910, the 30 crewmen and one officer on board being listed as having died on that day. Her loss is one of the continuing mysteries of the sea.