< Anemone

Anemone

 

Anemone

A member of a species of a large genus of the buttercup family.

(ScTug: t. 156; 1. 99'; b. 20'5"; dph. 8'4"; s. 11 k.; Cpl. 30; a. 2 24-pdr. sb., 2 12-pdr. sb.)

The first Anemone-a screw tug built in 1864 at Philadelphiawas purchased by the Navy from S. & J. M. Flannagan on 13 August 1864 at Philadelphia prior to her documentation as a merchantman; named Anemone; fitted out by the Philadelphia Navy Yard for naval service; and commissoned there on 14 September 1864, Acting Master Jonathan Baker in command.

Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Anemone reported to Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee at Beaufort, N.C., on 20 September 1864 and received orders to join in the cordon of Union ships guarding the western bar off Wilmington. She promptly took station, but soon thereafter suffered a rudder casual ty and was forced to retire to the Norfolk Navy Yard for repairs.

The tug returned to waters off Wilmington early in December and took part in the abortive attack on Fort Fisher on Christmas Eve 1864. She then received orders to Beaufort where she served through the end of the Civil War and into the ensuing summer. On the morning of 20 July, after Quinnebaug had been seriously damaged while leaving Beaufort, Anemone's commanding officer, Acting Ensign A. 0. Kruge, and her executive officer, Mate George W. Briggs, commanded launches which rescued the crew and passengers--homeward-bound troops-from the doomed Ann transport.

Shortly thereafter, Anemone sailed North to serve as a tug at the New York Navy Yard during the partial demobilization of the Union fleet. She was decommissioned there on 28 September 1865 and was sold at t public auction on 25 October 1865. Documented Wicaco on 1 December 1865, the tug served American shipping until 1896.