Pawtuxet SwStr

Pawtuxet


(SwStr: t. 974; 1. 205'; b. 35'; dph. 11'6"; dr. 9'3"; s. 14 k.; a. 2 100-pdr. P.r., 4 9" D.sb.; 2 20 pdr. P.r., 2 24-par how.)

Pawtu~et, a side wheel steamer, was launched by the Portsmouth N.H., Navy Yard 19 March 1864; delivered to the Navy at New York 18 May 1864 and commissioned 26 August 1865, Comdr. J. H. Spotts in command.

Following commissioning Pawtuxet was ordered to the Grand Banks to join the quest for the Confederate raider Tallahassee, but before she could get underway Tallahassee had returned safely to Wilmington. Pawtuzet was then ordered south to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Joining the 3rd Division in October she was ordered to cruise off the Carolina coast, primarily between Capes Lookout and Fear. At the end of December she bombarded the defenses at Wilmington in support of the first assault against Fort Fisher. Returning 13 January, she again turned her guns on that fort

sent men and boats to participate in the successful assault on the 15th, then resumed blockade duties. Shifted to the Virginia coast in April, she decommissioned at New York 15 June 1865 and was sold 15 October 1867