USS Pulaski, was a side-wheel steamship, in service with 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...

. She was named for Kazimierz Pułaski. Named Metacomet when built for commercial owners in 1854, she served as USS Pulaski from 1858 to 1863, when she was sold by the Navy.

Metacomet was built at New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. She was chartered by the Navy in 1858 for use in the Paraguay expedition

Paraguay expedition

The Paraguay Expedition was a United States Naval mission sent to Asunción, Paraguay in 1858 to demand indemnity and apology from the Paraguayan Government for the 1 February 1855 firing on the US Navy vessel...

 at monthly rate of $3,500, with an option to purchase her for $50,000. During the expedition she was commanded by Lieutenant William H. Macomb

William H. Macomb

Commodore William Henry Alexander Macomb was an officer in the United States Navy who served during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

. In March 1859 she was deemed unseaworthy and not in a position to be navigated back to the United States.

Subsequently purchased and renamed USS Pulaski, she operated in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n waters from early 1859 until 22 January 1863, when she was decommissioned and sold by auction at Montevideo

Montevideo

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

, Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

. In the first months of 1865 she was purchased by Paraguay. Until about 1870 she operated on the Río de la Plata

Río de la Plata

The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...

as a civilian vessel.